It's Official

Presently Processing the Journey

The offer was accepted, and although that sounds like a flat statement, I'm desperately trying to control my excitement as the process proceeds. Nothing is certain until those keys are transferred.

You know the sayings:
It's not the destination but the journey.
It's not the product but the process.
Live in the present.

Well, when I am in the yard, with the chickens, planting seeds, cleaning up, wandering my space, I feel the process, the journey, the present. Gardening, tending to chickens, yard work, those are my paintings, my creative outlet.

I love teaching, but I am exhausted by competing against the distractions that have infiltrated our lives. Begging, pleading, dancing, entertaining my students to be even remotely interested in what we are doing is soul crushing. I've had great success in getting students excited to learn, and I know there is a place in my future for education, but it is not in the public realm. If you knew the political bullshit and restrictions that we have to navigate, and then show up and love your kids, you'd be more supportive of those teachers that you depend on.

My passion for learning, discovery, creativity is moving forward.

Step 1, for real this time

With a week off of school, terrible snowy weather, and self induced isolation, I've found a farm to purchase. My brain has been imagining my farm life for quite a while, and I've been a bit vocal, but not so vocal that people will gasp at my impulsivity. You see, it doesn't seem impulsive to me, because this has been a imagined heaven on earth. The hesitation is, and has always been, fear. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of criticism.

The last straw came on November 22, 2019. My school had an early release scheduled, well early for students. We, teachers, had meetings in the afternoon, and were anxious and antsy to start Thanksgiving Break, a week off around here. At this 2:00 pm meeting (which seemed a little power trippy to me), my Principal decides to inform us that "our" (who, exactly, I'm not sure) excessive copying has created a budget deficit and if we don't stop, we will have to cut a position.

Um, WHAT?!? First of all, what kind of bullshit world do we live in that teachers are, literally, counting copies? Second, why in the holy hell would a principal decide to tell his staff this ridiculous information THE DAY BEFORE BREAK?

I set off home for a long, well deserved break. I know that I live in a world filled with greed. Amazon seriously paid zero taxes last year? Jeff Bezos is a trillionaire, pays his staff unlivable wages, and doesn't support the local economy where his businesses thrive? Education is deemed a low class job. The people spending all day with your kid is barely making it.

As I approach 50, life feels more important to live.

On top of the economic shit, there is climate. Yes, I agree, that the climate HAS changed over geologic history, and guess what, along with those climactic changes are extinctions. Like big ones, like 90% of living species gone at the end of the Permian. What is so sad and pathetic about what is happening with our current climate situation is that WE KNOW BETTER. We know how we got into this, and we know how to get ourselves out of it.

So there I was, with my self induced isolation, a frigid winter storm, frozen ice sheets for streets - dreaming of my farm.

Then I saw a FB post from a high school peer in NC. He was spreading the news about a farmhouse for sale, and the spark was relit. After some zillow searching, I found a property to explore more. Now I sit in waiting to see if my offer was accepted...

The spirit

My 7th grade language arts colleague assigned her kids to write their Christmas Story. Well, one student couldn't think of anything to write, so he interviewed me about my story...

“CHRISTMAS IS STUPID”

-Lisa Yemma-

The first reason that

Christmas is the dumbest event ever

Is because it is very stressful because everyone buys gifts

But then you have to buy them gifts,

Also, Everyone wraps all their presents

Just so that the wrapping paper can be torn apart

And it's not like the wrapping paper is doing us any favors

All wrapping paper does is pollute our world

When someone rips up wrapping paper

You can almost hear the pollution

Wrapping paper can't even be recycled

Then there are the people

who must for some reason have a dead tree

in their living room

Like you are cutting down a tree so it can

Stand in your living room and make a mess

Trees are like small children

And then there are those people

Who get fake dead trees

Fake dead trees are pretty much fake small children

Who wants a fake small child?

When Christmas rolls around

People buy people so much useless stuff

People like post pictures of all their

Presents, Food, and Decorations

And then there are like

#ChristmasTime

I would be like

#WastingAllMyMoney

Or

#BuyingMySecondCousinsSonLegos

Or

#UnnecessaryUseOfMoneyAndHashtag

And then you spend YOUR money

On a nice present

That the person uses like once

I’m just saying why even buy a present

If the present is going to be a RC car

That the kid uses once

And then tries to get it to fly off a ten foot ledge

And suddenly there goes your present

Half the presents people get

People don’t actually want

Christmas is the season of JOY

Hah sych

Christmas is the season of pooping

I mean like sure there is a lot of good food

But that just means that you gain like three pounds

And then every day you spend at least thirty minutes on the toilet

Because there is so much food

Which brings me to my next complaint

Waste

Not like the poop waste

No like the bad for the environment waste

And not just that but like food waste

Sure the mass amount of food

Is nice, But people throw away so much food

That or you just have two weeks of leftovers.

