Camino de Santiago 2013

There are a lot of easy-way-out's in life, a million get out of jail free cards, and more than not I have managed to take advantage of that. Now this trip to Galicia, where I was to walk 112 kilometers in five days, there was no getting out of that. I realized about five minutes into the whole thing that I, Meg Rich, was going to be walking every single one of those kilometers.

For the ones reading this who know me pretty well, they know "El Camino Santiago" is not exactly a trip I would be particularly excited for. I am not really the "hiking type" or the "outdoors type" or the "let's walk five days in the forrest type". Why I signed up for the trip? For that exact reason. I am not here in Spain to stay in my comfort zone, to experience things I already know and like. I am here to open up, try things that I had never even looked twice at. I am here to learn, and what better way then throwing yourself into something like this.

Looking back on this trip, I realize I learned a lot. I learned a lot about myself, about my life, and more importantly about who I am and who I want to become. Let me just reassure you though that I am not planning on going hiking anytime soon, now I haven't changed that much.

We began our journey through Galicia on March 22nd, in a town about thirty minutes outside of Lugo. The group was about 50 people in total, and around 30 exchange students from all over the world, studying in Spain. We were reunited, and more than anything ready to get started. I remember the first day being surprisingly easy, first of all because it was the first day, and we all had seven months worth of catching up to do. On the first day, no one had blisters, nor wet or dirty clothes, and most importantly everyone had gotten to sleep pretty early. As the days went on, the amount of blisters increased, as well as the amount of laundry. All I remember is waking up and sliding into my sopping wet sneakers, then walking downstairs to our breakfast, another morning of toast and milk. Let's just say by the third day, for the non-experienced hikers like me, it was getting old.

I was always one of the last people to get to the hostel at night, which I guess isn't very surprising. I was always somehow three times as soaked as well. Everyone was already clean, dry, and had made their trips to the nearby grocery store for late night snacks, while I was JUST finished my walking for the day. Now the last day we only had to walk 17 km, which at the time seemed too good to be true. We had been walking for about thirty minutes when we realized we were lost. It was too good to be true. I am not going to lie, at that point I was trying to convince Amy to call the volunteers, so that we could be picked up in the car and taken half of the way there. The others were about 10 km in front of us, or more. Amy denied my request, and no matter how slow I was going, no matter how much I complained, she encouraged me the entire way. We entered Santiago, what a relief. We were finally here, little did we know that we had to walk another hour through the hilly city to get to the Cathedral, the final steps of the Camino.


That final hour, was the most incredible hour of my life. Being so close to something you have worked so hard for. Taking those final steps up to the cathedral, turning around and seeing such a beautiful and historical site. To be standing there, where millions of others have stood before you, making the same incredible trek. It is breathtaking. I let out a few tears of joy and relief, and hey honestly a few tears of pain. We really soaked in the moment, and then headed to meet the group. We arrived two hours after everyone, but the arrival was so much more than who got there first. It was getting there. We all did it, I did it.

This trip in a lot of ways is a metaphor for my year in Spain. I can't tell you how hard it has been, from the rough start in the beginning, to the language barrier, to switching host families, cities, schools, to making friends, to learning to adapt to a new family, to more language barriers, and most of all to the constant longing for chipotle and panda express. A lot of it has been a struggle. It has been the easiest most difficult thing that I have ever done in my entire life. It has been the best and worst year of my life. There is no other way to explain it.

I am so incredibly proud of all of the AFSers who finished the Camino, and to myself for making it every kilometer of the way. There isn't a better feeling in the world than saying you are going to do something, fighting for it, and accomplishing it. Exactly how this year has felt. I have just recently passed the eight month mark, meaning that I have two months left and I will be back home in Alexandria, VA. I will have made it. I am close, but still very far away. And no matter how lost I have been, no matter how lost I get, I will make it all the way. So for now I will just keep on walkin.