Month / April 2016

by Hunter

Hunter – Wednesday

Fell asleep in the woods before Rabanal del Camino. I woke up to the birds singing the sun over the mountain and sat silently in the moderate confort of my sleeping bag, waiting for the sun to warm the earth again. It was cold, but what else on the Camino isn’t? It was free, minus the cost of the tent and tarp. Rschel and I were free to talk openly, and not worry about disturbing other pilgrims. And possibly the best part, no half-naked snoring old men.

by Hunter

Frustration led to buying a tent

The longer I walk the frances, and the closer to Santiago I get, the more defeated I become. I’ve grown sick of the wide road. I’ve grown sick of the hundreds of pilgrims in every city along the way. I’m exhausted by the tourist traps. I wanted to come here to learn about leaving little impact. I intended to study agriculture while I was here. I can’t escape the feeling that I abandoned those goals in search of something else. Instead of trying to understand intricate agricultural prsctices, I’ve realized my desperate desire to first learn Spanish. It was foolish to think I could discover so much without a proper command for the language. My Spanish has improved tenfold, but most of that was not due to the Camino Frances. Ever since joining the frances, my only chance to speak Spanish seems to be ordering food from the cafés, and shirt conversations with the hosteleros. Most people on the Frances seem to have less of a command for the language than I do. I have a sense of regret that I can’t seem to change. I wish I would have taken another route. I wish we went right past Logroño up to the norte. I wish we would have taken a bus to Salamanca from Burgos. I would have missed out on some wonderful inter-personal connections with other people, but I would have felt less trapped by the Camino. The French route emminates tourism at its best. Most of the small towns here continue to exist solely for pilgrims to walk through and spend more money. The route has created a deep-seated dependency on pilgrims. It’s a sad truth of tourism. Spanish unemployment is through the roof, it would be foolish for them not to take advantage of the pilgrimage for a source of employment for these small plain towns. But the dependency takes away the hospitality. People here are friendly to pilgrims, but the rumors of farmers seeing pilgrims and stopping to invite them in for food and water has long been lost on this path. The frances is disenchanting, and I feel disillusioned by it.
We have shout 250 km to go, and I couldn’t seem to care less about walking this route.
I’m tempted to take a bus to the north or south, and seeing how close to Santiago I can get before the time is up. The Compostela has lost its importance. My stamps on my credentials have started to mean more than anything I could imagine.

My project has changed from my starting plan. Instead of the academic pursuit of rural development, I learned that true development comes from connecting with a community. So I’ve focused on Spanish studies, and placed a strong importance with interpersonal connections.

Update: Finished ranting, bought a tent. Will try to see if locals / albergues will lwt us set up the tent for free.

by Hunter

Hunter – thuesday/Friday

I’m sure we have to be over halfway by now. We pushed through today for about 40 km. We stopped in mansilla. Adrien and I cooked patatas bravas ‘fries with andalouse sauce’ and pasta carbonata, and Rachel did the dishes. We are very full from a good meal and good company.
But today wasn’t all sunshine and roses. In fact, the rain continued for most of the morning and afternoon. After about 18 km, we left a small town with a long way to go. Adrien, who had been skateboarding and walking with his board since Geneva, tried to push the board to me while I tried to catch up. The wet pavement made the board slip into an irrigation canal with filthy water running off the fields. He quickly threw off his pack and jumped into the water -forgetting about his phone, which somehow survived. He waded the strong chest high current up and down the canal for over half an hour, with no luck. The quick brown water had swept his board away from him. The mood of the three of us was a bit lower for the second half.

Note, that happened wednesday.
Thursday we took a bus for the last 18km into leon so we could find Adrien -the boy who lost his bestfriend- a new skateboard. We spent the day at the park enjoying the sun, and not carrying our packs. It was splendid. Friday we spent taking a long nap on the albergue, and wandering around the city a bit. It was a day of rest.

by Hunter

Hunter – tuesday

Made it 20km before our friend adrien realized he dropped a 20 euro bill 10 kilometers back. Rachel and I waited with his pack for a little over an hour while he skateboarded over the gravel road back to where we stopped in a field. He came back with 2 hands in the air, carefully – but quickly – rolling over the last hill on his beatup skateboard. We walked 5 more km and stopped at the next albergue with a kitchen so we could make dinner and breakfast. Everyday a new adventure.

by Hunter

Hunter -Wednesday

My phone was dead. Met up woth Evan, Jackson Aaron and Cooper yesterday, then walked into Burgos where we ran into Tracy, Sam, Brian, and Cecelia. I spent some of the day withing with a man from Michigan, who lived in Panama for a few years doing volunteer work for the peacecore. We also ran across a friend from the previous albergue in the evening – Aaron from Calgary. He introduced us to a interesting French man from Switzerland who we continue to walk with today. He started his walk from Geneva, going through France carrying along his 40 lb pack and skateboard. We took a short day. Rachel and i have depated from the rest of the class for a few days.