"Pace" has been a regular subject of conversation over the last several days.
Simon from England says that walking the Camino with someone is like being in a relationship. It doesn't feel like compromise in the beginning because you are having so much fun. But then comes a day when you want to stop, but the other person wants to press on. Or you want to press on, and the other wants a day off. And you have to have that difficult conversation about parting ways in order to stay true to yourself and your Camino.
I walked 4 or 5 kilometers with David from Australia recently who was trying to catch up to his "Camino family". He fell behind when he took a rest day back in Burgos. But he was committed to finishing the Camino with them, even if it meant a 30 kilometer day to catch up. His only complaint about the family was the American who wanted to take frequent breaks and pictures, which he felt slowed the pace of the whole group. I only walked those few kilometers with him because he was way too fast for me. At least if I ever thought about a day of 30k.
Even though Randy and I get teased by our fellow pilgrims about our slow pace, I read back to our first encounter and was reminded that setting our own pace was one of our goals for the journey. To not be pressured by anyone or any standard that says we should go faster or longer or come home sooner. But to listen instead to our bodies, minds, and souls to know how far and how fast to go.
Today we were also reminded about how much we would miss if we were racing through the Camino.
In the tiny town (population 150) of Poblacion de Campos, we stopped at a hotel around 1:30 p.m. and asked the matron if we could trouble her for a cup of coffee. She put on a pot for us and showed us to a leather couch in the lounge, where we promptly fell asleep. Embracing the national tradition of the siesta.
I can't imagine anywhere in the States where my backpack and I would be invited in, after walking 10k in the rain, and allowed to sleep on a hotel couch. But this lady acted as if we had paid her way more than 2 euros for coffee.
After some time we decided we better get back on the road if we were going to go another 10k before calling it a day. As we were starting to gear up she gave me the most pitiful look and said surely we could stay for an authentic Castillian meal.
"It's tradition," she said.
She spoke no English, and I didn't understand 90 percent of what she was saying, but I could tell that she felt it was her calling to care for us, and would be more hurt by us leaving without lunch than by anything else that could go wrong in her day.
Hollering out into the courtyard, she invited her brother's nephew to join us. And the four of us sat down to a bowl of soup.
We've been eating sopa de ajo (garlic soup) for about a week now, a typical dish in this region. But she made the dish "special" by adding garbanzo beans. And it was delicious. And filling. Especially since we'd just had a bocadilla (sandwich) in Fromista, just 3.5 km ago.
She took the soup away and we wondered how we would ever walk 10 kilometers on such full stomachs. And then she came back with a bowl of chicken and vegetables. Which she insisted we try, even if we just took un pocito (a little bit). By the time she offered us ice cream and fresh fruit for dessert we were way past saying no.
When she finally did let us leave two hours later, refusing any sort of compensation, she thanked us for our presence and gave thanks to God, saying that it is important to care for those on the journey to Santiago.
Not every pilgrim would take this kind of "time out" in the middle of the walking day, but I'm sure grateful that we did.
During our even slower pace into Villarmentero de Campos, where we had a drink with the hosteleria, and on to Villalcazar de Sirga, where a bartender agreed to open a bunk house for the 6 of us so we wouldn't have to walk any more in the rain (we met up with two Koreans and a couple from Holland along the way), we saw a snail, fed two donkeys, watched a train of caterpillars, and witnessed the most beautiful double rainbow.
All reminders that beauty, compassion, and the journey have nothing to do with speed.
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