Leon #1

When I was putting together my video footage from today, I chose the song “Glorious” by MaMuse because that seemed to fit today. All of us had reservations in León, so we were able to take our time and enjoy a few more leisurely cafe stops along the way. Then we ended up hiking in and through a huge sheep 🐑 herd, we found some Camino friends we hadn’t seen since earlier, and ended our day with 16 of us enjoying a great dinner in León this evening.

At the end of dinner, we had to say goodbye to Chamu, who is returning home to his family. He originally planned on walking for about eight days, but has now been walking for over 20. Once he met Paku, and heard his story of surviving cancer, they became fast friends, and were nicknamed the “Lavender Brothers” for always picking some wild lavender and attaching it to their backpacks 🎒. Chamu gave us all a copy of this quote by Eduardo Galeano as a parting gift:

“Each person shines with his or her own light. No two flames are alike. There are big flames and little flames, flames of every color. Some people’s flames are so still they don’t even flicker in the wind, while others have wild flames that fill the air with sparks. Some foolish flames neither burn nor shed light, but others blaze with life so fiercely that you can’t look at them without blinking, and if you approach, you shine in the fire.”

He told us that we were all flames of light and he has pieces of us that will always be with him, and we will have pieces of him, so only happy tears were allowed. 🙂💕

Tomorrow, we get to explore León and tour the cathedral, AND word on the street from Emily and Andy is there is a Taste of America store that has Jif Peanut Butter. Alan is pretty pumped at the possibility. 😂😂Read more