And then you have to clean up

Everything

Wrapping paper (#Wasteful)

Food

Dishes

Trees (#small_children)

Your relationships

Right Relationships

They tend to fracture

Over christmas dinner when people start to talk

Religions or Politics

And finally the worst part

CHURCH

Sure it's Jesus birthday

But cant we just go

“HAPPY B-DAY JESUS”

And then be done

Since when does Jesus want us to sing

We could just abandon Church

Or

WE COULD ABANDON CHRISTMAS

YAHHHH

My brain obviously does not work like yours.

I know the holidays are supposed to feel joyous, surrounded by excess food, family, laughter, warmth. Is that really how you feel? It must be, because you are already posting, and discussing.

For me, the holidays exemplify waste, living in excess, with unnecessary things. I don't feel surrounded by love, I feel surrounded by idiocracy. Dead trees in houses covered in junk. Lights strewn everywhere, pulling from the grid. Burning natural gas. Landfills with glossy paper that took less than 1 second to pull off and discarded only to reveal an unwanted, unnecessary gift. Cooking for 12 people when you only have a family of 4. Throwing away boxes, piles, food. Complaining that there needs to be two trash pick ups this week.

Pressure to conform. To buy you that unwanted gift I have to decide what to give up or how much to go in debt.

Fake smiles. How are you? Fine. You don't really want to know.

How do you do it? How do you pass through each dark, cold day singing carols, shoving food into your face?

Do you have anxious thoughts? How do you block them out? What is your secret? 

ADHD Time

A common misconception about people with ADHD is that because we're hyper, we need a lot of stimulation. I've suffered from ADHD and the corresponding anxiety for as long as I can remember, and as an adult, it has gotten worse, but I've figured out ways to have a positive impact. With my ADHD, my brain is already running a mile a minute, and more stimulation is exactly what I don't need. I think this is why I like gardening so much. Why I like hiking, being outside with my pups, going for long walks. Most of the time I walk without any music. I just walk. I've never really thought about this, but then I came across this blogpost:
https://yourot.com/parenting-club/2017/8/23/green-time-treatment-for-adhd-symptoms

As a teacher I meet kids with ADHD all the time, and I notice that they are on 4 different volleyball teams (yes, I can think of two students off the top of my head in which this is true for).

I know anyone can make a kid, but not everyone can be a parent. If you are not willing to put in the effort, please stop reproducing.

Is this a test?

If you think you would have stood up for Jews during the Holocaust, then what are you doing now?

A couple of months ago my book club group decided to that we should read "The Zookeepers Wife" by Diane Ackerman. Set in Poland during WWII, the zoo is bombed, animals are killed, and the zookeeper's wife hides and helps 300 jews during a time when her own family was at risk, and her actions could have had dire consequences. As I was reading this book, I was reminded of all the other WWII books I've read and movies I've seen, and the same thought I always get came pouring back.

What would I have done?

It is taboo to talk about this topic in this way, unless you say that you would have helped, you would have spoken up, you would have risked your life and your family to "do the right thing". Well, I don't know. Would I? If I were in the same layer of life I am now, lower middle class, little access to money, stuck in a crappy neighborhood, would I have spoken up/out? I don't know. I would, obviously, like to think, duh, of course, but is that true?

I bring this up to my book club, and of course there is that awkward silence. The sideways glances. Ugh, I can't believe she said that. What a horrible person. And yet, how many people didn't speak up? How many people just stood by while groups of people were deemed non human, not worthy of living, wrong.

And then 2017 happens. White supremacists? Seriously? In 2017, with our advances in genetics, our knowledge of the human genome, of our place in the classification of living organisms. Our DNA is a code of chemicals, the four chemical bases (ATCG) that make up our instructional blueprint it identical to the four chemical bases (ATCG) that make up every known living organism - bacteria, mushrooms, penicillin, spiders, an oak tree, and on and on. As humans we are multicelluar and need to eat for energy, we are therefore classified in the Animal Kingdom. Our classification leads all known humans to be in the same genus and species. We are one. There is one human race. In that same race, there are small differences in our DNA that lead to limited uniqueness. We like to dwell on differences, it helped us survive in the wild. Our instinct to judge, to make assumptions, to stereotype, helpingus survive with split second decisions to run from that noise. Was that a lion? Those early hominids that judged quickly and ran, survived. What is different? Homo sapiens developed a large frontal lobe, a place to think, make decisions, reason. So we still have that instinct to judge, and we do, but the difference is we have a frontal lobe that tells us, ok, I see that you've made a split second judgement, before you react, let's analyze the situation and make a choice on what to do next.

