To Vigo by bus.

After the girls left for Vigo, I lay in bed with tears in my eyes. I was struggling with my limitations.  I knew that the girls were on a journey that I would now never taste or know.  They were going to walk 16 miles of unknown territory.  But when we'd meet in Vigo those 16 miles would be known to them, in a way that I would only know through pictures and stories.

We had no idea where the Camino would bring the girls into Vigo but when Steph was using her expert skills the night before she saw that there was a Toys R' Us.  So, we figured if there was a Toys R' Us, this would be a good landmark for us all to find. And, in my mind, if there was a big American store, it had to be close to the city centre, right? What I didn't think about was the fact that if there was a big American store it was going to be a big Spanish city.  

After a slow morning, I boarded a bus to Vigo...45 minutes is all it would take to get there, while the girls walked most of the day.  Not long into the ride I began to see signs for Vigo and this is when it hit me...Vigo is big, I have no idea where to get off the bus, I'm in a Spanish speaking country and I don't speak much spanish, Vigo is big (yep...I know I said that already) and Vigo is big. So what's a girl to do but pray and practice her deductive reasoning skills.  First step, pray.  Second step, watch the people on the bus.  Once we are out of the suburbs, if a lot of people get off the bus I should probably get off with them.  And that's exactly what I did.  At one point it looked like we were entering into more of a city center, people on the bus were starting to either stand, press the "I need to get off the bus at the next stop" button, or collect their belongings.  Then the bus entered into a large traffic circle with big buildings surrounding it.  One building looked like a mall, that was a good sign, I thought.  So I exited the bus with the people.  

Once off the bus I took in my surroundings.  I looked for a Tourist Information office but didn't see one.  I eventually walked into a bakery and asked if they spoke english, they didn't.  Oh and don't worry, I wasn't the obnoxious American tourist that talked at them loudly in english, as if speaking loudly in a foreign language would make it easier for them to understand.  No, I asked them politely in spanish.  "No hablan ingles", she replied.  

Next stop, the mall.  After walking around the small indoor mall to see if there was any information desk or obvious place to stop and ask for help, I decided to stop in a little shoe store.  Unfortunately, the woman running the store didn't speak english BUT she told me through gestures, her eyes and spanish that I was able to piece together, that "someone is coming to the store soon that spoke english.  Just wait 5 minutes."  She had such kindness in her eyes, I could tell she really wanted to make sure I was taken care of.  So, I walked outside and waited.

After 5 minutes had passed and nobody had come to the store, the woman stepped out and gestured to me to wait, someone was coming soon.  I had no where else to go but Toys R' Us and I had no idea how to get there so again, I waited.  Several minutes later a girls came pushing a cart of shoe boxes.  I figured this must be her.  It was!  The woman in the store poked her head out and gestured with enthusiasm that this was the girl and to come back in the store.  

Once in the store the woman explained to the girl who just arrived that I needed to talk to someone who spoke english.  The girl welcomed my questions.  

I asked her, "Can you tell me where the Tourist Information Office is?" 

She said, "Oh, that is very far.  You need to take bus." 

WHAT?!?!  No, Lord...say it ain't so.  And then I thought to myself, "I don't really need the tourist office, I need Toys R' Us." 

I then asked her, "Can you tell me where the Toys R' Us is?" 

It was clear pretty quickly that her understanding of english was limited but eventually through motions and writing from both her and I, and my trying to explain that I was injured and needing to meet my friends, she understood what I was saying and her response was the best thing I heard all day. "It is very close!" she said.  She then explained how to get there, drew me a little map and I was on my way.  PRAISE THE LORD!

As I walked to Toys R' Us I was was taking in all the cafes I could because I might need to come back to one of them.  I made it to Toys R' Us and when I got there it was obvious that this wasn't the place I wanted to be waiting.  Tagging on the walls, more industrial buildings surrounding it, and no other store fronts nearby.  I decided to walk around the building to the other side just to make sure I didn't miss anything, or the girls at that.  Once I got to the other side it was confirmed, there are no cafes next to the store, I'd have to go back up the street to the ones I had passed.  As I walked I prayed that the Lord would give me wisdom in picking a cafe and I had a short vision of the girls walking into the same shoe store I had.  I thought, "that'd be awesome but so random.  Doesn't hurt to pray for it." So I did.

