Just when I thought day one was over, the activity started downstairs in the municipal albergue where folks were cooking up whatever we could find in the kitchen and in local grocery market… Spagetti, Boiled Potatoes mixed with cheese and tuna, some chorizo, and some Tempranillo wine from La Rioja region of Spain.
It was good to share some perspective on life with the younger ones a at the table, and also to hear a bit from each of them as to why and how they came to do the camino…
I was here reminded that for some, the camino is an attempt to recapture a sense of family that many have lost today. God made us to be in families and in community, as we are His image bearers, created to reflect His Glory with unity in diversity… at the table this evening… we had a diversity of nationalities, ages, world views, and life circumstances… but all of us, like every human being, “seeking” to fill a common void that all humanity shares, what Christian’s have referred to as the Christ shaped hole in our hearts.
Before dinner I was able to sneak in some reading as well as a call to home… my son, who is brilliant but not particularly athletic, hit a home run at baseball practice yesterday! I imagine that this was a marked moment for him, perhaps opening him up to more sports and physical activity in the future. I was really excited to get this news yesterday…
Finally, the whole group of us pilgrims, together with some of the folks from the community, had a bon fire where we all shared a bit of our backgrounds before the guitar was broken out and the rest of the evening spent singing and/or visiting.
One gentleman made a Spanish distilled concoction called, Quemada, the smell of which moved me back to the Tempranillo for the evening… entertaining watching the preparation, however…
After that, lights out. A good first day, but unexpectedly long first day, and the strange thing about the camino is the “instant familiarity” that is obtained by all living “day by day” and “communally.” It’s like time passes more slowly.
Part of the enjoyment is the little markers of presence all around that we too often overlook back home… the smell of a juniper bush on a cool breezy morning, the crunch of the pebbles under foot, the two storks nested on top of the church steeple, looking down on the passing pilgrims.