Pick any group of humans you want. Ask yourself this - does that human have a liver, kidneys, lungs, two femurs, external ears, hair, hormones? We are virtually exactly the same, and yet we focus on things like the amount of melanin in the cells of the skin. There is variation in skin color in homo sapiens. This is science. Science doesn't care what you believe (thank you Neil DeGrasse Tyson), and if you believe that skin color makes a person more than or less than any other, than your belief, your claim, is not supported by evidence, and a claim without evidence is not valid.

Now the question becomes, what does society do with a population of people that have false beliefs? People that have built a paradigm on information that has no evidence to support the claims? And who are these people? I'm really curious to know if any atheist scientists identify as white supremacists.

And now, what do we do? A group of misinformed people chose a president that has an invalid belief system. He has yet to demonstrate that his frontal lobe is functional, and yet, I don't deny that he is a human, I just deny that he is a human that should be leading a country. So, do we wait, and for what? What are we doing, what should we do? Will this be in the history books in 50 years? Millions of Americans just stood by as their country crumbled into a pit of racism and despair? If this is a test, we are failing.

Repeating history - does that sound like a good idea to you?

2017 in the United States of America and one of the many current conversations about Science is Data Rescuing. Data Rescuing. How do we care for scientific data? Just let that sink in for a minute. 

As a science teacher, I encourage my students to visualize the lives of the historical scientists we study and read about. I remind my kids that we only know what we know when we know it. Science is about collecting data, analyzing that data, and figuring out relationships between the data. Are scientists wrong? Of course, all the time, and how do they handle the new data that shows that the relationships they analyzed aren't really what they thought? They CHANGE their claims. Science is ever evolving, ever changing, morphing as we find more data, as technology enhances our ability to "see" the world. 

It wasn't so long ago that people thought that sicknesses were because people were possessed with the devil. In a world before microscopes, there was no way to imagine microscopic organisms, never mind these microbes causing disease. 

Science is the human mind's way of explaining natural phenomenon. Science is different from religion because science is based on evidence, AND changes with new evidence. Science does not involve faith in the unknown, but faith in a process, a logical, sequential, mathematical process. 

Math is the language of the Universe. Whether you think you are "good" at math or not, you are. Your brain evolved to notice patterns. Math is patterns. 

In Galileo's time, in Newton's time, in Mendel's time, in Darwin's time, there were people trying to explain the world through the logical processes of science. We excuse the push back because "those" people didn't know. They didn't have enough exposure to knowledge. Education wasn't accessible. Information was filtered as a small group of leaders saw fit. 

How, how? How have we gone backwards? How has the citizens of the US allowed a small group of leaders to decide that science data, and access to science data should be filtered? How have we allowed this small group to decide what is "true", not based on data, but based on greed? We have allowed greed to filter how we not only see the world, but live our lives, and how we make decisions. Does this small group really think that a world with more coal is preferable to exploring how our Sun's energy can be harnessed? 

I see greed, but I don't understand greed. Homo sapiens will not survive as individuals. Homo sapiens are community organisms. We need groups, a tribe, collaboration. We are now the Divided States of America, and unless we want to be a community again, we will collapse.

This ain't great

I just heard an interview where a man spoke of the banking system in the United States as our Circulatory System.

I got to thinking about this analogy, and I wondered about this body we've created, our health, as a collective country. Do you agree that the education system would be our Nervous System, our brain, nerves, our control center? How about our police, and fire, would that group be our Immune System, and possibly our Excretory System? Fighting invaders, keeping our body healthy, cleaning our blood, which in fact, is our Circulatory System? Our farm communities are our Digestive System? It only makes sense that our environment, our trees, our clean air, are our Respiratory System.

Keeping this body, our country, healthy, is a combination of efforts from all our systems, this most important, I'd like to draw your attention to, is the Nervous System. Yes, you can live, brain dead, your heart can beat, your blood can deliver oxygen, nutrients, but what kind of life is that? It appears, it's the life we've created for our country. Our Nervous System/Education System is corrupt and broken. Our country doesn't value education, and therefore our country is brain dead, just pumping dollar signs around and around without a plan, goals, intention.

