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Day 4. Zubiri-Pamplona [Part 2/2]

Streets of Pamplona

Walking aimlessly in the streets of Pamplona, I found a nice supermarket to buy something for supper, but after going through every aisle twice, I came to the conclusion that they didn’t sell fresh bread.

In astonishment, since this was SPAIN after all, I inquired one of the employees, who pointed out to me that there was a panaderia a few houses down the streets. I thanked her and right on that moment, the security guard of the supermarket zeroed on me, suspicion all over his face, asking me why was I walking around the lanes and not buying anything. The smell of alcohol on his breath was unmistakable.

My instinct urged me to tread carefully.

"Sir, I am a pilgrim, I assure you I’m here to do no harm", I said in my raw Spanish, as I took the pilgrim’s credential from my pocket, so that it could speak for me and I smiled, so he wouldn’t feel threatened.

"Sure, but why are you walking all over the aisles?", he asked me.

"I was looking for fresh bread", I explained, "but the señorita over there just explain to me that there is none."

"Yes, you have a bakery right on this street, you can go there to buy your bread", he said, more relaxed, but still inordinately antagonistic.

"Thank you, I'll just buy cheese and tomatoes and I'll be on my way...!", I concluded, and walked away.

I bought cheese, tomatoes and a big jug of yogurt and went to the cashiers. The security guard was waiting for me there and, while I was waiting in line, he asked me if I was going to Santiago.

"Sure, God willing!", I replied.

"Ah! I do not understand why someone would do that... I sure wouldn’t...!", he commented, more for himself than for me, but as he spoke, I could feel a great loneliness and a spark of life inside of him that still wanted to be ignited.

"It's a choice. Anytime you feel like doing it just pack and go. Better late than never!", I said.

"No, I don’t think that I will”, he replied, “Look, as you turn right you’ll see a bakery right there in front", he explained to me while I paid the lady in the cashier, trying to make amends.

"Buenas tardes!", I smiled as I grabbed the bag.

"Buenas!", both of them answered.

I bought some bread and made my way back to the hostel, stopping only at the top of the old medieval wall to see the view from above, the gray and orange roofs of the houses of the city of Pamplona and the gray and green mountains and fields in the distance.

The Old Medieval Wall

In the albergue, there was this classical guitar hanging on the wall of the living room. I asked one of the old ladies who was in the room if I could play.

"Yes, certainly! You SHOULD play!”, she replied. And so I took the guitar, sat in the wooden bench on the entrance hall and left to the world of music, lost to the progression of chords. When I finished she said I played very well, I’d suspect probably more due to sympathy than by the particular quality of the music.

After dinner, I took the piece of paper that Marisol had given me in the church of Zabaldika and I began to read about the philosophy of the Way. On the piece of paper, written in black ink, it was written:

"The journey makes you a pilgrim. Because the way to Santiago is not only a track to be walked in order to get somewhere, nor is it a test to reach any reward. El Camino de Santiago is a parable and a reality at once because it is done both within and outside in the specific time that takes you to walk each stage, and along the entire life if you only allow the Camino to get into you, to transform you and make you a pilgrim.

The Camino makes you simpler, because the lighter the backpack the less strain to your back and the more you will experience how little you need to be alive.

The Camino makes you a brother / sister. Whatever you have you must be ready to share because even if you started on your own, you will meet companions.

The Camino breeds about community: community that greets the other, that takes interest in how the walk is going for the other, that talks and shares with the other.

The Camino makes demands of you. You must get up even before the sun in spite of tiredness or blisters; you must walk in the darkness of night while dawn is growing, you must get the rest that will keep you going.

The Camino calls you to contemplate, to be amazed, to welcome, to interiorize, to stop, to be quiet, to listen, to admire, to bless ... Nature, our companions on the journey, our own selves and God."

I meditated on what I had just read. What was written was spot on what I wanted for my journey.

After, I returned to the office/living/dining room. Danny was there and asked me if I was the one playing guitar during the afternoon. I acquiesced. He took the guitar and started playing a bit of Spanish guitar as well. Taking his lead, I took a djembe that was also in the room and for a brief period of time we became the band "Muchachos de Pamplona" to the amusement of the two old ladies and the others guests in the house (that weren’t trying to rest in the next room).

