On the Camino, but not walking — Debbie Lamb Turner

Insights, Inspirations & Ramblings

To me, the Camino is a snapshot and metaphor for life. It has a beginning, an end, and a journey in between. The Camino journey provides opportunities to experience things with new eyes and it provides lessons to be applied to your life. I’m stunned by the unexpected ‘lessons’ that it gifts if you are open.

I didn’t expect to have the same experience this time in Spain as I did on my last two experiences. I was facilitating a group of ladies, moving their backpacks forward, and preparing their lodging for the night of their arrival. I was not walking daily like they were, so I didn’t expect to be affected in the same way. Boy, was I wrong. I had a lesson that shook me to my core.

On the last day walking day before our short adventure was finished, I arrived into Granon (one of my favorite places ever, by the way). I had hauled the backpacks up the uneven stone steps into the large room where we would all spend the night next to each other on mats on the floor. I had paid the donation for the room and dinner, and gotten a schedule of the events that the albergue offered. There was only one thing left to do – find a bank. Every so often I had to refill my Euros as most places only accepted cash, and today was that day.

I walked across the street from the albergue to a tiny café to ask for directions to the bank. The place was packed with a line of pilgrims extending clear out the door. As I entered, I saw one lone young woman handling things. She was taking orders and ringing up the sales, while another woman was in the room behind cooking and filling the food orders. What could have very easily been chaotic, was not. The young woman, who I later found out was named Irina, was smiling and completely relaxed. There was music playing that the pilgrims were either swaying back and forth to or singing along with. I had to laugh as I entered because the song “Hit the Road, Jack” was playing. How appropriate, I thought.

I inched my way up to the left side of the counter, where Irina would come to drop off the orders and call out, over the music, the person’s name. My plan was to catch her on her next trip over and quickly ask where the bank was. So, I waited.

As she came to drop off an order, she paused to pick up two dirty cups and saucers that were left there by pilgrims. I thought, ‘Now’s my chance’ and quickly blurted out one of the few phrases in Spanish I knew – “Perdon. Donde esta el banco?” (sorry, I don’t know how to put the tilde, the little accent marks over the Spanish words, but you get the gist of it.).

She turned back around, as she had already moved to walk away, sat the cups and saucers down, and purposefully took my left hand and cupped it both of hers. She completely disregarded the long line of hungry pilgrims waiting to be served, and instead paused to look intently into my eyes. Irina then softly said to me, “Buenos dias”. If I could have disappeared, melted into my shoes, whatever, I would have. I felt so embarrassed.

In her kind loving way, she taught me a monumental lesson, ‘Don’t walk in here rudely blurting out your question. It doesn’t matter that I’m busy or that you’re busy. Stop. Look me in the eyes. Greet me first. Then ask.’

Because I was too flustered to muster up any weak form of Spanish, in English I replied, ‘I am so sorry. Buenos dias’. She just smiled, gave my hand a squeeze and replied, ‘Buenos dias’ and proceeded to tell me how to find the bank.

I humbly walked out and headed to the bank hoping I wouldn’t have to see Irina again. I didn’t want her to think, ‘There comes that rude American woman’.

As fate would have it, I DID have to see her again, several times. This was a tiny village and the only place to get anything to eat, and by now I was hungry. So, I checked my pride and walked back in. Of course, she recognized me as I entered. She looked up from her register and gave me a big smile. Over the crowd and from the back of the café, I yelled out to her, ‘Buenos dias’. She greeted me back and we both laughed.

I’ve lovingly thought back several times since then about Irina and the precious lesson she taught me. I realized how many times I rush through life not really noticing the people I pass during my day. The opportunities I miss, and sometimes even avoid, to say hello or give a passing stranger a smile. What am I doing that’s so important? Where am I going that I don’t have five seconds to pause to acknowledge another human being?

I’ve returned home now and yesterday I was hiking our familiar Pinnacle Peak with my husband, Mike. He was ahead and I was going at my own pace as we always do. As I was coming back down, a young man approached me carrying his little boy (maybe a year old) on his backpack. Even though he was still a little way away, I could see this sweet little boy peeking around his daddy’s back waving like crazy at me. I smiled and waved back to him, and we high fived as we passed.