Without a healthy, functional Immune System, our country can not keep order to ensure productivity.

I don't understand why we are only focusing on our Circulatory System, yes, I agree, there is great value in Cardiovascular health, but at the expense of all our other, vital systems?

Ok, so what body system is government? The Feds? Where do we get directions from? That would correlate to our Endocrine System, our hormones, our glands, producing chemical that give directions to our organs. It seems we have a disease of our Endocrine System. It seems our hormones have gone out of control. It seems we are going though late puberty, temper tantrums, stomping feet, slamming doors.

Just another day, and...

Today one of my coworkers died. Cancer. Just 60 years old.

I am a introvert in an extrovert world. I heard the news, and my first instinct was to get my dogs, and go for a hike. Find the forest. Feel fresh air, sun, dirt.

You know what I did? I stayed at school. I listened to your children. I consoled their tears. I gave them space, and then asked what they needed. We talked, we worked. I stayed.

It's my job. It's my job to stay with your children, to not leave, to be there. It is my job to be a content expert, a behavioral psychologist, a mediator, a mentor, a voice of reason, a comedian, an inspiration.

How much is that worth to you?

Ask yourself this as we near election time. In all this mess, where do our Presidential candidates stand on Education. Do you know? Are there local laws that need to be/should be passed that will support your schools. Remember, that even if you choose private or charter schools, not everyone has the luxury. Or maybe you don't even have kids, or your kids are grown, well, John Green sums it up best...

Please do your homework and ensure that the future of our world is ready for that responsibility.

Bus Tour to the Coast of Death

My last day in Santiago de Compostela :( I am super excited to get home to my pups, and to eat some fresh veggies, and to be able to sleep without people partying until 3 am outside my window, but Spain is a beautiful place. 

Today we decided to get on a bus tour to the Coast of Death, and the "end of the earth", Finisterre. 

Our first stop was to a quaint little town with a river running through it, Ponte Maceria. 

Next we drove higher in the hills along the coast and lo and behold what do we see? Hundreds of windmills. We get up to a lookout and have a gorgeous view of the other side of the Atlantic. 

Next stop, Muros. The church here is super unique because the inside looks like a boat. Fishing is vital to the people on this whole coast, and its importance is apparent in their church. 

Our next stop was sold to us as being the only waterfall in Europe that falls into the ocean, but they are exaggerating a bit here. The waterfall is beautiful and the surrounding boulders falling from the mountain are stunning, but the waterfall just flows into a river that goes to the ocean. 

We finally make our way out to Finisterre - the point at the end of the world (according to the Romans). A person can tack on extra days (it's 90 km more) to keep going on the Camino from Santiago to Finisterre. I was happy to be sitting on a bus. 

One of the traditions of pilgrims that started in the Middle Ages is that when the pilgrims finally made it to Santiago, two things would happen. One is that they were given a shell so that when they went home they could prove that they made it to St. James' remains, and the other was to burn their cloak in one of the stone areas specifically designed for that. They would get a new cloak, often gifted to them. Well, today they don't want people burning their crap in the city, so that tradition has moved to Finisterre. It wasn't until 2004 that continuing the walk to Finisterre became a "thing". When the weather is right (low fire danger), people are allowed to burn something. The weather this time of year is dry, and burning is currently banned. 

So no burning your anothings- ok. 

There is a lighthouse here at the end of the earth. 

The actual town of Finisterre is 2 km inland from the lighthouse. You notice these details when you've walked 350 km. We went into town for lunch. 

Ok, I'm going to complain for a minute, and I'm going to sound like a whiny bitch from the U. S., but it's been since July 7 of eating out for me, and those who know me know that I do not enjoy eating out, not even back home. So here's the difference. There is no tipping here and I'm not sure if that contributes to my issue, but I have a feeling it might. Ok, so my experience is that in Spain you sit down and wait. And then you wait some more. And then some more. After a while someone comes over to great you and gives you one menu to share. Also, eating times are so bizarre here. Breakfast is a cup of coffee and bread, and lunch doesn't even begin until 2 pm. So you can imagine that by 2 we are starving and in the eternal wait for someone to take our order. Finally, order is taken, food slowly arrives, sometimes with the food of your table mates, sometimes not, and then it's time to get the check. I swear they would let you die and turn to a corpse in that chair before they'd bring you the check. Our quick lunch stop was 2 hours - TWO. Eating out here is torture for a person that has issues sitting still. 

