Week In Review! Denver Pt. 2!

It's been another two weeks in Denver--and they have been jam packed. Jam packed with adventure, heartbreak, meetings and, as of the last two days, snow! So, here we go--the week (ok, it's been two) in review!

• Remember how I had a horrible tree mural and Cookie Monster blue shag carpet in my walk-in closet sized room? Not anymore. One of my housemates had a massive room and didn't like it. So, we switched! Now we are both happy campers. (And, she painted the mural and psychedelic dresser within 48 hours of being in there. She's got way more energy than me!)
• I continue to love my jobs. The stories I hear though, at my afternoon job especially, continue to break my heart. We had a guy in who couldn't come up with the three dollars he needed for the copay on his heart medications. He'd gone without for two weeks before he found us and came in. (He said it might as well have been three million dollars because he couldn't come up with it on his own either way...) There was another guy who had recently become homeless and because of all the rain had found shelter for the last few nights night...in a port-a-potty. 
• Fall was beautiful for a few days. Then, after an 81 degree day, winter rolled in. Friday I woke up to snow. Flurries have been falling on and off since. (Brrr!!)
• UnderArmor cold weather socks continue to be my best cold weather friends. 
• As much as I love my jobs, I love the weekends even more. Last weekend David had cooked up some kind of a surprise. It had been on my calendar for a month, but I still didn't know what it was going to entail until I arrived at his house last Saturday. We drove out to a state park in the foothills, had a picnic lunch and then went horseback riding! I did not see that coming! David later had a lesson to teach up in what is the beginnings of the mountains, so we headed up there, had some coffee, and spent the evening there. While he was working I had a walk around town and wrote some postcards. It was absolutely what I needed to get me through the next crazy week. 
• Last Saturday eased some of the restlessness bubbling up in me. Horse back riding somehow reminded me of Moroccan camel rides (except way more comfortable!) and the little mountain town was giving me flashbacks to both Boquete, Panama and the mountains of Cyprus. Sunset walks and postcards just set the travel mood even more. 
• This weekend we took things in a completely different direction. We found a free jazz concert with a famous local band playing at a Methodist church down in Littleton. We thought it might be fun. (And, since it was free we were more than willing to take the gamble!) We walked in through snow flurries to find A) warmth (both of our houses and both of my jobs are so cold!), B) lots of old people (there were about 125 people in there. I think we were the only ones who weren't grey headed), and C) lots of fantastically ugly sweaters. The whole evening was great fun. The band was good, and really got rolling at the end--and the old folks were loving it. Orthopedic shoes were tapping all over the place. The grandma in front of us was especially getting down. 
• Two separate couples stopped to tell us that we did not old enough to be there--which just tickled us even more. 

Some pictures from the last couple weeks:  

I remembered to take a picture of our house. 10 of us live here and there are also offices for our directors. 

Horses!

Stables in the foothills. We weren't that far away from town or a freeway, but it still felt like we were in the middle of Wyoming. 

I did not fall off! : )

Our horses: Sky (David's) and Shy (mine). Not really sure why mine was named Shy. It certainly was not shy about stopping to eat, pooping at will or passing gas when others were near. 

It was a beautiful area. 

Up in Evergreen. (Seriously, it reminded me of both Boquete (remember?) and the Troodos Mounains (see here)).

Some fall trees

And sunset walks

Back in the work week, I decided half way through Monday (that had already involved staff meetings and inventorying more than 500 vases and other random things we sell) that in order to make it through feeding 1000 people spaghetti and then through an additional 4 hours of afterwork Urban Servant Corps programing I would need a boost. I made a lunch time stop at Starbucks while switching buses downtown. 

It was a good call because I found plenty of messages waiting for me when I got to my afternoon work site...

There's a saying that there's only two things in life that money can't buy: Love and homegrown tomatoes. I'm obviously a very lucky girl to have both. 

Friday morning at the bus stop!

The snow was beautiful...even if it had me worried that it was getting so cold already.

Totally

And finally, this evening even my Under Armor socks weren't quite cutting it. It was time to bust out my socks knitted by a Bosnian nana. David brought them back for me this summer and I've been waiting to rock them ever since. 

Banana/Chocolate Chip/Peanut Butter Bread

So back when I lived in Northern Spain my good friend Meghann cooked lots of yummy things. Probably my favorite was her Banana/Chocolate Chip/Peanut Butter Bread. Yum.

