Friday, May 6th 2016 was my official 8 month mark in Spain. Yet another month has passed and just like every month I have been up to some really exciting things, have learned a lot, and have continued to fall more in love with this country.
COLORADANS COME TOGETHER
Caroline, from Boulder, CO. came to spend the weekend with me in my town Aranda de Duero! We didn’t know each other before exchange, but she has become a person that I can’t imagine living without. Coming from Colorado, we share a lot of similar interests such as mountains, yoga, nature, Spain, Spanish, ect… After inviting me to her house in Madrid several times, I was really excited to show her my little town and my life here. We walked through the vineyards, went out for coffee, caught up on some Netflix, and we spent the night out with my friends.
EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO
El Camino de Santiago was one of the most important pilgrimages during the Middle Ages, is traveled by over 200,000 people every year, is 800km long (497 miles) and I got to spend 5 days trekking through northern Spain on el Camino de Santiago with my exchange student family.
We started the morning of April 29th, loading the bus in Madrid, we traveled 500km up north to the province of Galicia and it felt like we were traveling back in time. We stopped in a small town of gift shops, hostels and laundry mats overlooking the green, rolling country-side. We traveled down the mountain and stopped at a beautiful monastery.
Stopping in Sarria for the night, we prepared our gear for the next day of walking 27km (17miles).
The province of Galicia is made of rolling green hills spotted with small towns and was so refreshing to walk for hours in such a beautiful place. Being that Spain is a relatively small country and has centuries of history, almost every single piece of land is developed for agriculture, has beautiful stone walls lining the country side, and has cattle grazing. On El Camino, you will meet people from all over the world, (Georgia, Germany, Australia, Thailand, Sweden, ect…) and being a big group of exchange students, we added to that cultural diversity. Everyone you pass, sit with, walk with, eat with, the saying “Buen Camino” is shared, wishing everyone good travel.
On the first day of walking we made relatively good time and stopped in a small pueblo (town) called Portomarín where we went swimming in the river, stretched our tired muscles, and played ukulele. We rose early the next morning, engulfed in fog, and continued our pilgrimage.
The previous day’s 17 miles was definitely felt in our legs and feet and we marched onwards, but at a much slower pace. As we advance on el Camino, at each restaurant, hostel, and church we stop at, we get a sello (stamp) on our passport.
We arrived in Palas de Rei after a full day of walking 19 miles exhausted, sunburnt, and with very stiff muscles but happy to have completed the walking portion of the trip. We spent time wandering through the town and sat on the side of el Camino when a very friendly local invited us into his backyard where he even let us make a campfire. El Camino has a very unique energy, where everyone is accommodating, welcoming, and it brings a sense of community to the pilgrims making the journey. To end the night, we all gathered together in the hostel and I lead us in a yoga class, relieving our tired muscles.
The next day we loaded the bus and drove to Santiago de Compostela where we attended the daily mass for the pilgrims. It was a stunning cathedral and we saw the famous Botafumeiro, a censer in which the incense is burned during the mass, which swings through the cathedral, filling the space with the incense.
As we were taking our group picture in front of the cathedral, the national television stopped by and interviewed us! The full interview didn’t make it but a small clip did make it into the daily news and we felt pretty famous.
From Santiago we drove a couple hours west to Fisterra, also known as “The End of The World” which is the most western point of Spain. If you squinted really (REALLY) hard, you could see the U.S in the distance!
Sprinting from the bus we dove into the cold Atlantic for a swim. Being from Colorado I have either lost my tolerance to cold water, or it was actually, truly freezing. To warm up and dry off we sprinted across the beach.
FIESTAS DE LOS PUEBLOS | PARTIES OF THE TOWNS
The fiestas de los pueblos have begun where every weekend there is a fiesta in a different town surrounding Aranda. This weekend it was in Villalba. We left Aranda at 12am, partied in el pueblo, and returned to Aranda at 7am. Even though I have been in Spain for 8 months, I am not quite as good as the Spaniards at staying out sooooo late. For them, they’ve been doing this for most of their lives. However, this weekend is my second to last weekend I will spend in Aranda before I leave on Eurotour which has been a very hard thing for me to accept because I have learned to love the nights out in the town with my friends and is something I’m not ready to say goodbye to.
Today marks the 30 day countdown until I leave for Eurotour/Traveling with my family for 29 days. I plan to live my last four weeks to the fullest, traveling to Toledo to meet the Rotary International President, visiting Alicante with other exchange students, having a send-off party in Madrid, and one final weekend in Aranda. Its a terrifying and incredibly saddening feeling to have to start saying final goodbyes to my friends, family, and life here. I am looking forward to all the traveling to come and getting to show my family this beautiful country I have come to call home. I’ll keep you updated!
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Postcards from Spain 
Anne!! this was so cute I was smiling the entire time reading it ❤
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