Santiago: beginnings and endings

While Geoff is taking a day off from blogging, I'm chiming in with some reflections and commentary on my first couple of days here in Santiago. I've always seen this place as the culmination of a journey, but this time I am experiencing it as a starting point; which is a surprisingly different experience. Although I was definitely suffering from jet lag and minimal sleep, I was still energized as I spent Friday reacquainting myself with the parts of the city I knew, and discovering new areas.

Pastries always catch my eye...

A view from the "other side"

The ultimate Camino man hole cover

I still haven't made it to the morning market, the second most visited site in the city, and am hoping to get there tomorrow morning. 

On Friday evening I took in the Pilgrim mass because this is the one time during the week you are guaranteed that the service will include the botafumerio. 

 I missed  out on that last the last time I was here. The church was packed, and I was struck by the much higher numbers of pilgrims here than on my last visit. The combination of it being earlier in the season, and the increasing numbers year after year is striking. 

My reflections generated this poem:

The Pull

We are pulled here like the tide

Like Jumping Mouse we hear the roar of the river that calls us

Curiosity, destiny, tragedy, piety, responsibility, pulls us here

Mourning, gratitude, learning, circumstance, pulls us here

Our faith, the universe, our atheism, pulls us here

We are joined by an invisible and invincible bond

We are adventurers, wanderers, explorers, journeyers, travellers

We seek guidance, a vision, answers, questions

Like Jumping Mouse, we give up our eyes

Like Buffalo and Wolf we receive new eyes

We heard the call,  we answered the call

We are here

(for those of you who don't know the story of Jumping Mouse, no worries, you get the gist).

As I sat in the square waiting for Geoff and Rob to come in, I was struck again by the energy in the square. Many seemed quite fresh as they came in, but even those who were exhausted mustered some celebratory energy. It's like watching a never ending reunion. My experience in the square was purely obsevational rather than participatory, and I found it made a significant difference in what my senses took in.

Geoff and Rob have been enjoying some well earned indulgences...tapas, beer wine, pastries...and I get to join in just because I can. We also went for an early morning walk, took in the church in the mist and met some new friends (not bronze but still charming). This visit to Santiago has been an ending for Rob, a beginning for me, and something in the middle for Geoff.