Day 41 Wednesday. October 15 (catching up, this was the day we arrived in Santiago) we spent the night in a Pension in Lavacolla called San Paio It was a sad little room with particle board furniture pink walls but it had an old tub that was wider and deeper than they make tubs now-a-days before sleeping I showered then filled the tub with hot water a few drops of essential oils and lay in it for over an hour I did my inner smile qi-gung I did a forward bend for what felt like ten minutes I was able to put my hands over the tops of my feet, flat against the bottoms - my knees were bent a bit but I was able to lengthen them after a while it was great I went to sleep at almost 1 and woke just past seven it was raining I went downstairs to harvest from my Facebook plantings of the night before mom was lagging behind a bit not feeling well we left and walked just a few hundred meters to the bar I ate at last night to have fresh juice with out sugar a selection of juices! I got papaya! mom got mango - it tasted like dead reconstituted syrup we were disappointed but today is the day we finish our walk so we started walking it was raining and it increased in pressure raining harder and stronger than it has at any other point in the walk (to be fair- it wasnt as windy as many places had been) I hardly took any pictures it was too wet we did not stop again until we got into the city and mom had to pee I got a slice of empanada there we walked it rained I told mom we could stop but we were so close and if we did not stop we could make noon mass she increased speed I was amazed we even passed some people see! you are not the slowest person on the camino! but the rain increased! mom said she could feel the water pooling in her sleeves under her forearms she said this is bullshit I said it is God testing us! we must persist! though, of course, we didnt have to I reminded her but she was committed: we were making mass! we kept going past pilgrims and civilians cowering under awnings and scaffolding our shoes filled with water pants sticking to our legs in the middle of the old part of town we found a Main Street of all covered malls and enjoyed the reprieve but rushed on to the hotel we got there at 11:40 but as we checked in mother decided she was exhausted completely drenched we were not going to the cathedral ok. we took everything out of our backpacks in our room though my poncho was saturated water pouring down the inside of it (and the hood was full of water because I had taken it off when we got into town) my bag was mostly dry though damp on the outside moms bag was drenched she was sad to discover all of her post cards and papers were soaked everything was wet we exploded our stuff all over the room mom took a shower I lay on my back on my bed in my underwear (wet) and undershirt (dry, oddly: my torso stayed dry) (I had been chanting my mantras at mother through the rain, holding the poncho away from my body with my finger counting. . . except when I took crosses apart on the cyclone fence to make a pentagram. . .) we got some messages from Tony he had been looking for us on FindFriends as we came in we told him our plan was to find good churros and chocolate he said he would meet us there after customary Mercury retrograde hullabaloo Tony met us at Cafe Casino which was a random picture I snapped to show how hard it was raining but also place with a full menu the chocolate and churros were not good but the Fabada was excellent (a bean stew with big white beans and fatback and blood sausage) Tony met us there we talked and I told him about the St Francis 800 anniversary exhibit that he had told us about but then came to believe it was in Salamanca but it was here we left him to go to the Pilgrims Office to get our Compostela (the paperwork that shows you have completed the pilgrimage. I think its an indulgence as well and allows you to go directly to heaven without stopping in Purgatory) (that thought is incorrect, I later discovered, it is only an indulgence on a Jubilee year: when Saint Jamess Day, July 25th, falls on a Sunday. . . the next one is 21 years away. a good age to walk again! should we start making plans?) but we walked right by it I saw an open door and was compelled to walk up the steps and enter it was the cathedral a side entrance I didnt expect. . . mom followed me in it seemed so different than I remembered it when I was here with Leo but then everything seemed different Id thought I would recognize the town but almost not at all this rain and having walked here. . . we walked behind the altar first and I noticed there was no line for the relic or whatever it is a big gold/silver/bejeweled statue of Saint James behind the altar - I remember waiting an hour or so with Leo to touch it it was empty right now so with no ceremony we went up the steps mom first then me the power in there was intense so I paused and gave it reverence and received the blessing what? I dont know I put some coins in the donation box outside there was also no line into the crypt where the box containing his ashes or whatever is it also felt powerful and I paused in reverence but had a bit more reservation still I put the rest of my coins in the donation box we walked out and staggered around the big cathedral all shrouded in scaffolding it was sad could hardly see it and the main front doors were all locked closed covered and barricaded you could go back there to see the arch, The Port of Glory but not touch any of the columns which there are many traditions for pilgrims attached to maybe I will need to walk here again some day - check the construction schedule first! we walked out through the opposite door we came in through and wandered around back to the front of the cathedral humph rain scaffolding but there was the art exhibit inspired by the St Francis octocentenial so we went in there Tonys poncho was folded over a railing and I looked at my phone to see he had found it and told us after he had looked for us at the pilgrims office and not found us so we saw the show I was thrilled by many of the pieces and enjoyed the art of the curation Yves Klein! Joseph Beuys! some artists Id not heard of but loved their work: Felix Gonzalez-Torres (Minneapolis) and Anthony McCall the former having huge stacks of prints labeled as endless copies - I asked a worker if I could take one they said Yes, they are endless and I took it as an important part of the art to take them - an act of recurring McCalls work was a huge room with haze machines and projectors I loved the feeling and lights and played in there for a while observing and making images I also took pictures of mom in front of other art works and projections upon looking at them later I was surprised at how young and elegant she looked in these pictures like entirely different faces than I was used to it was so refreshing to see contemporary art after all we walked through. familiar. an old friend. That Done we went to the pilgrims office escorted by Tony I told him I was planning on going to a sauna he said he was thinking about it as well he left us there we waited in line about an hour got our paperwork exited through the gift shop and mom bought a few things then we headed back to the room which smelled dank and foul we sprinkled essential oils around I left mom there and headed to the sauna . . . it was nice to walk through The New City shopping streets turning to neighborhoods just places normal people lived the flesh of this big city this pilgrimage destination this tourism machine . . . the sauna was. . . not what I wanted I continued to be disappointed there wasnt enough connection or celebration or beauty I felt out of sync there though did enjoy some stretching I found Tony there he was having a better time but has an entirely different relationship with such places we left together after about two hours and meandered back to the old city I got to voice all my woes and was surprised to hear how weary I sounded he said Im sorry I disappointed you I wanted to tell him that everything, everyone does. always has but I felt that was a bit histrionic he suggested we go eat and I was so disappointed with food for the last. . . weeks Id Judy been shoveling it in my mouth for sustenance but he assured me he would take me to Good Food I was dubious we wandered lost a bit I let him lead me he took me to Cafe la Flor the food. . . the beer. . . the ambience. . . the music- all excellent a joy to eat! it put a smile back in me and made me hungry again! we ate and talked nearly two hours then it was time for bed so we walked back through town I sang him No More Workhorse Blues and found the pathos this time - he got it mom woke up when I arrived asleep awake we talked a bit but I encouraged sleep cough syrup and sleep
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 04:48:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015