A couple of weeks have passed since my last post. I had not been experiencing much optimism during that time and didn’t share that, although I probably should have. The weekend before last I started an interview process and got accepted to become an online math tutor. This was great news as it would allow me to quit a part-time camp counselor job that saw me earning an income of roughly $1.50 an hour. I understand that camp counseling is supposed to be fun and not about the money and that I am in Argentina where the economy is rough, but damn. Once I accepted the tutoring job (Saturday 10/1), I told my boss at the camp counseling job that I would be quitting, but I was already scheduled to go to a camp on that Monday and it would be too late for them to find someone else.
On Sunday night, I was told that I would be picked up at my apartment at 4:30 AM on Monday to be taken to Pilar to meet a bus full of children and accompany them to Entre Rios. That was all the information I received beforehand. I would end up working that day until 10:00 PM (for less than $20). Those three days were exhausting. I was supposed to get to know and engage with a group of 50 eleven year-olds that wanted to know important things like “Messi or Ronaldo?”, “Do you like futbol?”, and “Boca or River?”. Those of you that know me well, know that I don’t really spend much time watching or thinking about sports if I am not playing them. This was hugely disappointing to these pre-pubescent boys who didn’t think about much else. I have to say that I was not the best employee/counselor/mentor as my heart was not in being there. I knew that I had something that would yield far more money for far less effort coming around the corner (probably more rewarding too). My camp experience would finally end on Wednesday night at about 9:30 when I got dropped off by the bus driver about 7km from home on the side of the highway. Cool.
However, the camp kept on giving. At least one of the 50 kids had some sort of illness and I am lucky enough to have a generally unimpressive immune system that allowed me to acquire whatever disease it was. It wouldn’t start to hit until Friday while Luciana and I were exploring Tigre (nice coastal town an hour north of BA). I didn’t leave the apartment for a couple of days and am still dealing with the loss of my voice. But yesterday, I did it. I finally went beyond 10km walking and will hopefully be able to up my pace to make up for lost time over the last 12 days or so.
Coming out of the illness and having a rather successful week of tutoring students online is motivating and allowing me to feel that my “Camino” journey is within reach.
Day 20 (Friday): 12.3 km (172.5 km in Total)
At this point in my journey in 2019, I would be walking through La Rioja (wine country). It actually lines up somewhat well with my 2022 journey as at this time I was developing quite a nice blister on my heel and in a day or two would have severe food poisoning. Both of those setbacks didn’t make me doubt finishing, but they did strip away some of the arrogance that I had come into the Camino with. The weekend before I started walking, I ran the Nashville marathon. I was 23, in marathon shape, and fairly strong. I felt that walking would not be much of a challenge. I think that the Camino Frances’s length forces all of its walkers to come to a point of humility. Some sort of reminder of the beastly, random nature of life.
The blister on my heel reminded me to slow down. I had been walking very quickly with Rafael to ensure that we got beds at the next desired albergue. This was never even close to an issue. I learned that this was no race and to act like it was would only make my journey more difficult. Between my third and sixth days I would meet and walk with a Western Australian named Daniel. Daniel was 20 and a “steel-fixer” who also didn’t expect a setback during his journey, but he suffered a knee injury on his second day that would impair him all the way to Santiago. We two, young imps hobbled through the hills of La Rioja still relishing in getting to be living such an experience.
My sickness was upsetting because everyone that I had been walking with/around would now be a day ahead of me. At the time, I felt like I would be alone and may struggle to make new friends as friendships had already formed in the pack of people who would have started on May 10th as opposed to May 9th. Socially, this would end up being no issue at all. I did have to put myself out there a little bit, but people are extremely friendly in this context and gave me a chance to meet a whole new group of people. It also served as a reminder that I was going to leave this experience alone anyway.
The walk is a wonderful metaphor for life in so many ways. I needed at that time to remember that I don’t need to rush things. I felt that I needed to see the world quickly, that staying 2 years in one country would be far too long (I would go to Morocco instead of Jordan since the contract was only for one year), and that I must keep traveling in order to be someone who I would see as interesting. I think I am getting more comfortable with a slower speed as life moves along. In fact, I think its becoming satisfying to be a “slower mover” at my young age (contrarian). I am relishing in writing a longer form newsletter about the journey of walking 6 miles a day for 3 months.
Yesterday’s walk was nothing spectacular. I brought laptop charger to Luciana at her university and then returned home. Of course, I am behind on my goal and feeling a bit behind on developing my social life in Buenos Aires. However, I need to make peace with that. I need to remember that it is all a journey. A part-time online math tutor, living on a tourist visa in Palermo won’t be who I am forever, but I am going to work to make the most of it.
Bonus: I found this posted somewhere along the way on that 6th day:
You are blessed, pilgrim, if you discover that The Way opens your eyes to what cannot be seen.
You are blessed, pilgrim, if what most occupies your mind is not simply getting there, but getting there now alongside your companions.
You are blessed, pilgrim, when you contemplate the Way and you discover that it is overflowing with names and daybreaks.
You are blessed, pilgrim, when words cannot express your gratitude at every surprise that springs from each twist and turn of the Way.
You are blessed, pilgrim, because you have discovered that the true Way begins when it ends.
You are blessed, pilgrim, if your rucksack becomes emptier and emptier of clutter while your heart struggles to find room to hang so many emotions.
You are blessed, pilgrim, if you discover that one step backwards to come to someone's aid is worth more than a hundred steps forwards without a sideways glance.
You are blessed, pilgrim, if you seek the truth and turn your Way into a life and your life into a Way in your quest for who is the Way, the Truth, the Life.
You are blessed, pilgrim, if while on the Way you find your true self and reward yourself with unhurried time, while not forsaking the image of the heart.
You are blessed, pilgrim, if you find that the Way is paved with silence, the silence of prayer and prayer for a meeting with the Father, who is with you, loves you and waits for you.
Blessed you are, pilgrim
…Maybe a bit religious for me here at the end but nice