What I learned in my short time on the Camino

[Covey]

ClaireB..............

"They usually have sandals with socks, not overly fashionable but practical clothes and often walking slowly and stiffly/sorely with a shuffle or hobble."

The reason for wearing socks with sandals is not in the interests of sartorial elegance, but in the dual interests of helping the Compeed to stay put, and secondly to avoid putting people off their food and drink by waving ones bloodied stumps around in public!!

The Camino Shuffle is a well known affliction amongst Pilgrims. Usually manifests itself in the evenings after sitting down for an hour whilst consuming cold beer and then needing to get up and move! The spirit is willing, but the feet are weak and appear glued to the spot.

[Lipka149]

So this time I have walked in hope, next time I walk with thanks.

My dear Claire -

IMHO, I think that your thanksgiving has already begun.

Enjoyed your "sock with sandals" observation ! I was roundly criticized by the fashion police when I came home. No problem in Spain though ... I just looked like the rest of the Germans.

Compliments on your expressive writing as well. You will make a good doctor.

[ClaireB]

The reason for wearing socks with sandals is not in the interests of sartorial elegance, but in the dual interests of helping the Compeed to stay put, and secondly to avoid putting people off their food and drink by waving ones bloodied stumps around in public!!

The Camino Shuffle is a well known affliction amongst Pilgrims. Usually manifests itself in the evenings after sitting down for an hour whilst consuming cold beer and then needing to get up and move! The spirit is willing, but the feet are weak and appear glued to the spot.

Love it, so true Covey!! Socks and sandals are so incredibly comfy I was devastated when it was no longer fashionably acceptable to wear them but after making fun of my dad for copying his english friends on holiday I wouldn't dare wear them after Santiago

And thanks so much Alan, I'll try!

[ClaireB]

Well done Claire and a very well written journal too ....
If you want a photo of the 13km marker you can borrow my avatar photo lol, I made sure to get a pic of my rucksack at the 13 km marker as that is my birthday , you can edit out the ruchsack and the graffiti:-]]
Well done again . http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...om1313/061.jpg

Thanks freedom13, and now the 13 bit makes complete sense!

[Covey]

It always amuses me that on the Camino we are in a world of our own. Where else can one have an erudite conversation on the relative merits of Compeed or the needle and thread.

Where else does it seem quite natural to be having a four way conversation in multiple languages whilst surreptitiously trying to work out if that blister you keep prodding has got any larger since the last time you looked.

Where else can you be sitting on your bed having a learned discourse on the scenery and life in general whilst surrounded by enough items to restock a pharmacy, and trying to look nonchalant about pulling large areas of skin from your extremities and hoping that it will all have healed by 6am tomorrow morning.

Where else do you judge a person by looking at their boots? Are they seriously worn, or pristine and spotless from spending all day in a bus?

Where else can you be your true self?

[Precious1]

"Where else can you be your true self?"

So true, Covey!! I keep harking back to that "true self" ; it is so easy to fall into false selves again. But having that vivid memory gives me the chance to get up off the ground, dust myself off, and walk on the person I was meant to be, with my fellow peregrinos, toward the horizon, and the stars beyond.

[Covey]

The Camino is a great leveler. We all dress much the same, and most of us look as though we were dressed by the local charity shops. Our clothes have not seen an iron in weeks. Every day is a bad hair day for Da Ladies. Bling is just extra weight to carry and something more to lose. Makeup (normally only seen on Da Ladies from France) is definitely an optional extra if you want to carry extra weight. Most of us sleep in albergues and bed bugs are no respecter of wealth or rank.

So, all thats left is the real you, shorn of all the props which help define who and what you are to others. No wheels, no designer clothes (it has been mentioned before that Berghaus, NorthFace etc are not front line designer labels for most ladies!) just the real you for others to accept for who you really are.

The other nice thing about Pilgrims is that nobody sits in judgment. You are who you are and there is only one who will judge us in the end.