Chapter 10: Real

Our time has come to say goodbye to Spain, and to set out for the UK. The rainy weather and the Celtic like stone walls in Galicia already prepared us for crossing the sea to the British Isles. Our paper maps, that have been guiding us through Europe so far, showed us that there is a ferry connection from Santander (northern Spain) to Portsmouth (southern England). Sailing time: 24h. This seemed to us a perfect way to spend a day, a full day on the open ocean, with no where to go, but looking at the endless blue passing by. So we booked our tickets and prepared ourselves to set off for our longest voyage so far.

Once we drove down to the Santander port, we found that something was off. It was very quiet, although it was not to long till embarking. Once we were at the docks, we heard the astounding news: 'Your boat has been cancelled., due to the high winds on the open ocean. You were the only passengers we couldn't get in contact with.' Gideon asked: 'So what do we do now?' to which the lady in the booth replied: 'The next boat to sail will go in four days.' Four days! We didn't have four days. We were planning on helping out with a Mission week in Exeter, which would be nearly over by then. Moreover, we wouldn't have a bed for four nights.

'Is there maybe an other port where we can sail to Portsmouth?'

'I'm sorry, all ferries from Spain to England are canceled. The closest ferry that will take you is in Caen, France, a nine hour drive from here. I can book you for the 11pm, tomorrow, so that is 26 hours from now.'

This sounded possible, so we went back to the car. Slightly disillusioned that we couldn't make the longest voyage in our lives, but hopeful that we could still make it in time for the Mission week.

In a Mission week, students from the local IFES communities organize different talks on topics related to Christianity. These talks are always during lunch and in the evening and include free lunch and sometimes also diner, which is the perfect setting to engage in good conversations with our fellow students. The theme of this week: 'Real – What is real to you?'

Gideon was once president in organizing such a Mission week in Wageningen, and one of the main speakers he invited was Bruce Gillingham from Oxford. So when we wanted to go to the UK, we asked Bruce if there would be anything that we could do to help out. As it turns out, he was very much in need of some help for the coming Mission week in Exeter, south-west of England. He asked the students of the Bible college in Oxford to sign up for any of the seven Mission weeks in the upcoming semester. Only one of them signed up for the one in Exeter. So our help was very welcome.

We arrived in Exeter nicely on time and could drop our stuff at our new hosts before going to the lunch talk. This time we were hosted in a student house, where four boys live, of which one of them, Jonathan, is part of the organizing committee of this Mission week. It felt good to be among students again, as if we never really left the student life. During this week we listened closely to speakers like Michael Ots (the initiator of Mission weeks in the UK) and Bruce that really inspire us. We had wonderful conversations with 'fellow' students and in this short time really got a click with some of them.

Bruce regularly holds interviews with inspiring people on stage as a break in his talks. One evening it was our turn and we were interviewed by Bruce about our christian lives and our journey. It is a nice experience to narrow down our christian life to a mere three questions and seek the core of what faith means to us and what our journey is about.

Special to this week was a very English concept called 'Tea with Bruce'. After the lunch talk there is the opportunity to discuss some more about the topic around a nice cup of tea. During the week several students kept coming back, so we could get more in depth with the questions they had. There was Tom, the mathematician, who was very intrigued by the 'impossibilities' that Christianity presents, and there was Zoé, who is always looking for interesting people that think differently than she does, so we can learn from each other.

At one such 'Tea with Bruce' we were in a profound discussion, when it started to snow. Suddenly Zoé said to us: 'I know people who are living on the street tonight. They are going to have a very rough time, we have to do something.' So she suggested to go and buy sleeping bags and blankets to hand out to the people on the street. We were very enthusiastic about this idea, because we've been thinking during our travels what to do to help the people we meet, especially on the street. We're also exited when some one asks us to think a little out of the box, and to see if it is possible. And we found out, it was possible, and apparently we had God on our side, for the sleeping bags were in reduced price, the shops were open for just another hour, and the people were very thankful to receive what we could give them. At the end of the evening we stepped in the dining hall with wet socks, cold and sore, but it was such a wonderful and rewarding evening and Zoé showed us a real piece of Gods Kingdom that night.

Chapter 9: Buen Camino

Our next stop would be Santiago de Compostella. We said goodbye to the sunny beaches of Almeria and headed out to the Northwest of Spain. But not without a few more stops along the route, starting with the beautiful city of Sevilla. A lot of people recommended us visiting this city, and we could definitely recommend you doing so as well. We didn't have half the time we needed to enjoy it to the fullest, but we certainly were amazed by all the beautiful buildings and the warm atmosphere of the city.

Travelling from the outer south-east to the outer north-west of Spain is more than we could drive in one day, so we decided to stop by another Ecovillage, Los Portales. They sent us the details of how to come there from Sevilla. So with the description in hand we set out. Looking for the right exit from the motorway, we passed the first, and then the second. Driving on, we thought: the right exit should be very close now. But without any sign of recognition we drove into the night. As the hour passed, we started to get worried, and finally decided to check on our Tom-tom if we didn't pass it already, only to find out that we passed the exit one hour ago. We called them to say that we would probably arrive in the middle of the night. They assured us that that was not a problem as long as we could find the key to all of the six gates (Los Portales).

