Day 10: Santo Domingo to Belrado (Deija)

Day 10: Santo Domingo to Belrado 
14.9 Miles 
Total: 148.4 

Today is unable to be described in a few mere paragraphs written before bed. As most of you already know, today was Independence Day for the United States. Otherwise known as July Fourth. We celebrated with some of our newly made friends by making s very large dinner of spaghetti, hotdogs, two different salads, chips, mango, watermelon, and for drinks there wine, champagne, and Kas. It was a feast, and I believe everyone enjoyed themselves very much. Auna even brought muffins out and put a little note card next to them saying, "Happy Independence Day America! Please take one!" So not only did we have delicious muffins to munch on before and after, we also had a cake dish that Mr. March had purchased, some chocolate, and lemon cookies from our new friends. 

Since day four we have either been following or followed by a group of five from New Jersey. Three women, and two men; John, Dan, Anne Marie, Concepta, and Allison. Allison, Concepta, and John are all teachers, Dan is a priest, and Anne Marie is a nurse. Auna and I formed a bond between the girls and ourselves almost immediately and soon we all considered each other family. Walking, talking and sweating together makes random people friends pretty quickly apparently. We all have our own pace, and the Camino is a bondage between all. I will sometimes walk with Allison, but today I stayed with Concepta, Anne Marie, and John. They are young still, mid-twenties, and all very funny. We even have inside jokes! 

I still think it is amazing that just walking, and sleeping with a few people over a matter of a couple of days can give you a relationship that will last a lifetime. I have become "Facebook Buddies" with people from all over the world! We have formed "relationships" with people from everywhere; A few people from South Korea, a few from Quebec the whole group from New Jersey, a couple from Sweden, a man and his son that are from Brazil, a few Germans, Spaniards of course, and even people from Australia, Africa, Ireland, UK, Portugal, Canada, and obviously the USA as well. I could go on for a while longer too!

Back to our friends though, we all went shopping and we all tried to participate in the making of food, but that is very hard in a small kitchen with more than a few people. Most of us gave some effort, especially Bree, Mr. March, and Auna. Not to make excuses for myself or anything, but I was shopping for groceries when they started dinner and tried to help as much as I could when I returned. 

We sat down for dinner around six, and though it all looked amazing, we all refrained until grace was finished. We all dug in, and the large amount of food that many of us doubted would even have a dent, was very much eaten, and enjoyed. We still had a salad, and some noodles, but other than that there wasn't much left. 

After dinner, we all stayed seated near the table and just talked... There were many conversations going on, but one that I remember having is that today was suppose to be "Make It or Break It" Day. Today, we were suppose to test ourselves and either go home, or stay in the race. It was a sort of shock actually to realize we actually survived today, without that much effort. Make It or Break It, turned into "Umm...duh...Made It."

It wasn't that long of a walk if I recall correctly, and if it was, I couldn't tell you without checking the maps. This part of the trip, is what makes people want to do this again. "The good stuff." The times with friends, family, and strangers that you will not forget. 

I know that everyday will not be as fun as today, we won't have complete home-cooked meal every night, we won't have our Jersey friends much longer, but we will have each other, and new friends are already on there way over. 

Today we also began speaking with two people from Quebec; a boy and his uncle. They are very kind people, we started talking with them when we offered them food because we had so much. They sat down and we all began a conversation that was still underway when I returned from mass later that evening. We exchanged Facebooks, e-mails, and our blog URL was given to them. What was funny about it, is that we had been walking together and sleeping at the same hostels as the two for the majority of the trip, and I was unaware that they spoke English, so I never initiated a conversation. Food has always brought people together I guess. :)

I think today was the day I finally started to understand why we are here. All of us, everyone on the Camino. It's not just a walk, it's a journey, and we are all in it together. I'm looking forward to tomorrow even if we will be walking eighteen miles over three mountains/hills. 

Happy Fourth everyone! Hope it went well! 

Time for bed. :)

- Deija