Pictures, pictures and more pictures

These are public links to our pictures from Spain. There are up to 200 pictures per link. Enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066212&id=1359787766&l=4817f936f7

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066259&id=1359787766&l=6c765869be

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066268&id=1359787766&l=f6e05aa785

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066273&id=1359787766&l=bdac77d535

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066275&id=1359787766&l=8f4ea9b48a

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066289&id=1359787766&l=1a7d6a537b

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066304&id=1359787766&l=f0187c8c7a

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066310&id=1359787766&l=e1546858fd

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066313&id=1359787766&l=adfc6a2a7b

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066383&id=1359787766&l=ab8de64d54

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066392&id=1359787766&l=10c65cf7fd

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066394&l=e595eb0995&id=1359787766

Day 5 on the Camino - Santiago

(Sorry for the delay. Technological issues prevented this from going up sooner. - John)

June 16 2010

The 15th was a rather light walking day...just 14 kilometers. It seemed to fly by. It was our last day on the trail and we really had to book it to Santiago, so that we could get there by 12:00 p.m. for pilgrim's mass. The day seemed normal until Debbie, our guide, told us just outside the city that our descent into the city would be silent until we were in the central square of Santiago! Well of course, at first, we didn't take this idea very seriously. However, once we started walking we realized that it was actually pretty cool to have our own individual experience.

Once we had walked about 3 kilometers, Debbie silently signaled for us to all hold hands. Well, we have to admit that made us feel a tidge uncomfortable. It was as if we had journeyed back in time to our elementary school days where we all had to walk single file, holding hands. As we walked through an alleyway, we got some interesting looks, especially from another teenage group passing the other way. It seemed pretty ridiculous at the time, but now looking back it was pretty cool because we were all coming together to share a group experience.

When we finally reached the square where the cathedral in Santiago was located, the sight was spectacular. The church steeples towered above our heads, and it was considerably different than the rural churches we had been used to on the trail. We didn't take much time before going into the church for mass. We arrived a little after 11 a.m. and the service started at 12 p.m. Every seat in the huge church was already filled with someone else's aching body, and so we all stood or sat on the stone cold floor for about an hour before anything happened. My personal thinking was that if I could walk 20 miles in a day, then I could bare to stand; and so I gave up my small seat on a base of a pillar to an elderly lady, who probably would not have been able to walk half that.

The whole service was foreign to us, so we mostly just observed and some of us tired pilgrims slept. A really cool thing about the service was that John got to participate in it as a priest. Then it was time for the swinging incense burner. It was remarkable! It swung 60 feet in the air and no one was asleep for that!

Afterwards, we got our certificates of completion, and had some free time to explore Santiago. We got to tour around local shops, restaurants, and the church. Because it was a holy year, the doors on the back of the nave were open. They only open about every 11 years. It is said that once you walk through the doors all your sins will be forgiven! A custom for pilgrims is to hug the statue of Saint James. It was a large and ornamented statue that was centered behind the altar. Each one of us had our moment with Saint James. Some of us even snuck in a small kiss. Then we journeyed under the church to his tomb where we could pray. It was the most holy sequence of events we had experienced. It was truly moving.

Once we all had our time at Santiago, we got on our bus and went to the train station. We had to part ways with Jose, our beloved bus driver. We loaded him up with gifts and boarded the train. It was the most claustrophobic experience of our lives. The room was just big enough to fit 2 bunk beds and a tiny sink. However, with help from an Advil PM, it was easy to snooze until our wake-up buzzer interrupted our slumbering. We quickly packed up and got off the train, boarded a bus, and got on a plane. Customs was not too bad except for Antonio and Moma. The people there had never seen such a cool passport! We got to Newark, stuffed our faces with as much American food as possible, and boarded the flight that we are on now.

This whole trip will live in every single one of our hearts. We all have different experiences and moments that will live in our memory forever. God was always with us on this trip and will be with us forever.
-George, Moma, and Antonio

Day Four on the Camino

June 14 2010. Matty bones and Jack DougleBougle

Today for a change of pace we walked. Just playing, gotcha. However, we did have a shorter day than we are used to, walking only 18 clicks.Spain lingo. Views were fantastic!

