Today was a very different day, but I really enjoyed it! I was alone for the entirety of the walk today. From Triacastela to Sarria, there are two routes: you can either take the shorter San Xil route, which is 18 kilometers, or the longer but more famous Samos route, which is 25 kilometers. Both are very beautiful, so you can't go wrong either way. The Samos route is named so because it runs through the city of Samos, which is known for its gigantic and historically prevalent monastery. I ended up being the only person who took the Samos route; I wanted to see the monastery while Sam, Dan, Margaret, and Eva wanted to have a short day. The complete solitude was actually really nice and it was good to have a new experience to break up the Camino routine.
I wake up at 7:15 today, feeling pretty good. I have never actually woken up in pain on the Camino, which is great. My feet have been back to normal for a while as well. I get up and get ready, and have some breakfast while talking with my friends. It's snowing outside, so another cold and wet day. After getting all my rain gear on, I say goodbye to my friends and head out at 8:45.
The decision to go the Samos or San Zil route has to be made as soon as you leave the city, so I head onto the Samos route. The snow falls consistently, but I'm at a low enough elevation that it barely sticks. The first few kilometers on the Samos route is on the road, so I walk along the shoulder for a while. Everything is white, and I'm in for a peaceful morning.
I pray for a while on my walk, but it's difficult to find any words to say, so I simply spend time walking with God again. I like to think of it similar to how I don't need to always be talking when I'm with Mikayla. Often, we just sit together and are content simply being in each other's presence. So that's what I did this morning on my walk.
After only about 45 minutes, the snow turns into a light rain, which melts the snow that is on the ground. Soon, all the snow is melted and the white fades to vibrant green. I walk through a forest along a beautiful blue rushing river, and continue to admire the scenery.
Around 10:00, I reach the first town. I find an open cafe and head to it. This cafe has a nice enclosed patio with two heaters, so I order a cafe con leche and sit on the patio, sipping my coffee and eating my Milka. Milka is my new favorite chocolate brand. You can get it at any grocery store along the Camino!
A Spanish couple and a Korean man soon join me. They've been traveling at the same pace as us for the last week, but I haven't gotten to properly introduce myself. I chat with them, and learn that the couple's names are Danielle and Pedro, and the Korean man's name is Kim. I talk mostly with Danielle, and since she doesn't know English, we use Google Translate as our tool to communicate. She tells me that I remind her of her son, who she misses. She also notes that she realized I'm a "good boy" when she saw me at Mass one day. I'm not sure if the more accurate meaning of that was lost through Google translate but that made me chuckle a bit. I then talk with Kim, who I realize can speak some English. After a little while, the rain has lightened up and I've finished my coffee, so I say goodbye to my new friends and get moving again.
The sun starts to peek through the clouds as I continue along the path. As I start up a hill toward another tiny village, I see a huge dog at the top, sitting unleashed in the middle of the road. He's about 100 feet away, but he sees me and he's watching me. I can tell by his gray muzzle that he's old, and he seems calm, so after stopping for a moment and trying to decide what to do, I move forward slowly. He sits patiently and clearly gets excited to see someone, as his newfound red rocket tells me. After stopping again, I decide to just go for it and pat my legs. He comes running, tail wagging, and pushes right against my leg, wanting to be pet. Whenever I try to stop and step away, he moves into me to be pet again. So I just pet him and wait for Pedro, Danielle, and Kim to walk by, partially as a distraction and partially because they have sticks. The dog seems plenty kind, but he's gigantic and I don't really want to push my luck. As my new friends walk by, he heads to them, but Pedro keeps his stick out and will have none of it. Thus I am freed of the gigantic friendly beast and continue on my way, looking back every few moments to watch him following us to the edge of town.
The rain finally stops completely and the sun is shining through the clouds. The vibrant green trees and grass shine in the sun. The scenery is fantastic and I walk in silence.
After some uphill and rounding a mountainside, I see the huge Samos monastery pop into view! It's gorgeous and I get a great view from above. As I head down the side of the mountain into the town of Samos, I see a few cats. My cat counter is now at 119!
I head straight to the monastery, which I fully expect to be closed, but find a paper posted on the door noting that there's monastery tours at noon. Since it's 11:50, I wait for the doors to open and buy a ticket once they do. The tour starts soon after 12:00, and I'm one of three. The tour guide is speaking Spanish, so I can't understand him well, but I don't mind. The monastery is gorgeous and I take it all in as we walk through. There are beautiful green gardens, intricate hallway murals, and an amazing church with many lovely golden altar pieces. I learn that the monastery has suffered two huge fires throughout history, and that while it was once one of the most important monasteries of its time, it has become ill-staffed, especially due to the long stint of uninterest in the Camino.
After the monastery tour, I head into a nearby cafe and get another cafe con leche and a slice or tortilla for lunch. It's good and I enjoy it as I read a chapter of my book.
After my lunch, I continue on. I have about 15 more kilometers to go and it's already 2:00. The rain has begun again, but thankfully I'm walking through a valley, which means no heavy wind. For the next three hours, it rains on and off, with the usual being a light drizzle.
The scenery over these last 15 kilometers is very dynamic. Sometimes I'm passing through an ancient looking forest. At other times, I'm walking through open farmland with crops and cattle. Sometimes the landscape is rolling hills, while at others I'm in a skinny valley with mountains on either side. The one common variable is that everything is a lively vibrant green. The scenery is absolutely beautiful, and with the very light rain and sun shining through the clouds, it makes for a somewhat mystical atmosphere.