We drove back and after more than an hour we found the place where the road would lead us to a dirt road, that would go on for another half an hour into the middle of nowhere. There we found the key, and one by one we unlocked all the six gates (and closed them after us). We even spotted some genuine Spanish wildlife, a wild Iberian boar, a small fox and a rabbit.
The ecovillage consists of about 30 people, living in several buildings on a compound spanning many acres. There is a huge vegetable garden, a solar farm, a Eucalyptus forest, a source and goats wandering the 'Holy Mountain'.
The next morning we were introduced to the international community, people from France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Spain. They follow the teachings of Dr. Jung, how a persons dreams can be analysed in archetypes, which show us something of who we are, and where we come from. The community originally started as a group of people that wanted to live closer together, to learn more from their and each others dreams, and to become better people. They bought a house, and later the farm in Spain and got more and more involved in environmental awareness along the way. So now they make their own cheese, olive oil, bread and provide for their own electricity.
Our stay here gave us more insight and inspiration on community- and eco-life, and showed us the importance of a shared vision.

Then at last we traveled to O'Coto, where we were welcomed by a Dutch family that runs a hostel along the pilgrimage route. We came in late, so we didn't had the chance to greet the whole family. But the next morning they took their chance. We woke up from a knock on our door, followed by five children walking in to our bedroom to give us our breakfast of delicious pancakes. It took us a few more mornings before we were able to rise up as early as they normally did, so that we could have breakfast with them in the kitchen. Until that time, our mornings started around eight with these lovely children bringing our breakfast on bed. Time to introduce them, there is Job and Arienke with their children Jet, Bob, Henk-Jan, Siebe and Maartje. Job and Arienke are homeschooling these children, which means that there is a school moment each morning, helping with chores in the afternoon and enough time to play in between. Each day was wonderful and energetic, it was very inspiring to see how they combined the homeschooling with their day to day life and it was a privilege to be part of this family for a week.

After a few days we prepared and set out to start our own pilgimage to Santiago de Compostella. From O'Coto it was (only) 58 kilometers to Santiago and we planned to walk 3 days. Since we set out in winter, there were not many pilgrims, so during the day we didn't meet many people. Nevertheless, each night when we arrived in a hostel there were other pilgrims. It was a very interesting experience. When you are walking, there is nothing else then your thoughts. So to keep going we shared many stories, memories and thoughts with each other.

The final evening of our pilgrimage we met with Jaime, from Spain and Sabrina from San Marino. They walked all the way from the French border. They met each other allong the Camino, and decided to continue walking together. Now the final stage of their journey arrived and Jaime was furious: 'We walked all the way, all the hostels were very nice and hospitable to us, but ever since we entered Galicia all the hostel kitchens are empty. How are we supposed to make our food.' He explaned to us that in all the other hostels the kitchens are well supplied with pots, pans and tools, the only thing you have to provide it the food. This is also what we experienced in the hostel in Vezelay. But here, because it is almost the end of the camino, the gouvernment, that runs these hostels, is worried that the pilgrims might take their nice kitchen equipement. So they provided it with only a stove and a microwave.
Jaime said: 'I have to channel my anger someway, so I want to organize a special celebration diner, to celebrate our final day on the Camino. Do you want to join? We just put all the food that we have together and make it into a nice banquet.' We're always in for a party, so we said yes.
We brought our food to the kitchen and saw that Jaime bought some pans from the local grocery store, to supply the hostel. 'The future pilgrims will be thankfull for this,' he said. So we started cooking a nice diner.

The past few days Gideon came up with the idea of having a logo for our blog and our stories: something that reflects the purpuse of our journey, and the basis of our faith. So Irma started drafting some ideas for a logo and showed them to Gideon and the other pilgrims. Suddenly the girl, Sabrina, said: 'Let me have a look at this. I study design, and do a lot of logo designs, just for fun.' We showed her our ideas, and asked if she would have any remarks. But then she said: 'Give me a month. When I'm back in San Marino, I will have a look at your ideas, and I will put a logo together for you.'
So, a few weeks later, while we were in Ireland, she told us that she read our blog so far, and that she came up with a wonderfull logo:
This once more showed us that if you need or want something, sometimes all you need to do is just ask.

That evening we were together with eight other pilgrims, we had bread, wine and a lot of different delicious dishes. Simultaniously, we both thought: Bread, wine, last evening together; Lets celebrate Last Supper! Many of the pilgrims were either non-believers or cultural christians, but as we still are on a religious journey, they agreed with us and thought it was a good idea. So Gideon broke the bread and shared the wine and prayed the words of Jesus, and we had a wonderfull Last Supper together. We found that many appreciated it or were inspired by this 'toast', and after a good party, and a short night, we were ready for our final day of walking.

After three days of walking, our muscles felt sore, but our hearts were delighted by new experiences and new friendships. We celebrated this pilgrimage by joining the mass in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostella. Then Job kindly came to pick us up with his car and after an hour we were back home.