crazy making?!

there are so many stories to tell about the Camino. so many reflections to share and photos as well. and yet life moves on...and so i am going to attempt to share both the present moments, and the many moments and highlights of the Camino. i am not sure this is the wisest decision but i fear if i don't keep up with the present moment i will be stuck trying to recreate it all later. 

so here goes.

we did it. the Scientist, the Healer, the Officer, Ovi and I got to Santiago de Compostela, TOGETHER. it was a week ago today. we were together the last 100 kilometers. we walked, talked, met new people, reunited with old, shared memorable meals, witnessed beautiful sunrises and sunsets...and we walked through the arch to the sound of bagpipes and shared emotional moments in front of the Cathedral. yes the same Cathedral some of you saw us in front of with the webcam. 

the Officer was more outwardly emotional than the rest. with good reason, he shouldn't have been able to accomplish this. his doctors told him not to do it. his body was wracked with pain and illness throughout the weeks.he had every reason to say, "i will complete the Camino another time." 

it was his dream and he did it. 

and each of us, with our own doubts, injuries, worries, fears, or whatever else could hold us back...we did it too. all of us came to the Camino for our own reasons, different and personal reasons. our arrival in Santiago was shared and still deeply personal...for me it was memorable because both were in balance.

we stood in front of the Cathedral. we walked hand in hand up the steps to enter the same cathedral that has seen millions of pilgrims through the decades. i sat in awe and gratitude not quite sure it was all real. even when holding the Compostela in my hands with my name written in latin it didn't feel real. during the noon pilgrim mass as they read out all the pilgrims (they read the home country and starting point of the pilgrimmage, no names) who had arrived that day it took everything i had to translate the mass and most importantly the homily which may have been one of the most powerful i have ever heard. still it was all sort of surreal.

we stayed in Santiago for another day and then went to Fisterra, literally what the Romans believed was the end of the earth (in latin, Fini terra). then it became real. when i saw the water and that there was nowhere for me to walk, i knew and could feel my pilgrimmage was complete.

in the week since we arrived in Santiago there were many celebratory and goodbye dinners. we had days of goodbyes which for me were bittersweet. it was sad of course. sad to say goodbye to people who shared in this incredibly special and unique experience. sad to recognize that i may not see some of these people ever again. sad to say goodbye and so very happy to have shared even a moment of my life with them. because whether i see them again or not, whether we are facebook friends or skype buddies or friends for life via email, whether we visit each others homes or we reunite in another country or another camino...i know i am better because i knew them and i know my life has been greatly enriched because of what we shared.

so, while yesterday was strange and a bit sad...waking up without my friends, a new city (A Coruña), a new part of Spain and just myself....it started the next phase of my travels.