The Hardest Day and the Greatest Lesson (so far)

People often think of the hardest day on the Camino in physical terms.  And yet for me, today was my most difficult day and I only walked around three miles.

.

I had awoken this morning with an earache.  My sinuses have been troubling me for days now but this morning I was so congested that I literally could not hear.  Peggy talked it over with Lorenzo at breakfast and everyone decided what I should do with today's leg of journey.  I knew that there was one steep climb that I should probably bus around but no one really asked me.  This was compounded by the fact that I could not hear.  It was as if I were 'invisible' and everyone talked about me in the third person as if I were not even there.

When we went to the starting point, we were at the ruins of the Cathedral of San Anton.  In ancient times, people with a rare disease that sounded like leprosy came here to be healed by St. Anthony.  As it turned out, they were victims of a fungus found in rye, which is what they baked their bread with.  Here in this region, wheat was used.  So after a period of time, they started healing.  It appeared to be a 'miracle' but in fact it was just diet.

It had been decided that I skip this first part of the journey and I was driven to a point about a mile up the road.   It was there that I would start.  The pick up point was just through town, also about a mile. Even with my crutches, that is only about 25 minutes.  Despite this slighting of my ability I found a smile on top of one of the village's building.  You have to look closely, but there is a smiling face up there.

Smile!

There was certainly no need for me to hurry so I took detours along the way.  Below is the backyard of a little zen-like museum that I found called the "hospital del alma" or the clinic for the soul.  It was filled with books, art work, incense and soft new age music.  There was no one inside and all that was asked was for silence and a donation.  I spent a bit of time there to contemplate.

Hospital del Alma backyard

As I approached the checkpoint, I came across this public water fountain.  I was not in need of water but it was nice to see that it was available. 

When I arrived at the checkpoint, I was driven to San Nicolas Hostel, which was the end of the walk that day for the group.  They were going to set up a picnic for the others when they arrived.  I wondered what I was supposed to do for the next 2 or hours.  I decided to walk to itera, the next village.  I stopped off at San Nicolas and found the volunteer there massaging the feet of another pilgrim.  In the back of this small church, I found a guitar and picked it up.  I played the chord progression for Pacobel's Canon and the music sounded nice in the small chapel.

I followed the signs and moved on to Itera.  They said that I should call them and they would come forward and pick me up and bring me to the picnic.  I was not about to go backwards at this point.  I should have gone further to the next town but did not. 

I waited there for about an hour and forty minutes.   When the bus came, we had another hour and a half ride into Leon where we would spend the night.  And so the majority of my day was spent sitting.

Sitting....or laying down

I declined dinner or going out with the group tonight.  Not out of spite, but because I need to regroup before tomorrow.

The Lesson:

When I was in graduate school I had a friend named Tyler.  He had cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair.  We were in a doctoral program together so make no mistake about it.  Though his speech was slurred and he depended on a caretaker, this guy was sharp as a tack.  We would go out drinking together and he took me to my first strip club.  One night, he asked me if we could go dancing.  I said sure, but how does he dance.  He said he would get the gals to jump on his lap and he would spin them around the floor on his electric wheelchair, a true lap dance.

Anyway, he said the reason he liked hanging with me was because I did treat him as if he were handicapped.  Surely, he was disabled, but he never considered himself handicapped.

What made today so hard was all anyone saw today was my handicap.  They never saw the man, just what they thought the man could not do.  That is the lesson.  I will never make that mistake!

Puede que tenga las piernas de un tullido pero tenga el corazon de un peregrino!