Playing Guitar

After dinner, Danny showed me his skills on illusionism with a bunch of magic tricks with a deck of cards, he even taught me the one I liked most. Later that night, two Korean girls, which I would later know as Yeji and Min Jong, arrived at the albergue, fresh out of the airport. They were set to do the way from Pamplona to Santiago. I called Yeji so that Danny could show her some of his magic tricks and I served as a Spanish-English translator. From the moment we crossed the dreadful language barrier, she was as surprised as I was, when seeing the magic of Danny.

Before we went to rest, Danny has asked me if I would like to brave the fierce cold outside, to share a cigarette with him. We both went to the front door, he had his own cigarettes, but I rolled him one of mine so that he could try rolling tobacco. We began talking, shivering from the icy night air, about the reasons that led us to take the Way. I told him how I decided to make the Way, because it had been calling me for some time, after reading a book by Paulo Coelho, called “Diary of a Mage”. He told me how he had problems with alcohol, because he worked in a bar since he was a kid and, as such, his wife had asked him to take the Way, so that he had time to meditate on life, on his family and their two children.

Outside

"It's because she likes you", I told him, "If she didn’t, she wouldn’t try to help you."

"Yes, I know", he replied staring at the floor. He took a drag from his cigarette.

He explained to me that he really loved his children, but he was really struggling to leave the life his was accustomed to.

"You came to that part of life, my brother, where you have to decide whether to continue solo or if you want to belong to a family", I said, "I understand your problem and I know it takes a lot of willpower, a family means responsibilities, but I can also assure you that every effort we make is rewarded, all the good you do for your family it will also be for yourself”, I spoke somewhat to myself too, and I was trying to do my best, to share the way I saw the world, and I was feeling I wasn’t being very successful at getting the message through, but when I looked back at him, he was staring straight at me.

"Gracias!", he said with acknowledgement in his eyes.

I suppose sometimes people need to hear the truth from someone else, no matter how evident it is...

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Day 4. (Part 1/2)

Index

Day 1. Saint Jean Pied-de-Port - Orbaitzeta
Day 2. Orbaitzeta - Roncesvalles
Day 3. Roncesvalles - Zubiri
Day 4. Zubiri - Pamplona (YOU ARE HERE)
Day 5. Pamplona – Puente de la Reina
Day 6. Puente de la Reina - Estella
Day 7. Estella – Torres del Rio
Day 8. Estella - Logroño
Day 9. Logroño - Najera
Day 10. Najera - Grañon
Day 11. Grañon - Belorado
Day 12. Belorado - Atapuerca
Day 13. Atapuerca - Burgos
Day 14. Burgos – Castrojeriz
Day 15. Castrojeriz - Fromista
Day 16. Fromista – Carrión de los Condes
Day 17. Carrion de los Condes - Sahágun
Day 18. Sahágun – Mansilla de las Mulas
Day 19. Mansilla de las Mulas - León
Day 20. Léon – Hospital de Órbigo
Day 21. Hospital de Órbigo – Rabanal del Camino
Day 22. Rabanal del Camino - Ponferrada
Day 23. Ponferrada – Vega de Valcarce
Day 24. Vega de Valcarce - Tricastela
Day 25. Tricastela - Ferreros
Day 26. Ferreros – Palas del Rei
Day 27. Palas del Rei - Àrzua
Day 28. Àrzua - Santiago

Disclaimer. I did not carry a camera with me, but I will do my best to illustrate these texts with free for use images found around the web and later sent to me by my fellow pilgrims. All images that are not mine will be attributed to their rightful owner at the end of the post, even if no attribution is required. When no attribution is stated, the image is from my notebook.

Thanks to the following authors for kindly providing the CCO License Free To Use photography that illustrates this post:

Streets of Pamplona - larahcv (Pixabay)
https://pixabay.com/en/users/larahcv-5320615/

The Old Medieval Wall - SERGIOGARRIDO_1980 (Pixabay)
https://pixabay.com/en/users/SERGIOGARRIDO_1980-3044316/

Playing Guitar - zooverano (Pixabay)
https://pixabay.com/en/users/zooverano-377037/

Outside - StockSnap (Pixabay)
https://pixabay.com/en/users/StockSnap-894430/