Rain with Kids in Tow= GOD HELP ME!

Camino Day 11- St. Irene to Santiago
22 km

How many adjectives do you know for rain? Pouring, pelting rain and we had to bike it. The trouble with Auberges is no matter what you are out at 8am so they can clean. In Galacia the province at the end of the camino they say it rains every 3 days at least. So far we are 2 out of 3. In fact if you do some you tubing you will find that all the horrendous weather photos are from Galacia. In our experience most of the ill vibed peregrinos and dirty aubergies are also here. Today- 20 km’s of downpour with rain ponchos that we bought from the Chinese import store, Kathryn’s was pink, and then the blue children braced for the wind, cold and sideways sheets of rain.

Not quite the way one wants to enter the Holy City but so it was. We were singing “just keep biking, just keep biking” a la finding nemo, and it actually got us through. Entering Santiago is mainly downhill. Which in this kind of rain meant that Rob had to slow his bike with his foot because his breaks had total failure. Finding our place to stay was also a bit crazy in this much rain.

We went all the way to the Cathedral but it was closed because Mass was in progress. So we took the shivering kids and searched for a half an hour for an auberge. It was raining so hard you couldn't bike near the buildings because it rain from the rooftops would knock you off your bike. It was not my best of half hours but “we just kept biking." Well we found the hostel which is an old seminary that has 800 beds! Panic sets in as we imagine the kids waking up 795 hostile people. We whisper a prayer,'god please let them have private rooms!'

We squeaked up 6 flights of stairs. That is the number of flights required to assend to the third floor when you have 20 ft ceilings. It is quite the place they have running and yet we still didn’t have our own room but had to share with a less than happy French man who did not want to be sharing with a family…can you blame him?

This trip has had so many see-saws. My derriere no longer screams from getting on a bicycle each day but I’m so done with public toilets without toilet paper, oh wait, aren’t I about to head to Africa?
I also feel like we’re just beginning to explore and adventure as a family, this nomadic life, and yet the kids also need routine, school and rooms that they don’t have to share with twenty people; we haven’t had enough time with Ruth or had enough time to contemplate or “just be” on this Camino because so much of our life has been about daily survival. So now we will take some time to hang our clothes one more time. To eat, sleep and figure out how we will get our bikes back to Madrid. Now for a hot shower!

Santiago in the Sun

Sept.2010 The end of the Camino.

Here I am. Arrived at this city on what would have been my Grandma Kerr’s 102nd birthday is she were with us. I just had a moment. I woke up to a sunny and gorgeous Santiago today. It looks a lot like Florence with its white houses and red roofs. We paid for an extra day at the massive pilgrim dorm so that we could have one day without having to move our stuff and the ability to dry out. We walked to the city around tenish moseying through a great market on our way. My kids liked the Octopus.

We didn’t get our Compostella Certificates because the line-up was too massive. Instead we had a café-con-leche and then went to find some shoes for Kathryn because hers were still soaked form yesterday. We were pointed to the Spanish version of Toronto’s Yorkville with 89 Euro leather boots for toddlers, so we quickly hi-tailed it for a local dollar store for mini-mouse flip-flops.

We had two funny conversations today. Rob talked with a pilgrim from Uganda who was a lawyer whose husband was running for political office. She said she had to walk the Camino or lose her mind;) She was inspired by what we were doing and said God would answer all our needs because we had made such a long journey. Rob said he didn’t know God was into sacrificial bartering.

Then we got stopped in the middle of the street by a German man who crossed the street to shake our hands in congratulations. He had literally been on the Santiago path all the way from leaving his front door in Germany! And yet, he was shaking our hands because he thought that what we had done was unbelievable.
We had lunch on the steps of Santiago Cathedral with donairs and falafel in hand. We got to meet up with a lot of pilgrims who made it here today. The Germans with the bloodblisters had to make their last section on the bus.

The old lady from Chicago who walked all the way from France at eighty-five, The Parisian man who pinched my kids cheeks and called them “pere-kids” for the first time, the retired couple from Germany who are trying to figure out what to do with their retirement, Jules, Paulina, Ashley from Australia, so many wanderers who shared a part of their lives with us over these past ten days. Yesterday I just had my fatigue to offer, but today all I can offer is thanks.

