Pillar from Our Home in Waterloo

This is the pillar that I found Nick's note in.
Rose had it at her home, and now it will sit in my home with a collage of pictures from the
Spain pillars.

Ephiphany sites

And the winner is

Nobody. Liz and Fran, you were each 10# off the mark. It's a tie.

p.s. we guessed how many #'s were lost. Winner got Coldstone.

Reflections

This is a "Goat" post. I didn't notice that Tech Mama's sign in was already on.

In the book "Walk in a Relaxed Manner" there's a "pause to reflect" list of questions. I gave each of us a copy of the list. Marian, Fran is sending your's with the things she has to give you.

1. I enjoyed walking down the downhill, rocky trails the most. I enjoyed the least waiting in line for a shower.
2. The most surprising thing was how little I remembered from the last time I did it. But that was cool because then it was a great "new" experience. And that my nails grew while I was gone.
3. Biggest regret was that I didn't order pizza in Portamarin.
4. The most challenging was leaving family and work for that long of a time.
5. The 5 key aspects I want to share with others are: northern Spain is so beautiful and they've done a great job making it possible to hike that many miles and only get lost once and having places to stay and places to eat, I documented with pictures Liz's ephiphany (the physical sites anyway), my feet are now calloused in one spot (hint,hint), I will only eat whole wheat, whole grain bread until next time, and LOS ROCK!!!!
6. The central teachings and lessons of the Camino are: live in the moment and shower as often as possible (thanks Joe. Your note helped remind everyone).
7. I will integrate exercise into my life and be grateful for many little things that I before took for granted.
8. My concerns about reentry are the 7 hour sleep pattern difference and the pile of work awaiting me (the deadline for individual extensions is in 9 days.

answers to questions

It's good to be home. It was an amazing journey of 5 weeks, for me.
1. What did I enjoy the most/least. I enjoyed the walking in Spain. What I enjoyed the least was the communal showers.
2. what were the suprises. Having a hard time ordering a water, because I didn't know the language.
3. Do I have any regrets. No.
4. What was most challenging. Trying to communicate , when I didn't know Spanish, it got quite frustrating.
5. What 5 key aspects of our pilgrimage do I want to share with others. the people, the beauty of Spain, my epiphanies, the churches.
6. What are the central teachings and lessons of the camino for you. Shit happens and you deal with it and move on. Plans change and you have to be flexible.
I'm so glad I went on this journey, I feel it's changed me .

Turn page

and more memorable people were noted

1. The fireman and the girl he helped put out the fire.
2. The honeymoon couple who were a carpenter and a kindergarten teacher.
3. The sweetie who stitched Marian's blisters. Top priority over all who were waiting to get credential stamped.
4. Paul the cab driver's cousin who went 60+ bumper to bumper down the highway with Fran.
5. Guy who wouldn't kill the spider. Instead took 2 pictures of it. "I can't kill a living thing".
6. Girl who handled "financial matters" for phone sex business (translated...took credit card #'s)
7. Elderly "bicylist" who conned pilgrims out of coffee and pastry with "I lost my $)