We started in hotel just outside of Arzua, a phenomenal Spanish town. The views coming oput of Arzua were beautiful and full of rolling hills and tree covered valleys. We walked from really early to the early afternoon and chowed down on Spanish burgers at the hotel, which despite the hype were short and delicious. The dinner we had at the hotel was for a change chicken filet and fries vs. steak filet and fries which is the old standby.

After an afternoon, filled with spanish television, long naps, and bees galore, we had a devotional gathering in the beautiful hotel garden. As we sat, we reflected on character traits in ourselves that are less than desirable, and what we could do to improve on them. And, to conclude we wrote down the names of people we have hurt or been unkind to, people that we might need to ask forgiveness from and burned the names. It was completed as a cleansing, an act of forgiveness and had a powerful effect on the group. The only casualty was the ashtray that broke due to the heat of the burning paper inside it. We won´t tell the hotel about that, though.

All in all we are looking forward to making it to Santiago tomorrow and bonding with all our fellow pilgim homedogs. We have only about 7 miles to go, and we´re feeling the finish. We´re all excited for two more days of fun, EUCHRE and all the other good stuff.

So from Spàin,this is Desperado Jackie D, and Space Cadet MC signing off. See you all in three days.

June 13 2010

Another day down; 30 kilometers more exhausted!
We started off at Palas del Rei and began walking. Along the trail, about ten kilometers into our longest walk to date, we had our Eucharist outside a reluctant old spanish lady's house. Our tour guide, Debbie, then led us to a small town called Melide where we got to enjoy, according to Debbie “the most amazing pizza in Spain!” It was the first time we had eaten lunch before 4:00 p.m. on the trail. To be completely honest it didn't really compare to Mellow Mushroom.

As we reached our halfway point in Melide, Debbie informed us that we had a decision to make. We could either skip the last six kilometers and ride the bus, or we could complete the whole 30 km of the day. After a pump-up speech from John, the majority of the group continued on. This was a great example of all of us really digging deep, pushing our comfort zone, and stretching our limits, which all have been discussed a lot on our journey; we were becoming true pilgrims. It seems that as the days progress, the path gets increasingly hilly and it is definitely taking a toll on our feet. Also the humor seems to become increasingly worse as we all become too tired to think straight.

In the last 15 kilometers after our stop at the pizza place, we tackled an amazingly cool stretch of land that was awesome to traverse. During this stretch, meeting Germans was a reoccurring theme amongst our group. We all got a chance to really get to know some of the other pilgrims, and it made it easier to hand out the gifts we brought.

As we reached the summit of the last hill of the day, the sight of the Auruza city sign brought a smile to everyone's face. Soon after we boarded the bus to go to our hotel, we got our room keys, and the only sight to see was a bunch of napping pilgrims.

To be honest, I think a lot of people were not especially looking forward to walking all day long and the bus probably seemed like a better way to travel, but now I don't think that there is one person, who will regret this trip. Everyone of us has seen God somehow in some way through our environment and fellow pilgrims. It is a trip to remember!
-George and Ned

Day 2 on the Camino

June 12, 2010

Today, we walked. We walked a lot. We started off in Portomarin. From there, we walked 15 miles until we reached our second walking destination in Salas De Rei where we checked into our next hotel room. The walk today was beautiful. There was no rain just miles and miles of nature and olden architecture. However, it was a windy day. This brought about many of us pilgrims to double up on layers. The different varieties of wildlife; as well as, the great lengths of nature, really gave us a strong spiritual connection with God.
After our long walk, half of the pilgrims immediately sunk into their beds. We were all very sore and tired. Most of us found one negative side of the walking; blisters. Our leaders and fellow pilgrims were able to provide many, many cures; such as, mole skin, band aides, and neosporin. Our afternoon activity was to go see Roman walls in Lugo; however, do to the many cases of exhaustion and aching, we decided to relax at the hotel instead.
The lesson we discussed today was about our connections with other pilgrims that we meet on this journey. The question asked was, “How are we helping others?” We all took this into deep thought. How are we helping others? Well, sometimes it's the little things that are helping the most. Such as, helping someone out of the mud, telling someone which direction to take, and simply being there for support. The friendships made on this trip have helped to shape our Christianity and lifestyle altogether. The bonds we made with people all over the world bring us to new cultural heights we would of never seen if it weren't for this opportunity, and for that we find God and are blessed.

