Two weeks in...

So... it´s pretty much been two weeks since I´ve contacted anybody from back home - family included! I finally spoke to them yesterday, and it was great to hear familiar voices (as opposed to the voices in my head)! Happy birthday to Nay - sorry I missed it :(


Some Figures
I´m now in Frómista - I passed Burgos 3 days ago. I´ve walked around 300km of the 830km from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela. Generally, by 10:00(am) I´ll have walked at least 12km plus stopped at a café for some breakfast! I´m currently walking around 4km/hr, although for the first week and a half, I was walking (or limping!!!) at a much slower pace. I´m 14 days in, and am still on track to reach Santiago de Compostela for the 24th July 2010.



The Pain
Now... my pain isn´t even a tenth of what our Lord and Saviour suffered I´m sure... but I was still in pain nonetheless - so much so that I was over-dosing on Ibuprofen (I, being someone that doesn´t take medication!), and still waking up in the middle of the night wanting to scream in pain because any rotation in any direction of my knees was unbearable. The first two days were great for me - simply because I hardly felt any pain, compared to the third day onwards. But for seven days after this, I limped my way on El Camino, and caught a bus to cover 15km of my walk on my most painful day. I also paid for my guitar to be transported for two of my worst days too. A blister under the balls of my feet also made it very difficult to walk on some occasions, so I removed 2.6kg from my rucksack and got it sent to Santiago to bring back home with me from there. So the first week was pretty devastating for me, in that my struggles almost seemed like they would remain for the rest of my Camino. Feeling as though the bottom half of my body was going to drop off made me question my physical strength - something which I never had a problem with until this point in my life!



Strength
I probably would have given up if I hadn´t received a divine intervention - since that very very special moment for me, I was determined not to give up - and I was also determined to carry my guitar and walk as much as I could through the pain. I know I´m meant to finish this Camino, and I know that I must do it in God´s good time. My knees are getting much stronger now, and for the past 5 days, I have been walking with my guitar (albeit with knee braces, so now I have the infamous knee brace tan lines!!!). My healing is happening much faster than I could have ever anticipated - so now I have no intention of catching any more transportation to get me to Santiago - and I´m really enjoying myself... no regrets, and feeling truly grateful for my life.



Reflection and Prayer
12 days of walking, have truly helped me to focus so much more on my faith, and on myself. One thing I´ve noticed on this journey, is that I seem to know my self, my heart, my thoughts, my environments and my relations much better than many many other people seem to know theirs on this Camino. It´s very strange - for today was the first time I encountered someone else that was walking El Camino for religious reasons. In fact, I encountered two! For a few weeks, I thought that perhaps I´m the only religious pilgrim on this particular route! I also encountered another Brit for the first time today - he certainly wasn´t walking El Camino for religious reasons because he asked me if my guitar´s got any drugs stashed in it. His reason for walking from France to Santiago were that he´s just walking the dog!

My prayer time is intense, and I am totally loving it. I am communicating with God constantly, and praying my Rosaries numerous times a day - for Pope Benedict XVI and for a particular person, persons, or thing/s. If I´m walking with someone, I will ask them if they will give me time to pray. I´m immersed in a oneness with God on this journey - in every village or town there is a Church I can visit - so I go every two or three days. Whenever I can, I prefer to stay at the Convents, and pray with the sisters. Just last night, I spent my prayer and reflection time at Rosary and Benediction, plus vespers with the Sisters of Santa Clara. Tomorrow night, I will stay at their Convent Hostel in Carrión de los Condes, and on Thursday night, I will stay with the Benedictine Mothers at Sahagún. I´m very excited about it - I feel so at peace in the Convents, and I also somehow feel cleansed and exhilarated (sp?) in the presence of such pure and beautiful women. They are the closest inspiration to the Blessed Virgin Mary that I can experience here on this earth. I especially love to hear them sing their vespers - my feelings and my thoughts are emptied to everything but God at these precious moments.

During my pilgrimage, the concept of time is judged only by the sun, and my own physical body. Everything that needs to happen for me, will happen by God´s will alone. This means my decision making has been very... lax. One of the most important decisions I must make, is on a particular relationship back home. With every step that I take, it´s spirit is constant in my heart and in my head - and this relationship is perhaps the only thing I can´t seem to just let go of so that God may do as He wills. I guess it frightens me that what God wants might not be what I want... but I have three weeks left to work on it and truly offer it to God. Otherwise, the questions that I ask such as ´should I go to Mass today?´or ´Shall I wash my clothes by hand or spend EUR3 on the washing machine?´I hardly dwell on and just let the sun answer it for me, and see if my body can manage it depending on the plan for the rest of the evening. My life is in God´s hands - I´ve submitted it so that I can get the best out of my Camino as I possibly can.


Diary
I keep a daily diary of some key contemplations of the day. It will help me to remember what I felt and experienced during my pilgrimage. The amount of freedom I feel, and my closeness to my faith, which I was so much in need of. I´ve thought of printing one copy professionally just for myself. I´ve never been able to keep diaries - I´ve normally been so bad at it! But I´ve been so keen to enter my thoughts and feelings into this one. It is one of the jewels of my rucksack at the moment - along with the guide that I have (which I think is the best guide I´ve seen so far)!


Hospitality
The hospitality of the Albergues in general has been absolutely wonderful. I particularly like the Parroquial Albergues - the ones run by the Parish - as these are normally the most communal albergues to stay at. If there are no Convents to stay in a village/town, my next preferrential type of albergue is the Parroquial, despite its usually limited facilities (such as lack of hot water, and washing machine, or beds on legs!). I´ve been told that I have a knack for finding great places to stay at - but all I can say to that is - God wanted me to stay there.


Songwriting
I´ve written a verse to a brand new song that plays on the idea of time - the message being that things will happen in God´s time. I also put a melody and some chords to a prayer that we prayed at Eunate in a Knights Templar Church, open only to us that stayed at that Albergue. I also have in mind a gentle song for the Blessed Virgin Mary - One who all Catholics should try and pray to every day. Perhaps I can translate my love for her into music with my idea - but as mentioned, in God´s time. I will receive the sign, just as I received the sign to play my guitar and compose a couple of days ago at Atapuerca.


Next
Once again, I return back to the freedom of media and communication! It´s a tad difficult when I know Spain are going to play, and I wouldn´t be able to watch the match, but I´ve managed to see 2/3 matches since I´ve been here. Plus my rosaries for the players and their backgound teams seem to be working ok (not that my rosaries are the sole purpose they are winning their matches or anything)! But otherwise, as mentioned before, please do send me private messages or email me if you have any intentions that you´d like my to pray for. Also, thank you to all the people who have been doing just that, and asking me to pray for particular intentions. I can tell you that I have been doing that, and most likely your intention has already been prayed for!