I’m nearing the end of my journey, so it’s time to start making the posts I’ve been planning on making but haven’t gotten around to yet. So without further ado, here are some lists.

Things I have lost:

• My sunglasses. I lost these I think as I was leaving Barcelona, and they have joined the many other sunglasses I have lost throughout my life. I bought a new pair in Saint Jean de Pied de Port, for a rediculous 44 euros. The camino does have a long history of highway robbery.  I have not lost these sunglasses though, which brings me to the theory that the only sunglasses that I am capable of keeping are sunglasses that look too big for my face.
• Myself. I got really lost in Pamplona, in between the train station and the bus station. I normally have a really good sense of direction, so I’m not used to having no idea where I am. I asked a few people for directions in my broken Spainish, and sort of wandered around in the general area of the bus station without being able to find it. Eventually I asked a family for directions, and they walked me to the station. They were wonderful. From Brazil, with three little kids. When the mother told the kids that I spoke english, the eldest immediatly introduced themself and asked for my name. The middle child counted to ten, and the encouraged the youngest to “count in ingles! Count in ingles!” The youngest then turned to me and said “one!” Which was adorable.
• My sense of direction. I really think there’s something in Pamplona that messes with me. Beautiful city though, and the second time I was with friends, who didn’t immediately get lost in the twisting streets.
• My handkerchief. I can’t remember exactly when I lost it, but I think it was somewhere between Pamplona and Logroño, or maybe it was before Pamplona. Anyway, when I noticed it wasn’t in my pocket, I turned around after a moment’s deliberation, as a bench I had recently taken a break on wasn’t too far away, and it might be there. It wasn’t, but the cloth bag for my sunglasses was.
• My towel. Yes, for a while I was not a frood who knew where their towel was. I found out it was missing in Logroño, and I was NOT happy. I used my washcloth as a towel for a while after that, which made cold showers more unpleasant but I couls deal. You know, dry my hair, wring the washcloth out, continue drying. I bought a new towel in Carrión de los Condes I believe. I found a shop that had quick dry towels while I was searching for matzah.
• One of the little thingys on the sunglasses that goes on your nose. Missing this is a minor annoyance as the sunglasses are not prone to falling off my face. Still haven’t lost them.
• The stuffsack for my towel. I can’t bring myself to care about this one.
• My mind. Lost it somewhere on the way to Astorga. I had spent several days not only walking by myself, but also eating by myself. Basically the only people I’d talked to for the past few days were hospitaleros and myself. I then walked 33 kilometers. I find that I’m a pretty good conversationalist. After actually talking to people since Astorga, I think pieces of my mind are coming back. Oh well.

Vida’s Camino track list:

I mentioned in a previous post that I sing while I walk, and included a couple of my favorites. Well, here’s a track list of my more commonly sung songs.

• Road Goes Ever On and On, by J. R. R. Tolkien. It’s a very fitting song. Sometimes in the afternoon it’s a little too fitting.
• Home Is Behind, words by J. R. R. Tolkien, tune by Howard Shore probably. This is one of the songs in Lord of the Rings, and in the movies it is the song that Pippin sings in Gondor. The words that appear in the movie are slightly changed words from a poem in the Fellowship of the Ring. The tune is rather haunting, but if sung with the orgininal words, it is somewhat cheerful. The first verse begins “Home is behind, the world ahead” and the second verse “Now world behind, and home ahead.”
• In Dreams, by Howard Shore. This is the tune that’s the Shire’s theme. It fits well in Spain. I can feel that this is the sort of land that Tolkien was imagining.
• Don’t Carry It All, by The Decemberists. I like this song. I sing it when it’s sunny and I’m happy about it being sunny.
• Me and Bobby Mcgee. I wrote about this song in another post.
• Home No More, by Matt Cosgrove. I also wrote about this song in another post, but it feels worth mentioning that along with enjoying the line “I’m free!” I also really enjoyed belting “I’m never going home again” at the beginning of my journy. It occationally scared me a little that I felt like I meant that line, and then it scared me again as I’ve stopped meaning it and started looking forwards to being home.
• Thrilling Intent Theme, by Matt Cosgrove. This is a fun song to sing when I want to give myself some energy and pick up my pace a little. I’ve foundly found a key where I can hit almost all the notes, and it has a lot of words that go by really quicklu, which is something I enjoy in a song.
• Wongol O!, by unknown (to me). A hatian folk song that I learned in the chorus I was in through middle school and high school. It’s a good “yell off a mountain” song.
• Ajia Mozambique (sp???), by someone who I don’t know. Another song from chorus. This song is also for picking up the pace and gaining energy. Lots of words that go by quickly.
• Walking On Glass, by Dearlie. This song is very relatable as I’m walking as it’s very encouraging and also my feet frequently hurt. The song is actually about Cinderella, not about walking on shards of glass, as the title may suggest. It’s also not an easy song to sing so it requires that I pay attention to it rather than my feet.
• For Me, by Dearlie. This is a comfort song, and a self-affermation song.
• The Sun, by PhemieC. Another comfort song, and also a song to sing when it’s sunny or I wish it was sunny, as it promises that the sun will always come back.
• A Sea Shanty That I Don’t Know The Name Of, by probably a group of people over time. It has verses like “When I was a little boy or so my mother told me/If I did not kiss the girls me lips would grow all moldy” which is just highly amusing to me. When I run out of verses that I know I start making up new ones until I get tired of it. This can take a number of kilometers.

Bonus tracks:

I’ve made up two songs so far on my journey. One isn’t finished yet, as I’ve only got one verse, a bridge, and a chorus, and the other is pretty short. Here’s the first one:

Rivers there are, and mountains tall,

Cities and open fields, I have walked them all.

Blue skys,  grey skys, stary nights unseen,

For night finds me in a bed, dreaming walking dreams.

(Bridge)

Follow the yellow arrows, but sometimes let them be,

Under this widening sky, I know I’m free!

(chorus)

I embrace the sun, I endure the rain,

Perhaps I will be home again.

But for now I travel, west-ing I go,

Until I reach Santiago.

My next song needs a little explaination. This was the day I lost my mind. I was probably thirty kilometers in when I opened my mouth and this song came out. I could see the cathedral on top of the hill in Astorga.

I’m almost there,

I’m almost there,

Was a long road today but I don’t care!

I’m almost there,

I’m almost there,

My feet hurt like a mother fucker.

Extra Special bonus tracks:

• Act one of Hamilton, minus the two songs sung by King George. I was on my way to San Juan de Ortega. I was exhausted, I had no idea how far I was from civilization, and I was by myself in the forest. I needed something to take my mind off of my feet. Something difficult to sing, something I didn’t know too well. And that’s when I realized: in the woods, no one can hear me rap.

Well, that was a pretty long post.