Poppies, Puppies or Poopies, this scenery is gorgeous! (emails from abroad)

Hello there my dear friends!

Today is a bit of my day off, taking time to rest and do laundry after a long stretch of pilgrimaging. I really dont know how to start to communicate this spiritual journey with you all. But here goes nothing (be sure this will be a long one).

I started this trip last Sunday in Pamplona, and since then have been waking every day sometime between 3:30 and 6:30 am to walk between 30-40 Km during 8 hours per day. The actual walking has been simply amazing, and I have seen country-side and scenry that simply takes your breath away. During these long days, I think about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (seriously) and do a ton of praying over my not-so-distant post-college direction. I have also met many many people who are doing the pilgrimage for various reasons from all different countries.

Among the many anecdotes I have had on this adventure so far, would be with one of the other pilgrims I met along the way. I walked with Nikolai, a charming French man, for about a day and as we were trekking through farm country dotted with small red flowers, he comments on its beauty. "All these puppies really brighten up these endless fields," he said in his rather excellent english. I was puzzled... "Oh, you mean the pOppies?" He responded, "Oh sure, the pOOpies." I then explained the difference between the three and we had a good laugh.

Since I dont have enough words to properly describe the scenery, nor enough film to capture it, I think I will describe the spectical that I have become, evolving this last week into a hard-core hiker. When I managed to "accidentally" walk 42 Km a couple days ago, and didnt think much of it, I knew that I had hit a certain stride. Right now I am sporting 7 "little friends," otherwise known as painful blisters on either end of my feet. There are all sorts of tricks of the trade that involve a little self-surgery to help these friends on their way, so I find them survivable, if a little bit of a pain.

But the bigger problem has been the sun. I have been blessed with incredible weather, but that can often come with a scorching sun. I am working on a rather significant farmer's tan. Since I walk pretty continually to the south-west of the country, the left side of my body gets the worst of it, so I have taken to slanting the bill of my Marquette hat (now very faded) to the side to better shield my face, I wear a red bandana around my upper arm, and have two black wrist-bands wrapped around my knuckles. Add to that the fact that I low-ride my pants so that my pack wont rest directly on my belt line, and I look like an Emenem fan who is a bit lost.

I also carry a long walking stick that is forked at the end, sport the half-clam shell that is the sign of the Camino, and of course have sewn Dorey, my wonderful stufed traveling companion, to the top of my pack so she looks over my right shoulder. Needless to say, I am quite the site to behold striding into the little villages I pass through.

So, I am sitting now in Leon, with about 10 more days of walking left. I want you to know that you are all in my daily prayers, and I ask that you keep me in yours. This journey can be tough. I have been able to see the many many blessings in my life, and my big dilemna is what exactly I am going to do in my life to make a dent in repayment for those blessings.

That is my journey. Life is a pilgrimage. God bless you on yours!
Yours,
Christian

(19 days till State-side!)