Not this year

So, probably will not be travelling this year. Had wanted to experience a Holy Year, and how it might be different, but barring some kinda' monetary and time miracle, not gonna happen. Next Holy Year will be in 2021, I believe. As it turned out, my dad ended up being hospitalized in early August, he is now in a nursing home of sorts, and slowly beginning to recover, so it's just as well that my other plans didn't work out, I wouldn't have gone. (My original plans had been to leave around the 19th or so of August.) Will finish updated this blog, which I suppose isn't a "blog" in the real sense, since I have been mostly writing/editing after the fact. I want to get it down, it is written elsewhere, in journals, in emails, etc. I'm trying to get it all in one place, and cohesive. To find a story line, and what I really want to say, if anything.

Peace

Portugal on hold

So, have come to the acceptance that this trip is not happening this summer, or year, which is too bad, but haven't been able to work enough to save up the money. Will give me time to heal the foot (which I think I really did in in 2007...I really need to just wear one of those "boots" and stay off of it) and possibly teach a class locally on the Camino Frances through a community education program at a local university. I have been considering that for a while, but had hoped to have walked to Finisterre before teaching it.  Maybe I can get better at portuguese as well, bought a CD-thing I try to listen to. I mostly just don't want to be reverting to spanish pronunciations.

Dreaming of Portugal

So, with enough vacation time and not much money, I´ve started dreaming of where I could go and came up with Portugal, not necessarily because of the economy, but because I can walk that section of the Camino (Oporto to Santiago and then Santiago to Finisterre) in the amount of time I have. I still would need some sorta´ miracle to get there, as I´m seriously in need of the funds to pay off my bills, monetary committments, and still have enough to buy a plane ticket and money to travel with. I am starting a new round of looking and applying for work. In my head, I am going late August, early September of this year.

I was looking it up on the internet, at the Camino forum, they have lovely photos of the route, which were inspiring, and now I´m waiting for a guidebook to check it out further. I´ve wanted to go to Portugal for a while. I don´t know if I would have enough time to also go to Fatima, but I´d like to. I need to figure out how I would get to Oporto from the States. I´m trying to get in better shape too. I have this idea in my head that you have to be ready if the opportunity arises. I have most everything I would need already, so that is not really a concern. Just need to pick up a bit of Portuguese and allay my fears of the unknown as much as possible. Sometimes if I think about going, I am a bit sad that it´s not the ruta Francesa, but I have gone 3 times on that route, so even though I am not an outsider, walking any of the alternative routes makes me feel weirdly left out, even though I haven´t even left yet. I realize how much I like the section from Portomarín to Santiago. However, I have yet to walk to Finisterre (or the St. Jean to Roncesvalles section) and I´d like to. It´s true that I may not go, it´s a long shot, but there is enough time for things to change in my life. I keep thinking I must surely be done, and then somehow, maybe I´m not. On my last night in Santiago, I met a man, Miguel, from Germany. In a short period of time he had walked almost all of the routes, every time he had vacation, he´d walk another section. I want to say it was over two years. I met him at the Pilgrim´s dinner at the Parador, he had just walked from Portugal.

I suppose my biggest concerns once I get there will: 1) will there be anyone else walking, and I´m guessing yes, since it´s a Holy Year, and even late in the year, there will be someone and 2) will there be anywhere to stay at night? The guidebook should help with the second.

I still need to fill in the other sections from previous trip(s) on this blog. I love that I can type in Spanish on this computer. Peace, L