Sarria

This photo shows a phenomenon on the Camino I was unprepared for. I’ve been contemplating it for the last few days as it has been my greatest challenge. Not a UTI, not a freakish heat rash or 32km days or bronco-bucking bikes. But this.

To receive the coveted compestella, the certificate acknowledging your pilgrimage, one needs to document only 100km of walking to Santiago. This is where tours start: large groups, 20-30 people, move en mass on the Camino, corralled by shepherds with walkie talkies.

These well Intended but often ill-prepared groups take on the feel of a noisy social club. Participants walk 2 - 4 abreast on the trail, ghetto blasters are common, and awareness of the surroundings, including pilgrims who are not part of the group, is not a strength.

Support vans speed along the quiet roads, patrolling and picking up those in need, shuttling them forward, food and water available with a simple phone call.

There is a long standing discussion in Camino Land as to the difference between tourism and pilgrimage. It reminds me of the discussions regarding yoga as exercise or yoga as a spiritual discipline I’ve been grappling with for years.

Here is what it took me two days to come to, that is if you don’t count the 30 years of mulling it over in yoga: There’s nothing wrong with it. I just don’t like it, and that’s okay.

Tomorrow morning we begin our final 40km walk into Santiago. It should take us 8-10 hours. It’s going to be crazy.

Note:

There were many comments to this post on Facebook. Some defending the pellegrinos, another name for pilgrims, some “hating on them,” to use a colloquialism. This was my response to clarify what had changed in me.

“By the time I wrote this post I was over it, and I’m going to take it a step further and say I’m grateful for what happened because I came to realize a fundamental error in my thinking: if I don’t like something, it’s because someone else is wrong. That’s a big turd to recognize and get rid of. 

“From that place seems I have two choices, and since this is FaceBook and not a dissertation, I’m leaving it at just two. 

“One, I can accept the situation with out the dog fight of blame in my head, which is awesome, and figure out how to make lemon-aid out of a lemon. That’s what I did and I gotta tell you, I met some great Van-egrionos yesterday. 

“Or, two, work for change. If I lived here, if I were more invested in the continued success of this pilgrimage, which I have some concerns about (Sandy posted a similar photo to a camino discussion page on FB. Within 24 hours there were more than 300 comments), I would dive into it head first.”

©Theresa Elliott, All Rights Reserved