What does the shell symbol represent in Galicia?
Have you ever done El camino? If so, what were your reasons for walking El camino? ( Please, submit your testimonies on the blog or your opinion on this topic if you haven't done it yet)
Read this testimony from Marie Lambe
Marie Lambe -- Tuesday, September 26 2006, 10:59 pm -- Email: lambe4@comcast.net
In December 2004, our local newspaper had an article about the Camino in the Sunday travel section. I read the article and was intrigued. I called my daughter, who had spent the prior school year studying abroad in Granada, and asked her about the Camino. She told me that she had heard of it while in Spain and knew a couple of people who had walked it. Then she said to me "You can do it, Mom". That's all I had to hear. I went online and bought books on the Camino and began to read. I cut out the article and put it up on my pantry door (it is still there). That Christmas, my daughter was home from college and told me she wanted to walk the Camino with me the next spring. We made plans, got our supplies and off we went. I had never left my husband alone for so long but he was fine with it. I did not know what to expect. I don't know why I went but I knew that I had to. I couldn't explain to my friends or family, I just knew that it was something that I had to do. We had lots of support and encouragement but I was 52 years old and in good shape but never had I attempted something so physically, and little did I know, spiritually and psychologically, demanding. I just had to do it. I just had to. We started on April 19, 2005 in SJPP and finished in Santiago on May 24th. It took us 34 days. There were days where I cried, days I was frustrated, days that I was overjoyed. The gamut of emotions was unexpected and unexplicable. Returning home was so very difficult. My daughter and I cried, and I mean sobbed, when we left Santiago. We didn't want to return. 34 days on the Camino taught us so much. I wish that I had the time to go into this but those of you who have walked know what I mean. I heard someone say that there is the Camino you walk and the Camino you live. Living the Camino is more difficult than walking it. I think that is why I want to go back. There are so many lessons that are learned on the Camino but the routine of everyday life dulls the memory of those lessons. I want to return but alone next time. It was nice being with my daughter because we have a memory that bonds us forever. But I think that walking the Camino alone will give me a different perspective, one that I really want to experience. What called me to the Camino? I don't know. Did it make any significant changes in my life? In some ways yes and other ways, no. I read once that the changes brought about by the Camino can take years to make themselves known. I don't know about that. I think that if people want to change, it must be a conscious decision and the experience of the Camino helps those changes to come about. I think about the Camino every day. It is always with me. The memory of my experiences on the Camino, the people I met, the emotions I felt will never leave. Maybe that is what is meant by the Camino we live.
CULTURAL ACTIVITY:
This year we'll start the 3rd term with an activity about " The Way" ( El camino de Santiago).
CINEMA
" In November 2010 a Martin Sheen starring film about the Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of Saint James, was released. The film, simply called "The Way", was filmed in Galicia and is a great advert for the beauty of this scenic and little visited area". Read more here.
BOOKS (recommended reading): Shirley McLaine's The Camino ( a journey of the spirit).
CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: Create a glogster about the way. Download instructions.
Who can participate? All my students from 1st year and 3rd year.
Deadline: 4th April
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