That night in St Jean Pied de Port was characterized by tentative excitement and eagerness, that I hadn’t felt starting out from Paris that morning.
To me, getting to know people is truly a joy. It’s like opening a present that is truly a surprise. Usually at birthdays and Christmas we have strong expectations for presents, but if you have ever opened a present that came out of the blue you know the feeling I mean. Sometimes it’s not a good surprise and you don’t like the person you are getting to know and other times it just keeps getting better and better. Either way the excitement and newness of those first conversations is invaluable.
With Kyle, Kevin, and Ally, I found our conversations to be of the best variety. I spoke mostly to Kyle as Kevin and Ally were a couple and we ended up platonically paired off. Kyle had had a very different life from me and had so many interesting anecdotes and stories to tell. He’d gone to boarding school, had a famous father, worked as a ski instructor… Such interesting life experiences that were so contrasting to my own!
Much of our chatting occurred during and after the evening meal at our albergue.
There was an indescribable atmosphere at that meal. We sat in a large kitchen at a vast wooden table that could easily accomodate the dozen or so people who joined the meal. All the food was cooked there at the hostel and it was such a feast. My mouth waters thinking about the cold pesto soup, beans, potatoes, veal, melon, wine and sangria that I shared that night with strangers, while feeling right at home.
Day one of the Camino de Santiago is a definite test of resolve and determination, not to mention physical fitness. In the Martin Sheen movie, “The Way,” a character gets lost and dies on this lovely section of the camino, where you cross the Pyrenees into Spain and the weather is more often bad than good. Thankfully, I hadn’t yet seen that movie and I was quite optimistic starting out in the morning with my three friends. We started after 7:00 (later than many pilgrims) so there was grey light showing us the way out of town. I felt well rested, though I was kept up by a cacophony of snores coming from the several Korean men sharing our bunk-bed filled room. I had met these men before going to bed and loved their enthusiastic response to my few Korean phrases and the dog tags I showed them that had belonged to my Korean “jaggi” (Jaggi = Darling or honey).
Regardless of our loud roommates and various levels of restedness we started out almost giddy with anticipation. The four of us talked and joked, took tons of pictures, and stopped often for short breaks from the steep hiking. Throughout the morning the day stayed cloudy and cool. We passed gorgeous mountain views and horses grazing in the midst of fog. Thanks to our eccentric pace we often passed and were passed by the same pilgrims so the faces became familiar.
Too quickly the rain began. It started off slowly and in his cheerful optimistic manner Kyle was sure it would stop soon. Minute after minute the rain kept coming and rather than wavering in strength in got harder. We stopped to pull out rain jackets and I covered my backpack. A few more minutes passed and I discovered my rain jacket was not at all waterproof (I hadn’t had a chance to test it in sunny Florida). I still stayed happy a while longer. I like the rain. It felt refreshing while walking the steep paths. Except it never ended.
Soon each raindrop was an added misery. Kyle’s rain jacket also failed and he had no pack cover. His smiles and jokes disappeared and we began to walk mostly in silence. Eventually we rounded a bend and saw the odd sight of a mobile cafe set up along the way. The small overhang gave a little shelter and I immediately bought a hot chocolate to warm my freezing fingers. The higher we walked the colder it got and unfortunately standing still, while soaking wet, doesn’t do much to warm you. Up to that point Kyle and I had mostly walked a little ahead of Kevin and Ally. However, after they caught up with us at the tent and we all started out together he shot ahead like a machine, never looking back.
The way was no longer conversational or cheerful. Soon I had separated from Kevin and Ally also and walked alone. The wind was intense and blew the vicious raindrops into my face. My hair was soaking and while my clothes were warm against my body as I walked I knew that they were drenched with rain and sweat as well. Once I slipped in the mud on a small path with a steep drop on one side. My knee slammed against a rock, but the pounding in my chest affected me more. By that time my body and mind were mostly numb from cold and resolution. My half-conscious mantra was the title of this blog, “One foot in front of the other, that’s one less step I have to take.” Unlike the rest of the camino there were no options to stop early on this day. The one hostel between St Jean and the next town was far behind me and could only be stayed in if you had a reservation.
I was only half way through the first day of my month long journey and already wondering why so many people chose this over a resort on the beach.
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