Greece, Spain, and 2 Apostles - July 1, 2006
Dear All,
I guess
by now everyone's been wondering
what's been happening with Seraphim/Bill/William. Well, I've been busy,
way to busy. I was working evenings for a long time and had no time at all
to do anything like write long e-mail's like I used to. Or any e-mails at
all. I have pretty much been working and resting. The last several
weeks have been the worst, I've been getting ready to go to Europe. I'll
be going to Thessoloniki, Greece (as in I&II Thessalonians in the Bible) and
then to Mt. Athos, a monastic area not far away. I'll be visiting several
monasteries there, staying in one near my priest's monastery there. From
there I'll go to Patras to the church where the body of the apostle St. Andrew
lies. From there I'll go back to Athens to see some more old stuff.
Then I'll fly to Pamplona, Spain and start walking to Santiago de Compestella
where the body of St. James the brother of Christ lies. Then I will come
home and go to work the next day. So that's the background, if you hear
anything from me later you'll have some perspective on what I'm doing. And
that is about all I can think of to write. My head isn't working too well,
I haven't slept much lately, or rested much. I'll add some more stuff in
later e-mails. I've got my PDA with wireless internet so I may be able to
write when I'm in a city if I can figure out how to use it. I'll post pictures
on my web site when I get back.
Love you all, write
soon.
Seraphim
Thessaloniki – July 4, 2006
Dear All,
Well, I got safely to Greece
with almost no problems other than linguistic. I keep hearing people say
words that I heard on the Pimselur Greek audio lessons, but I guess I wasn't
paying close enough attention to learn what they meant. Luckily, many people
here speak English. Thus far the impression Greece has left on me is that
there are churches and shrines everywhere, the food is great and the girls are
beautiful.
I didn't mention it in my last e-mail
because I didn't want to worry some people, but I was having a lot of problems
with my left knee. I fell down running to catch the subway (I missed it)
and re-injured my knee. I first hurt it hiking up mountains in
WuLai. This time, it didn't stop hurting when I stopped using it. It
hurt everyday for two weeks, sometimes barely noticeable, and sometime quite
painful. I was worried that walking 700 kilometers on it might possibly be
a problem, especially since I have to be walking all over Mt. Athos later.
Yesterday I prayed to the Holy Mother, who is the patron of Mt. Athos, about
this, and this morning there was no pain, at all. I didn't even notice. I
had been walking abound all day, and instead of hurting it felt fine. I went
right away into a church and lit a candle in thanks.
The food
here is better than I thought and street food is cheep. For some reason,
though, Coca-cola is 1E outside, but only 40c in the supermarket. There
are many places with roasted meat on a spit that they put in gyros or
sandwiches. Well, I don't have much time left here so I'll have to
cut it short. Let me know how you are all doing.
Seraphim
Keffalonia – July 22, 2006
Hey all,
Well, I've had some hang ups and some good times
lately. I had a good stay in Athens and saw a lot of old broken
stuff. That's about the only way to say it. Everyone knows what's in
Athens, I just saw the real stuff I've seen on TV before. I really enjoyed
the Byzantine museums, which is always by favorite part of Greek history, and I
also went to the National Art Gallery, which was small compared to Taiwan's, but
good. I was looking forward to going to Patra for a few days to rest at my
priest's sister's house before making the long walk to Santiago, only she hadn't
expected me to stay for so long and I had to quickly make other plans. I
quickly decided to go to the Ionian island of Keffalonia, a place I had never
even heard of until yesterday. I quickly arranged for tickets, changed my train
ticket so I wouldn't miss it (which was much more painless than I thought it
would be, I only got shouted at), and I was on my way. Should be fun.
That's about all there is. Hope you are all well.
Seraphim
Planes, Trains, and Ferries to Spain – July 26, 2006
Dear All,
Well, I just got back to the mainland from my surprise
side trip to Keffalonia. I didn't get nearly as burned as I thought I
would, but I have mosquito bites covering a third of my body. I hadn't
prepared for this trip at all so I didn't have any of the usual things you need
for camping like a tent or mosquito repellant. I was just sleeping out under the
stars in a sleeping bag. Since only my face was out that's what they went
for. I have so many bumps on my face I look like I'm in high school
again. Still, it was fun and relaxing to just lay around on the beach all
day. I discovered European women aren't very shy about sunbathing topless,
even those that should be.
