[Gocamino] camino blues??

[Glenn]

I too was very "dazed and confused" after my first Camino.  I dreamt about 
various stages of the Camino every night for weeks.  The big change for me 
was a passion my friends and family call an obsession with the Spanish 
language, which I did not know before walking the Camino.  Two years later I 
walked it again.  My experience on the second walk was entirely different. 
I felt like I was filling in "holes" ...looking at the Camino in a different 
way and my understanding became more complete.  Knowing more of the language 
of course helped.  I still have this hunger for knowing more about the 
Spanish language and Spain in general...and I know I will return.  I am 
fortunate to have a loving and understanding family, but it still takes me 
some time to get through the guilt feelings of leaving them again for 
several weeks.  My wife does not have the freedom in her work that I have, 
and although I have spiked her interest in Spain, she is not inclined to do 
the pilgrimage...yet.   I don't know how much of the Camino experience is 
due to Spain, how much is because you are out in nature for hours at a time 
for days on end with some truly stunning landscapes, or how much is due to 
walking in solitude, which seems to be such a rare commodity in modern 
times.

Anyway...I have found a very interesting book on Spanish history you may 
want to check out.  It is called "Ghosts of Spain...Travels Through Spain 
and Its Silent Past" by Giles Tremlett.  Because I knew a little Spanish 
this time, I got to meet and talk with some Basque and Catalans and they got 
me interested it learning something about the Spanish Civil War, which is 
covered in this book.

The feeling of being haunted by the Camino binds pilgrims together, but 
separates us from others who cannot really understand this feeling no matter 
how much they try.

Glenn


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "claire bangasser" <claire.bangasser at wanadoo.fr>
To: <Hathor821 at aol.com>
Cc: <GoCamino at oakapple.net>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 8:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] camino blues??


>
> On Jul 29, 2007, at 1:16 PM, Hathor821 at aol.com wrote:
>
>>  A question?  Is there something called "camino blues?"  I  suffered
>> intensively upon my return last year and wonder if it happens
>> often....how to deal
>> with it....how to explain not only Camino to friends and  family
>> but the
>> obsession with it....
>
> Yes, Patricia, I would say there is such a thing as 'camino blues'. I
> definitely had it two years ago when we came back from Le Puy-
> Santiago. My way of softening the edge of the blues was to decide to
> do it again. Which we did last year. This year, we were going to go
> from Lourdes-Somport to Santiago, but realized a week or so ago that
> we could not. Too much to do in our old house.
>
> The camino haunts me. One way of dealing with the longing, for me, is
> to try to bring it into my daily life, the way I had promised myself
> to do it the first time I reached Santiago. I have also a couple of
> books that I want to spend time with. I would like to read a book on
> the History of Spain and the History of the Spanish Civil War
> (remember el monumento a los caidos?). The spirituality of the Camino
> also is haunting me, so I hope to work it in these next months. And
> then of course, I enjoy the conversations here and click on the links
> of photos :-)
>
> claire
>
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