We made it through a lunch of typical seafood. It never really occurs to me to take photos of my food - sorry about that, but what I did photograph is what I saw next. We decided to go for a short walk before getting back on the bus and we head to the docks, look down, and see this. 

Above the blue plastic lid is a floating dead bird. Wait - I just ate seafood? super sad face :(

It's the human way to move on, to ignore floating plastic trash, to choose to be ignorant. 

Our last stop was to Muxia, famous for the Boat Virgin Mary. The church here is on a rocky shoreline and has a sloped floor so that when the super big waves hit the water can flush the church and flow out. There is a story they tell of the Virgin coming here on a stone boat, and they've even gone as far as to point out some of the stones that are there that represent boat parts. 

You see the stones in the far right of the photo? Those were erected as a memorial for a bunch of volunteers that came to this area after a terrible oil spill. You could still see some black left over on the rocks. 

Remember the horreos I told you about before? The skinny, lifted structures that were used to store corn? Well on the coast the entire structure is made of stone. The wood rots in he salt air. 

We also learned that the two symbols on the top have significance. Of course the cross is for God to offer protection, but what is the spike? In Galicia, people believe in witches, and those spikes are there to ward off the witches, and to protect their corn. 

It was a great day, and now that we've made it past 8 pm the restaurants are now open and we can begin our wait. 

A tourism day in Santiago de Compostela

No backpack today!

We got up and headed to the Cathedral to try and avoid the crouds. We got in line to hug St. James. No photos permitted during the hugging, but I was able to snap this view from the alter. 

If you look closely, you can see a hand on his shoulder. This is a person in the space behind him giving him a hug. 

The alter of this Cathedral is spectacular. The gold you see is wood with gold paint. The remains of St. James are directly below the statue. We went down there, but it was just an ornate box, so I didn't take a photo. 

It actually feels a bit disrespectful to be taking photos in the church. That tolerance thing is super challenging because people are talking, filming, all while a person comes over the PA system and says - Silencio - shhhhhhh. 

Yesterday during mass we were lucky enough to see the priests pull on a giant pulley system for a giant incense holder. They asked that no cameras were used, and I felt like breaking rules in a church isn't the wisest thing to do, so I didn't get any images yesterday, but today I got a shot of the ropes and the incense container. 

A group of priests circle up and hold on to the ropes and maneuvers the incense holder back and forth with such force that it almost hits the ceiling. If you search for a video on YouTube, you'll find one. 

The two of us love to learn new information so we decided to sign up for a guided tour of the cubiertas. We started down below the church and made our way to the roof! We got to stand directly above the St. James hugging statue. 

From up here you can see the entire city. 

We also toured some of the collection pieces that are being preserved. 

I'm fascinated by what life must have been like 1000 years ago. 

One thing you notice with all these granite structures are the purple flowers that grow out from in between the blocks. 

After a busy morning of learning we decided to hunt down some different food. You know how when you travel for a while you crave certain foods? Well on about day 3 of 13, we started talking about nachos. That sent us into a mission to find a Mexican Restaurant and low and behold, there is ONE in Santiago. 

After our short rest period, we did a little shopping and then met another pilgrim for dessert. You would like being a tourist in this town. 

Por Fin - Day 13 from Oviedo to Santiago de Compestela

I'm I woke up like a kid on Christmas morning - way before the sun, and antsy to roll out of O Pedrouzo. What we didn't bank on is that the path out of town is through the trees and it's pitch dark. Cool, crisp, dark air pushed us to hustle 3 km to find a little place open for some cafe con leche and bread - our typical breakfast. 

We found out yesterday that we needed 2 stamps per day in our Camino passport to get our papers in Santiago, so we made up for a few missing stamps today. A little church was actually open and giving stamps and at the same time recording the number of us that came through. 

With only 20 km to go, and knife stabbing pain, I didn't take too many photos today. We were focused on the shells, which, by the way, have no directional preference whatsoever anymore. Luckily there are arrows to guide us. 

Walking into Santiago de Compestela brought a mix of feelings. We've been on the road for 13 days, over 350 km, thousands of feet of elevation change, and yet we are are walking next to people who came from France and have been on he road for over a month, and on the other side we're walking with people who just got off the tour bus 4 km from the city. It's difficult to stay focused and MJ and I reflected on working on tolerance. 

This city is big and bustling. People everywhere, cars, OPEN stores, clean. 

The Camino directs the pilgrims to the giant cathedral. The moment we entered the plaza, we plopped down on the cobble stones and sighed. 