I decide it's the perfect time to listen to more of Father Walter Cizek's story. Today, I learn about the time Father Walter reaches his ultimate breaking point after continuous torture and interrogation. His interrogator attempts to convince him to revoke his priesthood and to break ties with the Church. After weeks of this, he reaches a point of despair and realizes that he needs to make a choice. Will he give in, or release his final shreds of control to God? In a moment of what he describes as total blackness, nearly giving up, he decides to stop trying to control his situation, even in the tiniest of ways, and give everything over to God, praying that he may never again fail to trust God. The blackness that he feels is immediately reversed, and he receives complete consolation, understanding that it is only in giving complete control over to God that man can be truly free. He is reminded of Jesus on the Mount of Olives the night before his Passion: after praying three times that He may not undergo this suffering, He ends each prayer in an act of total self abandonment and conformity to the Father's will, ultimately saying "Thy will be done."
I spent time pondering this, and considering what it means to give over full control of my life to God. How does one do this? It seems such a simple idea, yet it is very abstract. Knowing that experience is probably key, I attempt to do so anyways. As I think about how to do so, I am reminded of an analogy I once heard. Us humans are always trying to control our lives, planning far into the future and trying to keep everything exactly as we want it. In a way, we're planning a hundred steps ahead. But abandoning full control of our lives to God would be more like taking one step at a time, only being able to see that one step ahead. The truth is, we're all in the dark about how the future will go. Only God knows the future. But through prayer, we can always find the next step to take. And the next. And the next. So the best way to live is trusting in God, allowing Him to illuminate the next step, understanding that His will is far more perfect than our own. Still an abstract idea, but I found myself understanding it better for having prayed with it.
I still have plenty of kilometers to go, and the beautiful scenery is still coming, so I start praying the rosary. I pray the glorious mysteries today, and meditate on each mystery as I go through the decades of the rosary. The glorious mysteries are Jesus' resurrection, Jesus' ascension, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the assumption of Mary, and the coronation of Mary. I decide to go slower than usual, and spend a few minutes reflecting on each individual mystery. This leads to a very beautiful and fruitful rosary, and I walk filled with sudden peace and joy. God is so good!
Plenty more kilometers pass, and after my rosary ends, I walk in silence and just let my mind wander. Finally, around 5:30, I arrive to Sarria and find my albergue, check in, and say hello to my friends who have long since beat me there.
Sarria is the most popular starting city of the entire Camino. Since it's just over 100 kilometers away from Santiago de Compostela, and it's required to do at least 100 kilometers to get the certificate of completion, hordes of people decide to start here. I can tell the difference immediately. The albergue is filled, and there are plenty of pilgrims on the streets. It will be like this until Santiago, which will certainly be interesting!
After showering, I sit and talk with Dan and Sam. Mateo, the young French guy, spends some time with us as well. We communicate a bit using Google Translate. Sam has done some footwork and discovered that there's Mass at 7:00. I ask Mateo if he'd like to join, and after a brief explanation of Mass, he decides to come along. Sam asks Margaret to join as well, and she tags along. The four of us head to the church before 7:00 and get seats, and at 7:00, Mass begins.
The church is packed with pilgrims. Most are from a graduating class of high schoolers, who are doing the last 100 kilometers to Santiago. Mass is great as usual and I have great prayer after receiving Communion. I've pondered for a while now how to bring others to Christ, and have determined that the best solution is to do exactly that: bring them to Jesus. More specifically, bring them to Mass or Adoration. I myself could never bring anyone to conversion, and I know that full well. But the creator of the universe certainly can. I did not feel pride at "bringing" these three to Mass with me. It was more Sam's idea and efforts than mine anyways. I just felt thankful that God allowed me to be a part of this special moment. I don't know what's going on in their hearts, but I am thankful that at the very least they got to spend an hour with God.
Mass ends at 8:00 and the four of us head back to the albergue to regroup wirh Eva, Luis, and Dan. We then all go to dinner at an Italian restaurant. I'm hungry, so I decide to get both pasta and pizza. As we wait for our food, an Australian man named Simon, who some of the others have already met, walks in and we have him join us. He's a very interesting guy; he's a professor at a university, and since Australian professors are paid by the government, he decided to write a research paper while on the Camino. Thus, his entire trip is expensed by the Australian government! He had started the Camino 6 years ago, but due to an injury, couldn't finish. He's now continuing from where he left off. He's very knowledgeable about the history of the Camino and also Rome, and I talk with him for a while and learn some really fascinating facts. He's also Catholic, which is great to see, considering the small number of Catholic pilgrims thus far!
The Italian food ends up being amazing and we all have a great time. There's two guitars in the restaurant, so Dan and Luis both play a bit. We sing some goofy songs and I hop in and out of multiple conversations. There's an air of excitement due to the fact that we're only 5 days away from Santiago! And to think that I began walking 30 days ago. How crazy!
After some tiramisu, we discover that Simon has paid for our entire dinner. How generous! We all thank him profusely and talk for a while longer until we realize our albergue closes in 15 minutes. Luis plays one last song on the guitar, then we head back to the albergue.
It's now 10:00, and I call Mikayla for a little while. I'll be seeing her in basically one more week! Wow! Time flies. Then I talk with Dan, Eva, and Luis for a while. We share funny dreams we've had recently, one of which involves me on a type writer. We also share how our last few days have been, and our experiences with dogs on the Camino. The guard dogs can be quite scary, and the unleashed dogs can be too friendly! One followed Luis a whole kilometer out of town in a snow storm, and was so persistent that Luis had to take him back and find his owner so the dog would stop following him and trying to play.
After more funny stories and a good time, I retire to bed to finally write my blog. As it usually does, it takes me two hours. I don't mind it tonight though. It was a great day and I don't want to forget any of it. It's now 1:45 and far past my bedtime. Thank you God for such an amazing day, and for helping me to draw closer to You! The region of Galicia is supposed to be the most beautiful and most spiritual part of the Camino. If today is any indicator, I think it'll be a potentially life changing week ahead!