Travelling to Bilbao
On Sunday I caught the bus to Bilbao, a city in the Basque country where some good friends of mine live. An eleven hour bus ride to go back accross most of the distance I had walked over the past month and half. It was also a bit of a return to ´reality´ and to being with other people again.

I am under the impression in Spain that it is more common to take the bus and it is a little different than in Canada because you have assigned seating. I found myself seated next to man who really enjoyed listening to music and wore his headphones for the entire trip and at a considerable volume. I will admit that having been mostly in the countryside for the past month I am a little de-sensitized to noise. My first instinct was to say nothing and then I thought no I will politely ask him to turn down the volume. When I spoke to him he had a lot of difficulty understanding me and hearing me. He nicely offered me the headphones so that I could listen to the music for a while. I smiled, politely declined and came to the conclusion that he was deaf and I could practise being tolerant. It really is a small and trivial event, but I found it interesting to be more conscient of my behaviour. What I want to remember about the bus ride is feeling sincerely happy going back over the camino and the distance I covered. I felt at peace with myself which is something I haven´t felt for a long time.

After Santiago the real camino begins. I am more aware of the fact that I don´t like to bother people and that I often do what others want. My disappointment in arriving in Santiago the first time made me question a lot of things. What are my expectations in life and whose expectations am I trying to live up to. I don´t necessarily have any answers right now, but I feel like I have a bit more direction.