I met Mario’s eye as he entered the crowded dining room and waved him to my table. He gladly accepted and we enjoyed a conversation over a Pilgrim Dinner. With intelligent eyes and a hollywood smile, the young man told me his camino story.
He had been in and out of California medical clinics, the diagnosis becoming more mysterious with time and the medicines becoming more deadly. One injection he was taking would help his symptoms but he was informed that this would eventually give him cancer. Mario could see the writing on the wall. Being the oldest child in an immigrant family he purchased a generous life insurance policy, quit his job and walked the camino, against the strong advice of his doctors. Surprisingly, he found the walking much easier than he expected. Within days he stopped taking his medicine. He returned home hale and healthy. The doctors were amazed, did more testing and judged that his health issues were most likely the direct result of unhealthy stress. The camino gave Mario peace and peace restored his life. That was a year ago.
This year he was walking the camino as a victory lap.
Blessed are the peace-makers.
I walked 30 km today with little effort. Lots of little hills, more trees. The weather varies dramatically. Layers are coming off and coming back on. The locals complain about the cold. I find a very nice hostel with friendly staff that could speak English and bunk beds that don’t squeek every time I turn around around.
Wow, the previous night in Astorga I slept in a cramped room with 8 people in a large old monastery. There was a lady around my age sleeping soundly when the rest of us climbed into our bunks. Immediately she began to snore, freight-train, ghetto-blaster loud. One guy was so upset he took his mattress into the hallway and slept outside our door. Twenty minutes later the lady turned on her side and we all fell sound asleep.
Pilgrim Leader 
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