Pilgrims

The Camino is a transient community.  It moves in waves from east to west, with some pilgrims starting in St. Jean, some in other cities along the French Way, some coming along other historic Caminos.  Some have returned to pick up their Camino where they left off on an earlier trip.  Some, like H. & E. (Scots currently living in England).  They are in their early 60's, and they had done the first few days of the Camino already in a prior year, but having had bad weather that time, they decided to begin again at St. Jean in the hopes of sunnier days and better views.  They were well rewarded as they left St. Jean on September 22, with the same wave I was in and the weather has been spectacular.

On the very first day, I met up with B. & L. (Lake District, England) mid morning on my first day.  They are in my little troupe still at the end of day nine.  You just never know who you might still be seeing each day.  We've shared many steps, meals, drinks and laughs together in the past 9 days.  L. is a nurse and B. runs a B&B. They're a bit of a comedy act, with B. playing the straight character and Lucy the goof.  The nicest people you could hope to travel with.

H. (South Africa, currently Anchorage, Alaska) is a soft spoken tiny woman about my age.  She gets up early and trots along like a gazelle, but she is very generous and fun.  As a physiotherapist, she is occasionally called upon by those who know of her skill set to determine some diagnoses or treatment for an ache or pain.  She, too has shared many visits and meals with me as we've gone along.  Mostly I don't see H. until the end of the day in whatever town we arrive at - only once did I arrive at the end destination hot on her heels.

H., me, L. & B. in a "bar" (all the restaurants are bars) in the main square in Logrono.

I don't have a photo of them, but for the first 6 days there were two Scottish sisters (not nuns...), S. & L., in their 40's.  They were hilarious; S, never stopped talking and always had a smile on her face.  She'd have stayed and visited all day whereas her sister was a force to be reckoned with and always had the plan to move forward at breakneck speed.  Until S. found a little square with a cafe or a bar and someone to visit with.

Of course there is my Spanish angel, Angelus (sp?) - the Señor with the aloe vera treatment for my wasp-stung foot.  He always pats my shoulder in a fatherly way when we see each other, as we have, off and on since day 5.  He began this part of the Camino at Pamplona.  He is from Valencia, a retired teacher (boys school for 6-12 year olds).   Last evening, in Najera, I was having some bread and cheese at the main eating table and he had heated some supper that he'd carried with him from the albergue he'd stayed at the night before (somewhere different from where I'd stayed) - anyway, he notices me and hops up and runs back to the kitchen and brings me some red wine in a REAL wine glass.  While the Spanish do have wine glasses (as you can see from the photo above), they are not a common item in Albergue cocinas.

 Angelus and me somewhere on the camino between Logrono and Najera.

C. (Newcastle, Australia) is a 32 year old massage therapist who is on a serious walk about.  She had a working visa in England for a bit so was recently the 'carer' (what we would call a personal care aide) for the 99 year old Duke of Wellington.  Knowing nothing about British aristocracy, that doesn't mean too much to me, but the Duke is apparently quite a big deal.  C. is forthright, usually cheery and a seasoned traveler.  She has great plans for me and how I might be able to get upgraded to first class for my trip home due to my lost luggage.  She's a good kid, going to nursing school this coming January.  She goes home to Aus in December.

Then there's K. (a Swedish expat who's lived and worked in several countries, currently living in Ottawa).  She is in her 70's and is about 5'7 and maybe weighs 90 pounds.  She has been (understandably) having trouble with her pack hurting her (bony) shoulders and clavicle, but she perseveres.  She has kept up a relentless pace but rests for the majority of the time from place to place.  

At the end of my first day, I met J. (Colorado) who will turn 66 in another 5 days.  She was somewhat anxious about traveling alone and we shared a pension on the second night (Zubridi).  She asked me to walk with her through Pamplona as she was sure that the trail would disappear and she would lose here way.  Fair enogh.  She took a hotel in Pamplona and I thought we might not see each other again, but we saw each other again in Los Arcos (three nights back), and I wouldn't rule out seeing her again.  J. was an interesting person; she was looking for something on the Camino, although like most of us, I don't think she quite knew what that thing was.  

For any of you who think you might be too old to undertake the Camino, I met this woman on day 3 who was traveling with three other much younger women.  This pilgrim was a Dutch woman living in Washington state - and she was carrying her own pack at age 80 (and a half!).  She was considering having her pack portered the following day because she thought she might just enjoy the walking a bit more ... no kidding.

J. (66 from Colorado) and amazing Dutch woman (80 from Washington state).

C. (Irishwoman from Limerick, currently working in London) traveled with 'us' until just before Logrono.  Perhaps I'll meet up with her again in Burgos as she goes home from there about the time I will.

There's a Dutchman about 66 years old - retired bureaucrat - who I feel a bit sorry for as he's always sitting by himself.  I've sat and visited with him a few times; and I think he'd really like to find a 'group' to visit with etc, but he is a bit stern looking and I think people are a bit intimidated by him.  

Lots of Canadians along the way - although not too many staying with our 'wave'.  M. from B.C. was with us for a day or two - always dressed to kill and the only pilgrim I have met - of any nationality, who wore full makeup all day every day.  She had the sad misfortune of being bitten severely by bed bugs her only night in St. Jean.  She had a necklace of angry bites, plus others on her arms and legs.  She wore a long scarf around her neck which she kept damp to help cool the bites.  Good thing she was traveling with such fashion accessories.  No one else along the way has had any bed bug issues ... thank goodness.  We'll just pray that continues.

There are the French and Italians.  The Spanish.  Generally the French are considered by almost all the others to be crude and rude - I don't know if they are or not, I can't say that I've had any direct experience that was negative.  We do all carry our own prejudices with us.

I. & E. from Italy.  They were not traveling together, but E. was very fluent in Spanish and was helping the younger I. manage ordering some vegetarian food for herself.  Apparently E., who is a steady walker but not fast, met some Spanish pilgrims in their 20's one day and one told her that she should ask the Camino to help her lose weight.  She was not impressed.  Sweet and lovely young woman, but I think she wanted to clobber him.

That's probably enough introductions.  Who knows who I'll meet tomorrow.  I meet new people every day, some continue on and we see each other repeatedly, and for some we exchange only "Buen Camino" a single time.  That's the Camino.