I made it this week and lots of people wanted the recipe (and I can never seem to find where I've put it when I want to make it) so I figured I would stash it here on the blog. It's got whole wheat flour and unsweetened PB in it, but I typically don't have those on hand and just use whatever I have (because Meghann said that was ok!) (but crunchy PB is def better than smooth for this) (and basically any kind of oil works, too).

It's perfect for those overripe bananas stashed in the freezer. The yogurt makes it really moist, with two bananas in it, it has to count as healthy (right?), and, let me tell ya, with a smear of Nutella on top--you'll be happier than a bird with a french fry.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar or raw sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
1/4  teaspoon salt
2 medium bananas, mashed (very ripe)
1/3  cup unsweetened crunchy peanut butter
1/4  cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 large egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
3/4  cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat standard loaf pan with cooking spray.
3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
4. Whisk together mashed bananas, peanut butter, yogurt, egg, and oil.
5. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until combined.
6. Fold in chocolate chips.
7. Scrape batter into loaf pan.
8. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out with few moist crumbs.
9. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes.
10. Unmold then cool completely before slicing.

The Last Two Weeks

I'm finally back home in Texas and thought that while I get caught up on laundry I'd give you all a little mini-update on my last couple of weeks. 

There was a lot of this: 

Mixed in with a daily dose of this: 

Backdropped by hundreds of miles of this: 

And punctuated with a brief trek on a few of these: 

{When was the last time you got your parents on a pack of camels?}

Finally, to round things out, I smothered the sunshine with a couple of feet of this: 

All of that, added to reunions with Camino friends, my former pastor and his new baby, my boyfriend, a long lost friend from seminary and a good friend all the way back from the freshman dorms--let me tell you, it equates to a very good last two weeks!

Camino De Santiago: Day 32--Monte do Gozo to SANTIAGO!

Here it is! For those of you who have been keeping track all the way since Pamplona, here is my final day on the Camino de Santiago!

I woke up on Day 32 like a kid on Christmas. I couldn't sleep. Normally I was one of the last ones out of the hostels in the morning--I liked to wait until it was light enough that I didn't have to get ready in the dark and so that I didn't have to be quiet as I got ready. But no luck on my last day. I was only 5km away from Santiago!

My friends from Seville ended up leaving later than usual so we all met up outside and decided to talk in together. Look how excited we all were: 

We walked in the 5km, stopping for a coffee along the way. There is something about being so close to Santiago that, while part of you wants to run into the city, also makes you want to slow down and take it all as slowly as possible. 

We finally made it into the center of Santiago and Juanma, our fearless navigator, looked at the map while Maica and I chatted away. 

We came around the back of the cathedral, by the seminary...

We walked under the arch and started banging our sticks on the ground and blowing whistles...

AND WALKED INTO THE PLAZA! Hugs all around!

Hello cathedral!

I've got a huge grin on my face right now just telling you about all this, but just imagine walking toward this very destination for 800 km and finally getting there. There is a huge sense of accomplishment, and happiness, and a feeling of celebration. 

My sandals and my walking stick--Just like millions before me

After a stroll around the plaza we went back around the cathedral to find the pilgrims office so that we could get our Compostelas. We got there right as they opened. I was so excited about all of it that I made the guy filling out my certificate laugh. 

After examining our pilgrim credentials and stamps to make sure that we didn't skip any portions of the Camino (specifically the last 100 km) they translated our names to latin, filled out our compostelas, and gave it the official stamp of the cathedral. The certificate is still issued in its original latin showing that I completed the Camino de Santiago. 

As we were finishing up a huge group of Italian tourists showed up in line. Some pilgrims get annoyed with the "tourist pilgrims" who come in by the bus load and snap pictures as pilgrims have a personal moment crying in the plaza. I loved these guys though. While I was waiting for my friends to finish the guide started talking to me. In a mix of Italian/Spanish/English he asked me how I had done my pilgrimage. By foot, I said, and he turned to his group and said, this brave girl has completed her pilgrimage by FOOT! They all gasped and cheered. Then he asked me where I had started and how many kilometers I had walked. This brave girl has walked almost 800 kilometers! and they all gasped again and clapped for me. Some of them patted me on the shoulder and one grandpa spoke English and came to tell me that I could come visit him in Turino sometime. 

It was hilarious. 

Once Juanma and Maica finished they kept asking to take all three of our pictures. The guide asked to see Maica's pilgrim credentials and then walked off with it to show the group. Because you guard this book of stamps moreso than your actual passport along the Camino Maica was upset and ran after the man trying to grab it back. She got there right as he opened it and showed it to the group--They all turned to her and bust out into a huge round of applause. 