Once I got back up the street to an intersection I had previously walked through I looked around and decided to sit outside at a cafe in that area.  I sat, ordered lunch and waited.  About a half hour later I heard my name.  I looked up and Steph was headed my direction.  I couldn't believe it...they found me!  As she got to my table I asked her where Heather was...she didn't know.  She explained that the trail wasn't as well marked that day and a few times she got off the path only to be directed back by kind locals.  Her and Heather had stopped together earlier in the day for a break and made a plan to stop for lunch a few hours from where they had rested together.  When Steph stopped, as planned, she waited and waited but never saw Heather.   

Eventually we decided to start making our way to the place we were staying that night.  Heather had the address and it was much later then we had planned to meet up, so maybe she had already made her way there.  Hopefully. 

As we walked up the street I was both nervous and prayerful that we would find Heather and that she was safe.  And then, I looked up the street and she was walking towards us!  In this big ole city...with only Toys R' Us as a landmark (but no address)...we found each other.  Praise the Lord!  It was quite a little celebration on the sidewalk.  And then it got better, Heather shared with us what had happened to her and why she was so much further behind Steph and then she said, "and Dawn, guess what?  I went into the SAME SHOE STORE AS YOU!"  Wow.  Thank you God for directing our steps and reminding me that you see us. 

We each had very different journeys that day but God brought us back together and we got to share our stories. 

Oh...and I was able to walk the rest of the way.

When walking fails...

To do the Camino you have to be able to walk...or so I thought.  You see, four days into our journey I began to experience pain in my left knee.  It hurt most when I would stop walking, let my muscles cool, and then try moving again.  It progressively got worse and a day later it hurt while I laid still in bed.  I literally had to "manually" (aka use my hands) to lift my leg and move it to a different position.  It was awful.  But the worst part of it was not the pain, it was the fears that crept in that I might have a major injury and wouldn't be able to walk for the remainder of the Camino.

Lucky for me, we had planned a day to rest after 5 days of walking.  And lucky for all of us, this happened to be in the small seaside town of Baiona.  A gorgeous, quaint town where the Pinta first arrived to share the discovery of America.  We celebrated Stephanie's birthday the night we arrived with drinks, gelato and some really good laughs.  And we may have also received a written invitation under our hotel door to join a guy in his room for drinks.  But that story can wait until later.

While this quaint town had all the makings to provide both rest, celebration and exploration, it also held a great deal of frustration, tears, hard decisions and deep challenges.  It was in this town that the pain in my knee peaked and my fears with it.  What would happen if I couldn't walk the rest of the trip?  Was I ruining our rest day because I couldn't really walk? What would it mean if I went home with the story that I didn't complete the Camino as I set out to? What if I had to have surgery? But deeper then all of those fears was a question...How could I follow God if I couldn't walk?  Damn...that question came from my deep.

I don't know if you remember, but the reason I came on the Camino was initially for adventure but quickly became about walking out my faith and being open to what He might have for me along the journey.  Yeah, key word, "walking".  And, another flash back to 3 days prior when God asked me "why are you doing this?" Oh yeah, because "I want to follow you, God...no matter where you take me." Hmmmmm....walking and following....they seem to go hand in hand, right?!?!  So I thought.  But God, he was doing something much deeper then I realized then and I'm sure, even now.

If I can't walk, how do I follow you God? But wait, those that can't physically walk, they can follow God.  Wow....my typically able body, thinking it's ability is what allows me to "follow" God.  I couldn't believe it.  And in truth, I don't know that I'm doing it justice as I write.  I was rocked with minimal words and a deep sense that the picture wasn't complete.  The "walking" metaphor that wasn't just a metaphor, had miles more to go and deep places in my heart and life to change.

In the midst of all that was bubbling to my heart's surface, I was also faced with a hard decision.  The decision to not walk the next day.  Stephanie and I had gone to the room during the afternoon to rest and after a while began discussing what the next day would look like.  Or, as I wrote in my journal, "the dreaded talk with Steph about my knee and what to do the next day....tears ensued!"  And they did.  I knew as soon as she started talking where the conversation was going and what the decision needed to be but I didn't want it to go that way.  I wanted to walk.  I didn't want to miss out.  I wanted more stamps in my credencial (pilgrim's passport).  I wanted to get a certificate when we arrived in Santiago de Compostela, showing my completion of the Camino.  I didn't want the story upon my arrival home that "I wasn't able to do it." And I certainly didn't want the long days of not walking to think about these things all the more.  But I knew, I could barely walk around Baiona, I certainly couldn't walk 14+ miles to Vigo.

The next day began similarly to the days prior with the 3 of us praying before we set-out for the many miles ahead and the journey that it would hold.  But this time, I was laying in bed and my journey to Vigo would be by bus.