So now I'm looking forward to
being in Spain where at least I can understand a little of what people are
saying. And there will be no more anxiety about hopping trains, plans, and
ferries from one city to the next. For the next month it's just me and my
feet.
Hope you are all well.
Seraphim
On the Road to Santiago, Again – July 29, 2006
I’ve finally got to Spain, and had a very Hemingway-esc first
day. I had thought I wasn’t going to get here at all. I got up at
4:30am to catch the bus to the airport and just got there. Then I had to
pay 3 euros for a warm coke, didn’t stop me but I wasn’t happy about it.
Then I took a long dull flight to Madrid, where the cokes were not as expensive,
but still high, 2.40E. My flight was delayed many, many times, finally going
three hours late. Luckily, I got to the albergue (pilgrim’s hostel) just
before it closed and had just enough time for a shower (I smelled real bad) and
a sandwich. Then I got ran out at 7:30 this morning. I didn’t walk
much today, just about 23km, which is an easy day for me. When I arrived
in Puenta la Reina I went to sleep for a few hours, then went to the
supermarket, but I found it closed. Today is either a local holiday, or as
I think a Catholic festival day, St. Francis of Assisi maybe. In the
center plaza the locals were playing a game called ´ring the bull´ where they
get a bull (with horns) real mad then make it chase them, then they put a ring
on its horns. Then just for fun they ran the bull up and down the street
full of people. They had planned for this and the women, kids and old
folks ducked behind barred gates while the young men stood in the street and
some taunted the bulls. Guess what I did. I couldn’t taunt the poor
animals, though. It was a strange way to celebrate the feast of the patron
of animals.
So in three days I’ve gone from a
semi-nude beach to being stuck in an airport to facing a bull. I wonder
what will happen tomorrow.
Running out of time here so I’ve got to go,
love to you all.
Seraphim
Hot – July 31, 2006
Just going to write a short note
today. I decided to do a long haul yesterday, but just as I was starting
on the last stage I got a fast attack of diarrhea. Luckily no one was
around, unfortunately I had tossed my TP thinking, I won’t need that and had
only notebook paper. I had a nasty rash by the time I got to the next
town, as well as heat rash from my fat legs rubbing together. On the plus
side, the albergue served dinner cheap. It was super hot yesterday,
too. Today I had a lot of trouble walking for the above reasons, so I only
went about 20km. I just arrived at the albergue, but I’d better check in
because more people are coming and I don’t want to have to keep going.
Take care all.
S.
Everything’s working today – August 4, 2006
Dear All,
There are some new people on the list so I’m going to do
an update:
I'm in Spain. Continuing:
After some tough
days everything is working more or less well today. I’m still having
trouble moving my right leg, but it doesn’t hurt as much to walk on it.
The blister on my left heal has dried out, though I’m still worried about it
getting infected. I remember too well the nightmare I went through last
time when I had a big infection on the back of my heal. I soaked it in
saltwater, I've heard that helps. I'm staying at a nice albergue that was
peaceful until a very large group of young people just walked in. Large
groups, especially of young people, are my nemesis on the Camino. They are
loud and stay up late and on the road they dawdle about and it's hard to get
past them. Today I passed one group. Later it started raining and I
was tired so I stopped in a church for about 25min. I started out slow
because I am always stiff after stopping, but then I thought I saw them ahead of
me. I started walking fast, much faster than usual. I normal go at about
5.5km/hr, but since I was hurt I'm lucky to be going around 5km/hr. But
today I was going at 6-6.5km/hr for almost an hour. However, when I
finally caught them it was a not that group, it was a small family and a few
other pairs and singles. But I made good time. I only did 23km today
because of the rain. Maybe tomorrow I will have to do more. I need to
average 26km a day to get there on time. This group here now is so loud,
they look like they haven't walked a mile yet. They must have someone
driving their luggage b/c they were coming in with big rolling bags of
luggage.