Feeling properly congratulated we settled in for a celebratory breakfast of chocolate con churros: 

[I started my Camino in Pamplona with churros, so it was the perfect finish!]

We headed back to the Cathedral for a look around and to get seats for the daily pilgrim mass. 

The cathedral was standing room only. While Juanma saved our seats I had a walk around the cathedral and a look through the crowd. I spotted a few of the friends I had made along the way. 

The mass itself was something special. By this point I had attended countless Spanish masses--but this one was a pilgrim mass in the Cathedral of Santiago. It started with a tiny nun who attempted to teach us the hymns we were going to sing later in the mass. Later, the verses they read were where Jesus said, I am the bread of life. After eating so much bread along the way, and noting it's energy giving power, it was a fitting passage. 

Also, the officiants called out all the places pilgrims had started and where they were from. I was excited to catch one pilgrim from the USA who started in Pamplona, as a couple of friends further up in the cathedral turned around to give me thumbs up. 

After the mass we made our way through the crypt to see the box that supposedly holds the bones of St. James the Apostle (or Santiago in Spanish).

I spent the rest of the day, and the next, seeing the city, catching up with pilgrims in the city whom I hadn't seen in a while, celebrating and trying to fit in all the pilgrim rituals that I could.

The next morning we woke, had breakfast, and then looked around at all the other churches in Santiago.

(And stopped in the old fish market!)

These guys startled me! They were all sitting in the side chapel of the church (and as I recall, were the only ones in the church). I got closer and I realized that they weren't real...and only had upper bodies. It seemed extraordinarily strange to me, but Maica explained that they most likely were part of the Easter floats--that these would be the disciples and Jesus at the last supper. 

And then, because one mass is never enough (!), we went back to the pilgrim mass the next day as well. We thought we might see some more people we met along the way, but the real reason we went was to see the Botafumeiro--the famous incense burner. 

We got there early and again, Juanma snagged us great seats on the front row to watch the botafumeiro. Apparently, during non-holy years they no longer use the botafumeiro everyday because of the expense, which is why we had to go back a second day to see it. (According to Wikipedia) The incense burner weighs 176 pounds, is over five feet tall and has to be filled with about 88 pounds of charcoal and incense. 

There are 8 guys who help pull and swing the thing. This seemed a bit excessive at first, but the thing starts to fly. It went right over our heads (so close that I ducked every time) and almost touches the ceiling. By the time it really gets going it is a ball of fire--spreading a cloud of incense all over the cathedral. (Again, according to Wikipedia, the botafumeiro reaches speeds of 42 miles per hour--and I believe it.)

According to legend, the botafumeiro was necessary because the pilgrims smelled so bad by the end of their journey. 

Pilgrim friends from Barcelona outside of the cathedral. 

At this point we sent Juanma on an errand back to the hostel (and eventually lost him...oops!) and Maica and I went exploring. We went into the old seminary next to the cathedral and snooped around...

We ducked down hallways, peered into classrooms, walked through the cloister and even explored dark staircases. 

Outside of the building we hung out with Gandhi for a while. 

For some change he would give you a tiny scroll with a saying on it. Mine was something along the lines of everyone you meet is like family if you are open to it, which seemed like a fitting thing for the Camino. 

Finally, we tried our hand at another pilgrim tradition--eating for free at the Parador! Every day at each meal the first 10 pilgrims who show up with their Compostela get to eat for free. This sounds incredible considering the Parador is the Hostal Reis Catolicos--the nicest Parador in the whole country. It started in 1499 as a royal hospital for pilgrims, and supposedly when the building was turned into a Parador hotel there was a stipulation that they continue to aid pilgrims--by giving out free meals each day. 

The thing is though...they make you line up and wait in the garage. And then you eat in the workers cafeteria. Who cares though, right? You are eating with other pilgrims for free in a 500 year old building!

Guard checking our pilgrim details 

The inside

Where we ate : )

Fancy ensalada, bread, paella, yogurt, a plum and wine. (All on Parador china!)

But the thing is...While they didn't let you linger in the cafeteria, no one made sure you left the building straight away. I ended up poking around the whole building for a while. 

Fancy-smancy, let me tell ya. 

Just outside the Parador in the plaza. 

The Cathedral as the sun set. 

I spent the last part of my day in Santiago like I did almost every other day of the Camino--sitting in the plaza soaking up the last rays of sunlight and reflecting back on my Camino. 

I'll spare you most of the sentimental thoughts, but it suffices to say that it was an epic journey--and one I will be reflecting on for a long time. 

The sunset view, facing west, from my very last night in a pilgrim hostel...or so I thought. 

But more on that later...