I've been avoiding this entry for awhile now, because it's the most important of all. It's very difficult to describe my friends on the Camino, but I'm going to try. To my friends, the closest friends I've ever met while traveling, I apologize for my feeble attempt to put words to how I feel about you all.
Jim
Emily and I were staying in a beautiful old monastery in San Juan de Ortega when we met Jim. Emily was at the restaurant downstairs icing her bug bites, which at the time she thought were from bedbugs; she was having a massive allergic reaction to them and was not a happy camper. I was tending to my poor feet, putting antibiotic cream on the blisters that I had threaded. A man walked over and peered down at my feet, examining my handiwork. "Compeed fucked up my feet," I said to him, glancing up. (Compeed, the European version of second skin, had failed to prevent blisters and had instead ripped the skin off of them.) The man then launched into a lengthy explanation of his successful use of Compeed and how the sleeping conditions tonight were going to be ideal due to the draftiness of the monastery and the cold air coming in through the windows. "I really like it to be around 55 degrees when I'm sleeping," he told me. After a few more exchanges about blisters, ideal temperatures, and where we were from, he went back to his bed and I continued with my feet. A few minutes later, he announced that he has found a bedbug, but that it could be an ant because he was by the window. I begged him not to mention this to Emily. We lost him for a few days in the hustle and bustle of the city of Burgos, but later ran into him and have been walking with him ever since.
Jim loves to talk and converse. When he finds something he likes or thinks is useful, he wants everyone to know about it. For example, he'll tell anyone who will listen how effective his jar of ungüento is. "It's this cream made especially for pilgrims. It has a blend of things like aloe and mint. You should try it! I haven't had a blister since I started using it!" We tease Jim incessantly about ungüento, but I think what it really comes down to is his love for connecting with people. He wants to take care of everybody, and he does that in the ways he knows how. From explaining how the stock market works to giving me aqua-heal bandaids, Jim has an answer for everything.
I don't always think he's right, though, which is where we clash. He's extremely intelligent and also ridiculously stubborn. This combination, when mixed with my own stubborn, opinionated attitude, can sometimes be a bit like gunpowder. I have walked away from him before, fuming mad, over a conversation about prescriptive versus descriptive linguistics. At the top of the mountain where we stopped for lunch, he walked over, gave me a wordless hug, and then it was like nothing ever happened. That's what I love about Jim. He knows he gets under my skin, and I know I get under his, but I think that's why it works so well. He makes me think about things in a way I normally don't, and I challenge him to defend his opinions.
Jim has kids my age, but we're peers. He knows how to cheer me up when I'm sad and knows more about me than most of my friends my age. He's reliable, loyal, goofy, and has a really big heart. He cares about his friends and would do anything for them, from giving Emily his poncho in the pouring rain to bringing over a bottle of wine for me when I was having a bad night.
Paca
A few days after Burgos we stopped for breakfast in San Bol, where we ran into Jim. He was very grumpy, going on in his Jim-like fashion about how the camino isn't a race, and racing to catch up to people will just give you blisters, and how he was done chasing after the group who always walked just a little bit too far. We told him we were only going 18 kilometers that day, which would give him a 13k day, and that he should join us and forget about that other group. He went outside to discuss this new plan with a dark-haired girl, and when he came back he announced that he and Paca would be coming along.
Her feet were destroyed. To this day, I don't know how she managed to walk on them. Her blisters had almost sent her to Barcelona to wait on the beach for her friend to finish the Camino, but Jim somehow managed to convince her to give it a couple more days. I took a liking to Paca immediately after leaving San Bol. Her zest and sassy attitude are my favorite things about her. We skipped all of the introductory conversations and went straight to discussing some pretty heavy stuff about the Camino and what we had already learned from it. By the time we got to what we had begun referring to as "second breakfast" in the next town, I felt like I had known Paca for the whole Camino.
Within a few days, I felt like I had known Paca for my entire life. She is one of the funniest people I've ever met and still incredibly sweet at the same time. Her witty remarks never fail to make me laugh and her humor is contagious. I can talk to her about anything and know that she is going to not only listen and help me, but also make me feel better about it. She has a very wise view of the world and always knows just what to say. She knows how to maneuver through any social situation with grace, whether it be rescuing me from a creepy old man talking my ear off or lightening the mood when it's getting tense.
Nina
We met Nina at the top of a small mountain before descending into Astorga. There was this little shack with a snack bar outside called Casa de los Dioses. It was a donativo, meaning you put in a few coins and take what you'd like. Emily, Paca and I were making fun of Jim about his ungüento, which he was explaining to Nina. "It's really amazing! Let me find it and show it to you!" He began digging frantically through his bag to show off the foot cream, but couldn't find it. He accused Paca of taking it, which only increased the hilarity of the situation. Nina giggled along with us and later told us that watching the four of us interact was like watching a really funny TV show.
Nina is kind, gentle, and incredibly sweet. She is soft-spoken but has a heart of gold, always watching out for all of us. She is very observant, and after two days or so she began stockpiling napkins from restaurants in her fanny pack because she noticed that I stop to pee almost every hour. She is a chocolate fiend and the best at grocery store pit stops, coming out with gummies, chocolate, and a salty trail mix that Paca has dubbed Gringo Mix. Nina is the kind of person you can always rely on to be there with open arms.
And of course...
Emily
Emy is my best friend, mi media naranja, the sister I never had. I've known her since we were Girl Scouts at age 5 and she knows me better than I know myself. When she asked me to do the Camino with her, I jumped at the chance to travel, to do something exciting, and most of all to spend an entire month with her since I hardly ever get to see her.
Emily is the most amazing person I know. She's intelligent, funny, athletic, goofy, down to earth, and freaking gorgeous to boot. Everything she does, she does with heart, passion, skill, and an open mind. She's a fearless traveler, having lived all over the world: Argentina, Egypt, Australia, and most recently Paris (to name just a few!) and she has also done extensive travel throughout her whole life. I contracted the travel bug from her and she is always an inspiration to me. A year and a half ago, she called me and told me she was moving to Paris. I told her I already knew that, and she said, "No, I mean next week. Next week I'm moving to Paris." She's going to medical school next year and I know she'll be the most incredible doctor.
Our group knows Emily as the hero of the Camino. From carrying someone else's backpack for 10 kilometers while already carrying her own to being our navigator, she freaking rocks the Camino's socks off. She can climb mountains as if they were simple little sledding hills and always has the most level, even-keeled mindset. Every single day, my best friend amazes me with her intelligence and capabilities. Oh, did I mention she's an amazing cook?
Emily is the one who will go to the grocery store to buy supplies for dinner and always come back with a little treat that she knows I love. She will tell me if I have a booger or if what I'm wearing is absurd. She will call me out on my bullshit, but still be on my side and not judge me. She can tell within a few seconds if I'm upset and always knows what to do to cheer me up. She could walk much faster and much longer each day, but she doesn't because she knows my pace and my limits.
She is my favorite person in the whole world. Thank you, Emy, for sticking with me no matter what.
K
Portomarín, Spain
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