It's nice to walk in a place that you haven't
been in a long time and see all the places you have before, and to sit where you
sat years before. It helps remember what things where like 2 years ago and
to remember what kind of person you were then and what you thought about then
compared to now. The town where I'm staying now I just passed through last
time. I remembered it when I saw the plaza. Last time I was tired but had
more miles to go, so I stopped in town for a while. I wondered off the trail, I
remember thinking God had led me to a shady plaza. I was walking around
and found it again. Really I found the odd store that I bought lip balm
last time when my lips were severely chapped, and that reminded me of the
plaza. This time I bought a bag for my camera there, I haven't taken as
many pictures this time, partly because my camera is hard to reach, but mostly
because things are not as unique as last time. xx Well, I'm
just wasting time while I download an episode of Stargate to watch on my
PDA. The PDA and GPS gear are all working well for me, though some of the
GPS info I got was off. I'm updating everything and in the future I'll
post it all online. I left my European plug adapter in the last place, so
I had to find an electronics store and rig up a new one. So far it is
working, though my GPS receiver is getting twice the amps it needs and I'm
afraid it will burn out eventually. We'll see.
Hope you are all
doing well. Write me sometime and let me know how you all are. Love
you all.
Seraphim
Broken down again – August 10, 2006
Dear All,
My feet hurt so much I want to sit down and cry about
it. Last time I did this I had heavy steel enforced boots that tore my
feet up, this time I decided to go with sleek Timberlands, but they don’t have
the impact resistance when walking over rocky ground. Plus I got blisters
and as soon, just as soon as I got my right leg working again, my left ankle
starts hurting. After about a kilometer everything just goes numb and it
doesn’t bother me, but when I stop it starts again. I’ve got a very
painful blister between two toes that’s a bit infected. I did 40km today,
that’s why I’m so whiny. That’s twice what I did on some days. The
towns are spaced badly on this stretch so it was do it today or in two
days. For once, I did the hard part first. I need to do 27km a day,
so now I’ve got 13km in the bank for when I hit the mountains next week.
Keep praying, I’m going to soak my feet and sleep, it’s been a long day, but
tomorrow is only 30km. Take care,
Seraphim
Wet – August 19, 2006
Dear All,
It is wet. Wet, wet, wet, wet, wet. It has rained for
about 3 days now. Wednesday wasn’t so bad, but as soon as I reached the
hardest
part of the trip, I got the worst weather. This is what it
looks like here:
(dead link)
I’m now in the part
of Spain on the far
left above Portugal that turns purple at the end. Purple means wet.
Tomorrow will also be wet. I brought 2 light rain ponchos from Taiwan
thinking it wouldn’t rain much, or maybe just one day like last time. I
almost threw one away after the first rain, but rolled it up again.
Experience has taught me not to throw away rain gear. I’ve thrown away 2
pairs of pants and some shirts, but not rain gear. I use the broken one to
wrap around my bag, and the good one to put around me. Despite the weather
I’m still going on well. I’m making good time, in fact. For the
first time ever I did stop in a bar for a hot cappuccino, I usually stop on the
road where ever I can sit and drink a cold coke. I got moving extra early
this morning, about 5:45am, because I had stopped 6km before one of the big
stopping places. I went 2 years ago, it is also a big starting place and
it was packed. I don’t want to sleep on a cold floor again, or the ground,
or a basketball court, so I’m changing my plans. I generally get to the
albergues just before the big crowds come in. Today, because I started
behind most, I was afraid they would be full, but I had no problem getting
in. I didn’t even see many people today. I guess a lot took several breaks
for the weather. I’ve got a schedule worked out for the next few days that
will put me in Santiago a day earlier than planned, but I required another 40km
day. I may can cut some off that, there are not many albergues (hostels)
listed in this area, but sometimes there is a new one not listed, or a pension
or casa rural or other stuff that means you can sleep there. They are more
expensive, though. I’m doing pretty good about eating. Unlike last
time I am cooking more, and by cooking I mean boiling water and adding the
contents of a package to it, that saves a lot of money. Sometimes I
do eat in a bar because the food here is really good. Not today, though, I
purposely picked an albergue near a supermarket because I didn’t want to go far.
