We have met and seen some interesting people on our journey to Santiago. There have been couples, groups of women, men, a son or daughter with a parent, and a young man holding his grandmother‘s arm as she walked. I spoke with a man two days ago and his wife from San Francisco. They were walking the Camino and had found it challenging as well. So for at least part of one stage, they took a taxi. We saw them again today and they passed us, but recognized us as they did. As they walked by us, they wished us a Buen Camino. Although we had some struggles as we completed each stage of the walk, we learned that people along the way observed us. Yesterday was a struggle for both of us, and there was one time that I was sitting down, trying to drink some water and recover from climbing a steep hill. One man with an Asheville T-shirt on came and asked if he could carry my backpack for me. We thanked him and said that I needed to carry it myself, but didn’t explain that I needed it for my back not to hurt.

Another couple walking by looked at us and asked if we had plenty of water, which we did. We thanked them and they continued on their way.

Yesterday we passed a group of women that we had seen several times during our walk. We had not passed a café in several kilometers and didn’t know when we would come across one. One of the women needed to use the bathroom and a friend must have suggested that she just go out into the cornfield as other people had done. She was trying to figure out how this exactly worked and they said, ”we’ll stand here and form a shield around you.” As we passed them, I said to Mike, “you just go out into the cornfield and hide behind the stalks.”

Today we walked past a woman who was clipping grapes from her grapevines. She was offering grapes to pilgrims as they walked by. She gave some to us and we took a few. She was so kind in her offering the grapes to people she didn’t know.

Another couple talked to us briefly yesterday and then continued on. We saw that couple again today and they stopped and spoke to us. They told us that they were seriously considering quitting the Camino two days ago because of the difficulty. Then they came upon us, looked at us, and said to each other, “if they can do it, we can surely do it.” We wound up walking with them for a while today. Mike walked with the husband and I walked with the wife. They are celebrating her birthday on October 2 and we learned that they are from Mexico City. They both told us that they were so inspired by us. They will arrive in Santiago tomorrow. This was a valuable lesson for us in that we are not just walking the Camino for ourselves, but a reminder that we also walk it in community with other people. This community may be people we pass each day, people we see struggling, or people that we see each morning as they pass us and wish us a Buen Camino.