-Carolyn and Lia

June 11 - First Day on the Camino!

6/11/2010
Buen Camino! We woke up this morning rested (kind of) and ready for our first day on the Camino! After a great breakfast at Hotel Alfonso IX, we stretched out with Debbie and started our walk. After some intense stairs, we came across a small shop where most pilgrims purchased walking sticks. The walk started with a bang when a strange man started shooting violently popping fireworks at 9 a.m. right off of the Camino. We found out that he was announcing the start of a town festival, but only after scaring the whole group.

The weather started off cloudy but dry but soon deteriorated into sporadic rain all day. The trail was muddy from the very beginning but we encountered several other nice pilgrims along the way including a Norwegian man that had already travelled 1000 kilometers and had been walking for four weeks already. Despite the rain and the poor trail conditions, we got off to a quick start and everyone was really enjoying the scenic walk. We split up into smaller walking groups and set our own walking paces. Each group stopped at different stations along the way to add Camino stamps to their pilgrimage passports, and some groups collected at least 7 stamps! We passed many beautiful old buildings which had been standing for many centuries, including small homes along the side of the Camino. The views of the towns and countryside below were amazing at many points along our walk, even though it was slightly obstructed by the clouds and mist. As the rain got worse, our way became harder and we often had to walk through deep mud and water. As we crossed a small stream on an unstable bridge (composed of a single plank) a few different pilgrims tried to stabilize themselves by grabbing onto a barbed wire fence and unfortunately received a few scrapes but were okay.

Our distance of around 15 miles took the different groups anywhere from four to six hours. After finally reaching the steep decline which marked the end of today's journey, we crossed a large bridge in heavy rain across the Río Miño into Portomarín. We managed to reach a pizzeria for lunch and celebrated as the group came back together after finishing the walk. After a quick shower, we visited a monastery which was the largest Cloister in Spain and were able to tour the grounds and witness a bit of their evening Mass. With sore bodies, we returned to the hotel for dinner and a picture slideshow. During devotion, Marie challenged us to look for the “God moments” of our first walking day of the pilgrimage and we shared our thoughts. Our personal “God moment” was witnessing a biker retracing his path on the Camino up an extremely steep hill to bring his friend a spare tire to replace a flat tire.

Although today was by far the most challenging day yet, we were amazed by the constantly upbeat and positive attitudes of every single member of the group. Tomorrow may be a difficult day with our aching muscles and blistered feet, but today was truly an achievement for every pilgrim on the Camino, both in our group and others. After a long day, we are all looking forward to what is sure to be the best night of sleep yet on our trip!

Wish us luck! Annie and Natalie

(Post from June 10 below)

June 10 Travel Day to Sarria

6/10/10

Today was the least eventful day so far, as we spent over 11 hours on a train between Barcelona and Sarria, our departure point for the Camino. A few people in the group started the day with an early morning Starbucks run, which, like the trip to Burger King, really helped us get a feel for the local food scene. We got to the train station around 8:30 to catch our 9:00 train to Sarria, and like yesterday, it was raining.

On the train we nearly filled up a car (except for a few unlucky Spanish people who had to sit in with us and our noise), and for the next 11 hours we found time to deepen relationships with people people through card games, conversations, and trying to translate the Spanish version of “It's Complicated.” Though the train was boring at times, it was a great way to bridge the gap between the sightseeing of Barcelona and the actual walking pilgrimage we start tomorrow. Passing through the Spanish countryside, we saw the varied landscape of Spain – the sights of mountains, valleys (with lots of windmills), forests, and rivers excited us as it gave us a glimpse of our upcoming trek.

We arrived at our hotel in Sarria around 9:00 after a short bus ride from the train station, quickly checking in and eating dinner. Our hotel is really nice – the rooms are spacious and all of us were really happy to find our bathrooms equipped with bidets.

We have an early start tomorrow so we can get on the trail as soon as possible. We're all a little apprehensive about the physical demands of our trip, but the train ride today gave us renewed focus on our goal. As Kathy Roberts emphasized on the train, we are now leaving behind our ties to Atlanta and embarking on something completely new as we make our way to Santiago de Compostela in the community of other pilgrims pushing towards a common goal.

See you soon, Ben & Robert