Camino de Santiago Portuguese - Day 9

Daily Overview

• Summary of the Day: 

  Right now I’m sitting in the laundromat in Vila Nova de Ceviera washing our clothes in hopes of de-bugging them from the other night. I set the dryer on the broil setting. We set off from Moledo early this morning, it was our last day on the ocean since we will be following the official Coastal Camino from now on, and it heads north and inland. While I love walking beside the ocean, I also love visiting all the churches that reside along “the way,” and it’s also great having better markings to follow. The official routes are much better marked than the Litoral way. Late in the morning, we came across a church, cafe, and grocery store all together. I thought I was in heaven. Real food and bathrooms together? How can this be? We weren’t fully prepared today for how much hill walking we had to do. It seems like every time we came over a hill, there was another yellow arrow pointing up yet another hill. By the time we got to Vila Nova de Cerveira, we were spent. Happily, the hostel we’re staying in was pretty close by. I felt bad today for Sally’s friend, who had to go home because she hurt her leg. Just to be clear, lots of people get hurt on the Camino or have foot problems and can’t finish. Just because you start walking is no guarantee you will finish. Just like almost any enterprise in life that has any value, success is not assured. At this point, we have walked seventy-five miles. You could drive that distance in your car in a little more than an hour, but it has taken us days. It puts the pace of life in a different perspective. This weekend, our son Jonathan will be coming to walk with us to Santiago. We’re going to have a shorter day tomorrow and end up in Valenca on Sunday. We’re also looking at some rain overnight tomorrow, residue from the storm to the south, but hopefully that won’t affect us too much. On Monday, we’ll hopefully be headed to Tui and the final one hundred miles of our Camino.

  
  

• What we planned to do: We planned to walk from Moledo to Vila Nova de Cerviera (12 miles) and pick up the official Coastal route in our final push toward Santiago.

The Day's Focus

• Topic: Enduring without giving up

  Preparation is one thing, but perseverance is another. You can prepare in advance for every possible scenario, but when your preparations aren’t enough, perseverance is the thing that makes the difference.

• Word for the Day: Perserverance

• Scripture: Romans 5:3-5:

  "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

• Spiritual Practice:  What or who have you given up on that would benefit from another chance?

Moments and Images

• Images from the Way Today: 

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• Beautiful Spot of the Day: 

  

  The Minho River as seen from Caminha

• Spiritual Meditative Moment: Sitting in the church as an older couple came in to say prayers. It felt like a holy moment

  
  

• What Church We Visited: 

A beautiful church in Seixas on the outskirts of Caminha

• People we experienced: 

  We took our clothes several blocks into the city center from where we’re staying to a laundromat that was closing in a couple of hours. When we got there we realized we didn’t have any cash that could be changed in the machine. I walked down the street in a futile attempt to find a shop that might give me change for a 50 euro note. Literally no one in Portugal wants to do this. A hair stylist shop was just closing as I walked by, and I asked the lady if she would give me change. She was hesitant, but she did it for me. I was so happy that I hugged her.

  
  

• Unexpected Surprises:

  One of the things that makes the Camino such an unusual and remarkable place is the uncommon, brief encounters that would be impossible to orchestrate. Today, we headed out of Moledo along the Camino Coastal route toward Caminho. At the convergence of the rivers, you can either head north on the official Coastal Route or catch a ferry and cross the river to continue the Litoral route that clings to the shoreline across the river and beyond. We were wandering past a group of pilgrims who were waiting for the ferry when this lady shouted at us. When I turned around, it was Sally, the lady with the green backpack from North Carolina we first met at the airport. We had last seen her and her friend days ago on the Litoral route further south. We were shocked to see her today because we had taken a day off. Turns out she did too, because sadly her traveling companion got hurt and had to go home. We were so excited to see her again and got a picture together.

  

  
  

• Animal/Nature or local life: 

  

  I’m pretty sure this pumpkin was used by Cinderella's fairy godmother

Camino Portugues Video of the day

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/ed6b9a_25e024b1c241448d8ee8c51075da88f7/360p/mp4/file.mp4

View of the Minho River as seen from the Camino around Caminha

Reflections and Learnings

• Reflections from Today: There is much more to you and me than meets the eye because we are not just ourselves, we are connected one to another and also to God himself.

• "Well, that was hard." Today we returned to the official Coastal Camino after walking along the coast on the Litoral all day yesterday. We did fifteen miles yesterday, but the twelve miles we did today felt much more difficult because of all the hills.

• "What helped me today": Stopping at a little cafe mid-morning to get some food just before we hit the hills.

• "Something I learned": Two miles on the flat is equal to one mile on the hills.

• "Insight for the day": Mary, the mother of Jesus, is everywhere over here. It occurred to me today that she was extraordinary because she was the first person to personify Christ in me, the hope of glory. What if Mary were the prophetic forerunner for this truth that would one day be true for all who believe?

• "Mystical occurrences": Running into Sally the way we did was pretty much a supernatural event. Also, one other weird thing, I encountered this guy that I spoke with briefly at a cafe. He followed for some distance, at which point we went into a church. He came in almost immediately behind me, but when I turned around not a minute later to see where he was, he was gone. It was very strange.

Daily Conclusion

• A View of Our Compostela

• Gratitudes (1–3 things I'm thankful for):

  Finding a little convenience store open late

  Finding a small cafe as we got into town that actually had food

  Getting our clothes washed