true life planet

 So, the other night I was up most of the night thinking about how to prepare for the Camino de Santiago, my next leg of my journey around the world.

I figured I might as well work on my trip-as there was no way I was going to get any sleep-for, about ten feet from my cinderblock ¨window¨, there was a wake going on. All night long.

At first I just sat on the edge of my bed and watched the wake outside my window-there was much singing, praying, and so forth. But after about 3 hours of watching the proceedings-I realized it was not going to end until morning.

So, I made myself a cup of black tea with the water I had boiled before bed, and munched on some crackers and peanut butter..wondering what to do for the rest of the night.

One thing about  traveling is-you constantly have to adapt. There is no grace period. Stuff happens, and you immediately have to adjust yourself, your day, your expectations…so, having a wake outside my window, although somewhat interesting from a cultural perspective, could have easily turned into a frustrating evening, had I not been thinking of my mantra…adapt, adapt, adapt.

This said, I began really thinking about  the Camino de Santiago. The Camino, in case you do not know, is a huge walk across Spain-and the part of it I plan on walking is around 400 miles. I have no past experience walking 400 miles-in fact, the farthest I walked in my old life in the USA was when I had to walk the dogs-about a 15 minute walk from my front door.

This past experience no longer defines me,  my physical strength, or endurance.  Since living here, I have walked everywhere-many miles a day, thru dust and dirt and mud and rivers and so on-and actually have become much more accustomed to walking long distances. I am sure that I can walk the entire route of the Camino I have planned.

But this night, I was more concerned about becoming stronger. I don´t know why this never occured to me before-the idea of being a strong woman-but for some reason, I became very focused on this idea.

In the USA, fitness was never fun. It was a drag, a pain, something you did to look good for others-when you actually had the time, which was rare indeed. When you did exercise, it was always in some annoying group setting.

Now, fitness isn´t about being fit or looking good anymore-it´s become some thing totally different for me. It´s become another aspect of development in being a strong, capable woman who can do what she sets out to do.

So the night of the wake, I came up with the idea of writing out a plan, a plan to train for the Camino de Santiago. I´ve got about 40 days left here in the Comarca, and I figure if I need endurance and strength training, this is the perfect environment for it.

My plan consisted of:

 walking 4 miles a day, 6 days a week.

doing stretches every morning7and 40 situps!, at 5 am, before my house gets busy-and people start walking in my room unannounced!

swimming 6 days a week in the largest river here-the river Fonseca-for 2 hours a day

and, one hike every weekend, of at least 3 hours each direction.

It is now two weeks since I came up with my plan. I am happy to report that I am doing all of the above-and seemingly, without as much effort as I expected. I actually look forward to it.

I especially love swimming in the river. There are two rivers near my house: one is small, dirty-pigs swim in it, chickens are beheaded and plucked in it, it is a bathroom for the people who live nearby-and the river Fonseca. The river Fonseca is huge, fast, and reasonably clean. It´s waters are a beautiful green, and it is bordered by amazing trees, full of bromeliads and orchids. And, unlike other rivers in Central America-there are no snakes!(Actually, there are only a few tiny fish..the people here have eaten all the larger species of fish until they are extinct.)

Everyday I go swimming in a peaceful, quiet spot I found in the Fonseca. It´s bordered by a few flat rocks, used occassionally for beating wet clothes on by Ngobe women. Sometimes children accompany me, amazed by an adult that likes to swim-here. the river is used solely as a place to take a quick dip, or a quick bath. People do not exercise for the sake of exercise.

Of course, it´s a bit of a challenge, swimming fully clothed. Occassionally I find myself unable to move-or suddenly extremely buoyant-my skirt filled up with air as I swim. I still am incredulous that the Ngobe women manage to swim outfitted in a dress down to the ankles.

But sometimes when I´m swimming there all alone, I am just suddenly struck by the fact that I am swimming in the middle of a huge river in Panama. Me, who hated swimming as an adult. Me, who was afraid of large rivers and lakes. Me, who loathed exercise.

It´s just amazing how much things have changed-my perspective, my desires, my confidence-by being here. I´m really confident now that I can do the Camino de santiago, and that I will be prepared for it. I´m a strong woman.

gg

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