Back home in Canada
june.2.04
Things are settling down for me now that I am back, all travelling set
aside and the experiences and people that I met along The Way often on
my mind. In fact last night I woke up Mark whilst dreaming aloud about
my pillows, I was commenting on how my pillow "Felt like my pillow at
home", apparently my mind was still on the Camino. I am starting back
at work tomorrow, Friday, and then the weekend is here! We
have a wedding to go to and for the most part my plans are working on
the garden and slowly adjusting back to my reality and life in Canada.
I am still in awe, partly jetlag that the Camino is over,
that I walked the kilometers, the pain in my feet are subsiding and am
thinking of starting to run on Monday night so long as Catherine, my
Massage Therapist, gives me the a-okay tomorrow morning!
Very important to mention some of the people, whom I consider friends,
that I was honoured to meet along The Waye. I know some of
them are still in Santiago and/or Finnistere and I am wishing them all
well and a safe journey home! I know some of you are reading
this so just know you are in my thoughts now.
There are some special people who stood out to me on the journey and
touched my heart in many different ways; Jo, Pau, Ben, Dave,
Paul, Emilia, Sunshine, Lawrence, BB, Katie, Roland, Ocacio, Sharn,
Antonio. Linda, Sarah; all faces in my minds' eye that played a special
and unique role in my journey. There are countless others
that I will remember and keep in contact with as well. Too
many people to mention! When Nicky met us in Santiago, she
couldn't get over the fact that we knew so many people in the streets,
we were constantly stopping and being stopped by familiar faces, we
couldn't remember all of their names but we recalled exactly where we
had met, shared a bit to eat, a sip of water, passed along a band-aid,
a kind word, a smile, shared a meal or glass of Vino Tinto.
It was simply incredible to be recognized and to recognize
others in a city so far away from home.
Perhaps the experiences I had on my Camino will be on my mind for a
long time, in fact for a lifetime, the countryside, the people, the
emotion, the food and wine just to name a few. The history of
the Camino is so rich and layered as was my experience hiking there for
so many endless days. Days that seemed to seep and intertwine with one
another, often I didn't know the day or time, I rarely looked at my
watch except out of a fun curiousity to lightly "track" our days with
my stop watch. Some days felt as though they would never end
and others went by so quickly, its challenging to recall where one day
started and another ended without having to refer to the webpage or my
personal journal of thoughts and experiences. There are
sights along The Way that I wish I could see everyday of my life, some
people you didn't want to leave behind and others you would just
constantly see time and time again, others who you would hope to see
again and never did, their purpose served, altho it won't be clear for
some time what that purpose was.
Along the way the one thing that stood out to me the most was other
people's kindness and openess to share so many personal
things in their lives so freely. I had come to walk the
camino alone and right away met two beautiful and
lighthearted souls with whom I shared most of the miles.
These two beautiful people are Audrey and Allie and I had the
pleasure of walking with them. At the end we did have to part
ways to get ahead and meet Nicky but it wasn't long before we were all
reunited again in an emotional fashion in Santiago. The three of us
went to the Pilgrim's Mass together and had one final round of
Cerveza's and tapa's and good fun!
As time goes on I will be updating this webpage with more personal
notes, thoughts, pictures from my Camino.
Love, Tania
Tania's Journey on the Camino 