Again, I was reminded what it means to be seen by another person. To be acknowledged and smiled at. I hope I remember that lesson for the rest of my life.

The familiar phrase is, “The Camino provides”. And, yes, it does. But if we’re open, those lessons can also come at home or hiking a mountain by your house.

Tending to the Camino preparations for the ladies these past several months has kept my mind busy and not dealing with the idea of going to Spain, being on the Camino, but not actually walking the Camino. This morning it became real.

Today was the first day of the walk. Yesterday was a travel day and the focus was on making sure everything flowed smoothly, which I’m happy to say it did. The bigger challenge was keeping everyone awake until they could climb into bed for a good night’s rest before the big day that lied ahead. Many had been awake for 30+ hours, as most weren’t able to sleep well on the plane. When you combine the apprehension of the long day ahead, being in a new experience with nine other women they barely knew (if at all), and utter exhaustion, one may have expected a pretty miserable day. Instead, the women were pleasant, agreeable, and fun! It was yet another confirmation of the incredible mixture of beautiful souls that I am blessed to share this experience with.

Joyful anticipation, peppered with bit of nerves, filled our group this morning. We went for coffee and croissants to start the day, then a quick stop by Josie’s café to pick up the picnic lunches that had been lovingly prepared for them.

One quick picture of all the women on the bridge where the journey begins, and then they were on their way. I wished them all well, gave quick hugs, and offered last minute bits of reassurance. Then they turned and headed out on their unique precious path.

I felt a bit like a mother bird watching her little ones leave the nest for the first time. I was filled with emotion. Lots of emotion. I felt so proud to know these courageous women, many of them dealing with personal life changing events, some with medical issues or injuries, and all with uncertainty. But, they weren’t about to let any of those things stop them. They held an intention to lift their lives to a new level, and nothing was going to stop them.

I shared with them the night before not to be surprised when unexpected emotions arise as they walk. I told them to be prepared for that, but I didn’t think that advice would apply to myself. A whole myriad of emotions overtook me as I headed back to the hotel to catch my ride ahead, and in the brisk morning air tears of gratitude and love flowed.

Shortly afterward, I was greeted by a warm smile and friend face. My shuttle driver, Julien, was the same young handsome Parisian who transported our group from the airport yesterday. On my ride to Roncesvalles today, I sat next to a lovely lady in her 70’s from Guatemala walking the Camino with her husband.

When I arrived at the albergue, which is situated on the property of a beautiful old church, I headed directly to get spots secured for our group. But that wasn’t to be. I found that beds couldn’t be held without the person physically being present, even though I had copies of all their passports. The hospitalero informed me that they have 183 beds and he received word from the pilgrim’s office in the town we had just come from that 400+ pilgrims had checked in yesterday. You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that was not good news. After checking my guide book and attempting calls to several nearby albergues in my broken Spanish, I was not having any luck. I could not tell nine women who had just walked 15 miles up over the Pyrenees Mountains that we didn’t have a place to spend the night. I knew I needed help, so I solicited assistance from a lady at the tourism office, a man running a bar, and finally a table of hopitaleros having coffee, and a reservation was finally confirmed at an albergue a mile and a half away.

The Camino is always full of surprises and things not going the way you planned, but I didn’t expect this situation to come up so early on in the journey. Circumstances that look like a set-back or problem typically seem to work out perfectly in the end. I expect this new place will offer something special we wouldn’t have been able to experience had we stayed at our original planned place. A familiar mantra on this path is, “The Camino always provides”. I absolutely agree, although you have to be flexible, allow the change to occur, and handle situations as they come up.

This was a good reminder of my unique and important function with this group. Even though I’m not make the actual ‘walk’ myself, I am immersed in the spirit of the Camino and the profound impact it has on those bold enough to brave it’s ever-changing path. I am so grateful for the privilege to support and serve these pilgrim sisters of mine.

It will be interesting to see how this new Camino experience unfolds for myself and for each one of the women!

Insights, Inspirations & Ramblings

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