Camino de Santiago 11/25/2019

               During the Philosophy and Religion Pizza Café, I went to hear Dr. Redick speak on the Camino de Santiago. If there is one thing that I could take away from the Camino, it is, “Buen Camino!” which translates into “Happy trail!” essentially being a wish of good upon another fellow hiker. With that, I learned that the Camino was truly a trail of good.
               While the Camino is another trail, it is different. With the Camino, it is set in Europe, running from southern France, or in some cases southern Spain, or in other cases, southern Portugal, all to end up in Santiago, a city in northeastern Spain. Because this trail is in Europe, going through countries that speak other languages besides English, like French, Portuguese, and Spanish, you are encountering, and really being in a place that is considerably culturally different, aside from languages, you have living style, food style, public style, approach to strangers. If a trail is a fat from your everyday conveniences, the Camino is a fast from your cultural way of life.
Another cool thing about the Camino that Dr. Redick mentioned was the writing and images seen drawn on concrete. It’s interesting because all that was there was the image, and so trailers ended up using their own perspective, and even listening and considering the ideas of others. There was one that looked like this:

 


The other image looked like this:
 

          In the first image, I saw an infinity sign that was not connected and closed, but instead continued by an arrow, with a person on top of it all. This I thought represented a continuous, never-ending personal journey, because of the infinity sign, and the use of a person. The second image I first saw a mountain with an arrow pointing left, and I was going to reach a similar conclusion as the first, with the idea of “journey,” but then realized that the mountain could also look like the heartbeat, as shown from the medical devices which measure one’s heartbeat. Bringing the mountain and the heartbeat together, I concluded that the second image may be heartbeat of the mountain, more clearly, the life of the trail- from the literal plants and animals, to the authentic community formed.
               In all, Dr. Redick’s talk on the Camino de Santiago trail was very interesting, and brought something new to my knowledge of trails, and added a layer of deeper thinking and analyzation to my toolbox of skills as we discovered what this trail was all about, what it meant to him, and what it could mean for us.

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