Oh, first we slung our backpacks to the ground. Then I started the transition from boots to crocs. 

The church is being restored, which I'm sure is an incredibly long process. It's a bummer that we can't see the entire structure, but the intricate details are mind blowing. 

I sat in awe, looking up at this massive structure. A perfect time for the snack I've been saving. 

Gringos love their peanut butter. 

We are here - at the remains of St. James, who was, apparently, an Apostle of Jesus. James was supposed to come to the Iberian Pennisula to Christianize. He was later killed and then his remains were brought to this very location (although the details are a little fuzzy). King Alphonso II from Oviedo is believed to be the first person to pilgrimage to Santiago de Compestela, and the Original Way (aka el Camino primitivo) was born. This is the path we chose to follow. 

We plan to take a tour of the church, so I will have more historic details to report. 

Needless to say, it feels great to be here. 

Because of our early morning departure and our quick pace, we were here in plenty of time to drop off our backpacks and attend the Noon Pilgrims' Mass at the Cathedral. Although the Mass was in Spanish, I could follow along since I was raised Catholic. I could even catch a bit of the Priest's Homily. He directed some of his message to a giant group of high school seniors that arrived today and before mass were chanting in the plaza. 

See the yellow circle of kids? That's just one of many groups that arrived and chanted. 

We wandered around the Cathedral and found the office that issues the official paper for our journey. You show your stamps, and get the paper. 

After lunch we headed to find a tattoo shop. You didn't think I'd come to a new country and not get a tattoo, did you? 

Day 12 The Dreaded Day

Today was the day we have been dreading. According to the map, 33 km, but we knew that since the distances have not added up to this point that we needed to prepare ourselves for more. 

At this point there is nothing more we can do to prepare ourselves physically, except to take a whole bunch of Advil. It is the mental preparation that is the most important. 

We decided to get up and on the road earlier than usual, which meant no one was open for breakfast. By 7:30 am we had already hiked 5 km. We had decided to take lots of breaks, stop for lunch, and drink all of our water. 

Starting in Melide, under 500 meters of elevation, we didn't get any of our usual morning fog. 

We did stop in the first little town and not only got to visit their church, but get our pilgrim passport stamped. 

We continued walking through the country towns of Galicia. 

At one of our breaks we turned to see the farmer walking his cows down the road. 

Slowly we made our way to Arzua, a bustling town with lots of action and open stores. Thankfully the pharmacy was open because by now my shin felt like knives tearing through my bone, and MJ's other ankle started bothering her. I love pharmacies outside the U. S. 

I got a pack of 40, 600 mg ibuprofen for 3 Euros! Now I'll be feeling good. 

We spent most of the day walking on shaded paths. It was very nice. 

The forests of Eucalyptus trees are not only beautiful to look at, but their sweet smell, and leaves rustling in the wind reminds you that you are a part of nature. 

The shell countdown signs are becoming more frequent, and at kilometer 32, a tiny little Venezuelian lady was standing in front of a few baskets of fruit and offering to stamp pilgrim passports. When I saw that she had bananas my heart filled with joy and we decided to stop for a little picnic. 

Of course when you stop in the middle of nowhere, look who comes to say hi. 

After a little break its really hard to put back on your boots and backpacks. These two packs are the enemy!

On the Camino the restaurants have special menus for pilgrims. Here's two typical meals. 

You can see why my body was so excited to see a banana. 

In Melide the Camino - French Way meets with our Primitivo Path, and in Arzua the Northern Camino comes in. Now we all merge to head for Santiago. So many more people, and so many bikers. The change from our quiet path to the highway of people was jolting. We also noticed so much graffiti everywhere. 

I mean, what kind of narcissistic jerk would write all over a Camino marker? 

We also noticed that people were staring to get rid of their possessions. 

The one think I know I don't want is a pair of hiking boots. 

Every day we pass through some familiar images. One are the flowers. This place is filled with beautiful flowers. 

We also passed a bar with cerveza peregrina, but we knew if we'd have thrown back a beer we'd be asleep at the side of the path. 

About 8 km outside of O Pedrouzo we met a young man from, of all places, Colorado. He started walking from Saint Jean, France and has been walking for 32 days. He's 20, and started the journey to find out if he should got to seminary and become a priest. It was interesting to meet someone on that kind of journey. 

38 km later we have arrived in O Pedrouzo. Brians are in tact. Don't ask about our legs and feet. 

Day 12 is complete 🤓