This is the first of a series of posts that I’ll be writing over the next two weeks as I venture across Spain to bring Walking the Camino even closer to home – Santiago de Compostela.
Every morning when I start work, I pour myself a cup of joe, get out my to-do list, and check my emails. On October 1, Lydia sent me an email that read along the lines of “They’ve invited us to show Walking the Camino at a forum in Villafranca del Bierzo in December. I won’t be able to make it … Maggie, do you want to go?”
What?!! Spain?!?! Really!!?? I had to pinch myself for a good minute before I realized I wasn’t dreaming. As it turns out, my fluent Spanish I learned after living Mexico for two years is coming very much in handy. So is my own time walking the Camino.
On my Camino – Alto de Perdón – August 2013
December come round, I find myself here in Madrid, the capital of a country whole-heartedly alive and brimming with spirit, a spirit that I believe is inseparable from that of the Camino.
Both on and off the Camino, miracles happen every day in the smallest of ways that sometimes we don’t even recognize. I believe this is one thing the Camino teaches us if we’re open to learning it: to be more fully aware in the present moment so we may experience that mysterious magic at constantly at work around us. Without a doubt, that magic has been very visibly at work in my life.
As I go to Madrid, Villafranca del Bierzo, Santiago de Compostela, Muxia, and Finesterre, I will be meeting with amazing people in Spain for whom the Camino is lifeblood, and I know that they will give as much to me as I could possibly give to them with the documentary. Knowing and believing in the magic of St. James, I can genuinely say that I have no idea what these next two weeks have in store for me; I cannot wait to see what magic unfolds as I continue to walk this Camino.
On an evening stroll close to the Hostal Persal, Madrid
I hope you’ll walk with me on my journey to the end of the world to bring what I believe truly is the Camino’s documentary to more people whose lives will hopefully be impacted by the spirit of this ancient pilgrimage we hold so near and dear to our hearts.
Stay tuned, friends, for adventure, Spanish tortilla, and many Camino insights to come. And of course, as always, wishing you a very buen camino!
“The Camino de Santiago is an interior Camino, something you do with your heart” // Marina, hospitalera
I would recommend meeting the priest in Carrion de los Condes, Julio Gomezo Otero. He speaks English and many other languages. There is a real English speaking presence in Carrion and American hospitaleros work there most of the year. I have a Madrid contact for you who is the secretary of our non-profit asociacion, but you will have to email me for that information. Have a great trip !
Thank you Federico! I sent you an email today that should’ve showed up either from maggie (at) caminodocumentary.org or camino.maggiecech (at) gmail.com … did you get it?
P.S. I know you’re back because I’m the one that asked about the DVD discount at the Riverside, CA, screening and you told me about your blog. But I’m reading it as if I didn’t know that 🙂 Now on to your next entry …