Espinosa del Camino to Atapuerca (21.7km)

Today was my 23rd birthday. It was a good birthday overall. I had a good mix of all my favorite Camino events: a good sunrise, time to walk alone and pray and reflect, good conversations with friends, good food, time to call Mikayla, and interesting terrain.

I woke up a little later than usual today, at 7:30. As I went into the bathroom, I saw God's first birthday gift for me: a beautiful sunrise. I absolutely love sunrises, so I spent a good few minutes watching it. What a great way to start the day! I then got dressed and started getting my bag together. I was soon ready to go, and decided to head out a little early to have time to walk alone, then meet up with the rest of the group at the first town, only about 4 kilometers in.

I left the albergue around 8:15 and started walking. I called Mikayla for a while as the sun started to rise over the mountains. We talked for a good amount of time, then I continued walking in silence. I spent the time praying, which was really nice. Early morning prayer while watching the sky light up is my favorite thing so far on the Camino.

It didn't take too long to reach the first town. When I got there, I pet a friendly cat for a few minutes, then went into a cafe and got a cafe con leche and some sort of meat sandwich. I sat thinking for a while as I enjoyed my food. Not much time passed before Margaret, Sam, and Dan came in. They ordered food, and I got one more coffee, then we all sat outside and talked about how our bodies are holding up and the day ahead. Soon, we headed onward.

The four of us walked together for a while, yet again talking about differences in our cultures. We talked about our fast foods, and Sam told some interesting stories. It was a fun conversation. After a little while, Sam and Dan fell a bit behind, and Margaret and I talked about some of our favorite books. Dan caught up again not long after, and we continued talking about books. Dan majored in English Literature, so he's a big reader.

After that first town, we had started ascending into some foresty mountains. It was a nice terrain change away from the green rolling crop hills for once. It reminded me of the hikes back home in California.

The three of us kept walking and told some stories from our earlier years. I read some of the history of the region we were in from my guidebook, and took some time to think about the questions asked in the spiritual guide section. We came across some interesting things in the forest, such as painted logs with weird faces. That was fun to see, and we speculated on what it could be.

We walked through the mountains for quite some time. It was beautiful terrain. We passed through a very pretty mountain town called San Juan de Ortega, but it was the classic low season ghost town. It was a little eerie. Not a soul in sight from the moment we entered town to the moment we left, and not a noise to be heard either, save for the cowbell ringing as a nearby cow grazed. Unfortunately, the church was closed too. But it was a very picturesque small mountain town, and I'm sure it's an amazing place to stay in the summer.

Before passing through San Juan de Ortega, I had some alone time to reflect. I reflected on the idea that Mary was the person who suffered second most in history, behind Jesus, due to having to watch her Son who she loved so much suffer such a torturous death. I had heard recently that Mary, despite her suffering, had no emotional wounds from the experience. And the reason that's true is because Mary loved God's will perfectly and did not resist the suffering that she received. Instead, she accepted it as it came, feeling the full force of the pain rather than resisting it. The idea presented was that wounds are only created from resisting whatever is causing the suffering. For example, if a loved one dies, those who love them usually have to undergo the stages of grief, beginning with denial and ending with acceptance. This is because they initially resist the sufffering, rather than accepting it. But either way, it must be accepted in the end to heal. It's just a choice of accepting it as it comes or pushing the pain away and creating a wound, and then accepting it later to heal that wound. I reflected on this as I walked, and tried to understand what it meant to accept suffering as it came. How can I get to the point where I am able to consciously accept the suffering that God gives me immediately, without resisting? I determined that it must take someone who is spiritually advanced to do so. I eventually caught up with Margaret and Dan again, and we had a good discussion about it.

After a while, we descended out of the mountains and reached a small village just at the foot of the mountains called Agés. It was yet another ghost town, but it was very pretty to walk through.

After leaving that town, we were only 2 kilometers from our destination for the day, Atapuerca. I took the time to pray and reflect on the day. It was a nice way to end the walk. We soon arrived in town, and checked into our albergue. It's a very cool looking one, with a neat but simple design of wood and metal inside. It feels like a fancy AirBnB. We set our stuff down, then ran to the grocery store to pick up some food to cook.

By the time we got back, Sam had arrived. There was also this funny cat that was very friendly. He loved to sit on my lap and just splay himself out and let me pet him. He also drooled a bit, which was odd, but funny.

After playing with the cat, I helped cook dinner. We made pasta with a cheese sauce, some of Sam's leftover risotto, and canned squid that I had found at the store. It was all actually really good, and fun to cook. A man from Holland was in the kitchen too, and during dinner, he joined us and we got to talk to him and hear the story of his journey so far. He was very nice and it was great to meet another new person!

After dinner, our Scottish ladies had arrived again! Claire, Shanadra, and Vanessa. It was so fun to get to talk with them again and hear how their last few days had been. I thought we weren't going to see them again, but here they were! They're so kind and genuine, I feel like I could talk to them for hours. After catching up, I went outside for a stroll while talking to Mikayla. That was a pleasant call and we talked for half an hour, enjoying each other's company over the phone.

After, I went with Sam, Margaret, and Dan to the only open restaurant in town. We got a small pizza to share and I got a coke. We talked about whatever random topics came up, and enjoyed the mini birthday celebration. It was a nice time. Then, it was time for bed. We headed back, and I called my Mom before heading in. It was nice to talk to her, and tell her all about how it's been. I'm officially 1/3rd of the way done! After, I showered, prayed my rosary in bed, and wrote part of this blog, but I was too tired to finish so I saved it till morning. But overall, it was a good birthday! God blessed me in many small ways, which I appreciated. And tomorrow is yet another new day.