And tomorrow,
back out into the rain. I’m debating weather or
not to buy a new poncho that I can get on and off more easily. I don’t
like to stop and take it on and off, but I get really hot wearing it. It’s
like wearing a garbage bag, then walking hard for hours. I could see more
water inside it than on it from my sweat. I worry about dehydrating like
that, and it gets cold. I don’t mind the rain that much, I like rain, it
rains all the time in Taiwan, but a hot tropical rain. This is bitterly
cold. I reached the highest peak today, 1340m above sea level. As
soon as I hit it an icy blast of wind hit me. All morning I kept thinking,
It’s August! The high today was 70F.
Well, got to go, running
out of time. Need to hit send before I’m cut off.
Love to you
all,
Seraphim
I did it, I Made It, I’M HERE – AGAIN!!! - August 24, 2006
I’ve finally made it, once again. I am in Santiago, 700 km from where I
started. I couldn’t believe the end seemed to go by so fast, probably from
lack of sleep. I arrived here yesterday at about 11am, after just 22km of
walking. I got my pilgrims credentials, this time with the name Seraphim
in Latin. So now I have one that calls me Villelum and another that calls
me Seraphinum. I don’t know how they came up with that name, Seraphim is
mostly the name of eastern Christians, I don’t know if it was ever used in the
west. Every time I tell someone my name they look at me funny. In
Greece, people would say, ´Hey, that’s a Greek name.´ Anyway, I went to the
Cathedral next, had my picture taken with my stuff again, took some pictures
with a better camera than before. When to the little lunch counter with
good, cheap hamburgers, and did a little shopping with the money I’d been so
frugal with. I don’t know if I’d mentioned it but I’ve been on a tight
budget because I couldn’t get my ATM card to work here. Luckily I spent
almost nothing in Galicia because the albergues where practically free (and
worth it) and there were rarely stores in the villages. I was carrying
enough tuna and bread to live on, and there were often bars where I could get a
bocadilla, which is like a subway sandwich but made of wood. No one could
believe when I asked for one with bacon, egg, and cheese. I actually found
that in a fast food place listed as ¨British Sandwich¨. So I bought a t-shirt
and a Spanish flag. I also got a Greek flag when I was in Greece.
I’ll put them up with my Chinese and American flag. I really need to get a
Taiwan flag sometime.
Sorry if
I’m babbling. I haven’t slept much lately. I’m not going to
either. The albergue is very
noisy, as usual, and when I leave it is early in the morning, at 6am. I
don’t know if I can get to the airport in time so I’m just going to sleep
there. Then I have the usual day long flight to Taiwan. I think on
my next vacation I’ll go somewhere closer to home. Like the hammock in my
front yard. So, now that my long journey is over what have I
learned? I don’t know, not much, little more Spanish, but I wasn’t here to
learn anything. I think like anything else you just have to keep going,
one step at a time, even when it hurts, even when you don’t want to. I
think it’s best not to rush through things. I think I’ve gotten more in a
hurry than before. Or maybe less lazy, I don’t know which. Probably
doesn’t matter much if you rest on the way to a place, or when you get
there. I guess it depends on if you like the middle or the end best.
But I have learned one very important lesson. Coca-cola is the same in
every language. And it’s everywhere you go. Last time I did this I
was careful not to drink a lot of soda, this time I didn’t care. I don’t worry
about stuff like I used to. I just try not to over do it. I’ve
discovered sugary drinks are keeping me fat. After 2 pilgrimages I’ve lost
some weight, but I still have a big gut. Not as big as before,
though. My pants don’t fit well anymore. For the last week I was
walking down the camino constantly pulling my pants up. That’s partly
because I keep all my electronics there. My GPS unit, which was pretty
useful, stopped, then started working again. It wasn’t very useful for
finding stuff as I didn’t have the proper maps loaded for most cities, but it
could tell me stuff like how far I was from a place, how fast I was going,
altitude, average speed, and actual distance traveled. I recorded a lot of
GPS locations which I plan to put on the internet for anyone else to
use.
Well, I’ve been on the internet over 2 hours now
downloading the last episodes of Stargate and Prison Break to watch on the
plane. My CD of the West Wing got scratched. I need to go now, I’ll
send another e-mail in a couple of days when I get home. I hope my dog
still recognized me. Love to you all.
Seraphinum
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