Scallop Shell

Happy Wednesday! I have two days to recap for you guys. Tuesday I woke up in Puerte de la Reina at around 6 and hit the road. It had rained the night before and it wasn't done yet. About 15 minutes into our walk I pulled out the poncho Canada gave me the day before. I only brought a rain jacket that is wonderful for me, but it's really my backpack that I need to stay dry. So, the poncho helps out both. The rain came down hard for a long time, and I was drenched. I was walking with England and south Korea again and we decided to stop into a bar for breakfast to get a break from the storm. I rearranged my backpack because the dollar poncho wasn't exactly top of the line. I brought a garbage bag that I used as a liner inside my backpack. I put everything inside the trash bag and wrapped it up inside the backpack. This kept everything dry for an entire day of walking in the rain... Except me, but that's okay. When we got to the checkpoint for the day I decided to separate from the others. You see, they send their bags ahead to a hostel and I am free to go any one I want because I have everything with me. I wanted to meet new people and be on my own. I had met some of those I stayed with before. However, to not have my core walking group was a nice change. And this morning I was totally on my own. I walked 21km solo and it was awesome. The scenery today was really cool and different then it has been.

About 5km into the walk I came to the wine fountain. Along the route there are water fountains to fill your bottle, and today there was a fountain of wine- AMAZING. After that, it was farm land, old village with a sweet cross from the 12 century, and lots and lots of farmland. Everyone talks about what is growing but I am clueless. I just see bunch of green stuff and yellow stuff. When I came to Los Arlos I was pretty excited to be stopping. It was only 1ish, but I was exhausted. The heat was a lot. It's funny having everything in Kilometers and Celsius. I never have any idea of how far I'm going or how hot it is outside. And I am okay with that...

People from home have been asking if I got lost yet. They are curious of how I know where I am going. Well, it's actually quite easy. It's not very crowded so I can't just follow someone. There are many times I don't see anyone for hours. The guidebook is great but it doesn't go turn by turn, it goes town by town for the most part.

The symbol of the camino is the scallop shell. I knew this ahead of time because everyone ties one to their backpack. The scallop shell also is used as an arrow. All along the route, on signs, the street, trees, buildings, etc. there are yellow and blue scallop shell logos pointing you where to go. Occasionally, there are yellow arrows instead of the shell. Really, no guidebook is necessary. Except for the fact that I enjoy knowing what is coming up as well as reading about each place which the guidebook does offer.

When you are walking for almost 13 miles a day... You see a ton of scallop shells as arrows. It was on the first day when someone explained it to me, and ever since I can't stop thinking about it. When you look at a scallop shell, there are a bunch of lines all heading to one point. The lines represent the different caminos that all lead to Santiago de Compestela, Spain- the finish line. No matter where we are coming from- our goal is the same. Just like in life... We are all coming from different places, situations, backgrounds, etc. etc. But for the most part, we are all heading in the same direction. We are living our lives to reach heaven, to come face to face with God. How many people think that it has to be a certain way of life? You have to do THIS if you want to get to heaven. You have to believe or worship in THIS way if you want to get to heaven. I think we have a lot to learn from the scallop shell. There is more than one right route to that common goal. Who is to say which one is better? Is one better than the others? As long as you have your sights on the finish line and you know what your goal is in life, I think it's safe to say you will get to your destination. And on the almost 500 miles of this walk, I am thankful the scallop shells are pointing me in the right direction.


Sent from my iPad