When you think you should stop....go further??

Camino Day 10 Melide-St. Irene
26 km

Sept 2010
Left our hovel of an auberge at 9:30 after breakfast of bread and chocolate and then hit the road. Biking today was painful. Ruth had a bad cold but was bearing it silently and we had to take the trail because the hiway was too intense and full of transport trucks. The trail was beautiful and had a series of Eucalyptus Forrests which made me miss Israel. We were happy in the forrest but then the rain came. It took us out on our last 17 K’s with no aubergue’s in sight. We stopped for lunch in Arzua which is known for it’s soft white cheese which I was the only one to appreciate. There was a big town square where a big band played to my Dancing Cammie’s heart’s content. We felt good but then…17 K’s later we were back on the bikes and ended our journey on the side of the highway and the rain started. The choice was go back, or keep going till the next auberge.

5 km didn't seem like much at the time. But judging by our fatigue it was actually monumental. We kept asking, 'how much further.' RAIN. 'not far', the answer. Which when your tired and wet and the kids are cranky in their trailer.....not far is definitely too far. Eventually we would find a tiny municipal auberge in St. Irene because the rain was pelting down so hard. We would have rather packed it in the and continue on the mud paths. Final mind game was making it to St. Irene’s and fortunately it was all downhill!

This auberge was great and only 5 Euro’s! We surprisingly met our British friend Jules there who had done 95 K of walking in the last two days! He and ruth were exchanging recipes’ for cold medication which was healrious. We talks to people from Spain and Stockholm and had some good talks about “the way” and the rhythm of life it requires from you.

We’re kind of all in shock that tomorrow is the end. Trying to let it not end to soon and yet there is always that pull to “just get there.” 'For the walkers who have been out now for 5 weeks following arrows the end is both a relief and a shock. To have now slowed life to this pace and then suddenly...'There is a flight on Wed.' 'I am back to work the day after.' What a shock. What a horrible way thing to suddenly be faced with the lightning speed of reentry into life. Even for us we feel this after only 10 days. How will we be when this is all over? Tonight though is a fun night, full of camaraderie hanging out wet clothes and sleep! Sleep comes quickly to everyone.

5 Truths about Caminos

Camino Day 9 Portomarin-Melide lunch in Palas de Rei

Sept 2010

41 km

5 Truths of the Camino:

1)You will drop 2 belt sizes while consuming a diet of bread, chocolate and coffee
2)After biking for 6-7 hours a day your children will melt down and when you get into your aubegue and a Spandex clad Italian biker yells at you because he has to share his room with your children, YOU will melt down.
3)Ruth will save your life on many and various occasions. From trading bikes to making your daughter a purse, to making dinner and helping with laundry and laughing with you when you want to cry. What a gift.
4)You will have financial stress and the banks will not be open when you do!
5)You will have to repack, get dressed, get kids dressed, eat breakfast, clan up breakfast, get bikes, check bikes, put kids on bikes, take kids to the bathroom again all before 8:00 AM in the dark!

Mixed Messages- camino meditation

CAMINO
sept 201o

no joke here is the sign post we had to follow. this is only one of a number of times during the camino that we found signs that left us thinking.....which way? On closer inspection it is clear that bikers should go around. From further away it looks like a choice, or at least a mixed message.

It reminds me though of sometime when God seems to not answer our closed door blessing. You know the God if you don't want this then close a door. More often than not it is as if God says, 'choose.' In this case it meant the road, or an enormous number of steps. On closer inspection you can tell which way makes more sense. I think the same is true with following God. Choose, and on closer inspection one might just be better than the other. The great news is that when God offers options, He is fully able to make either work.

Camino Day 8 Sarria-Portomarin
sept...2010

23km
We woke up slowly this morning. It’s been a week of biking everyday and we are starting to feel physical and emotional signs of fatigue. Ruth feared that she had lost her wallet so she searched the hostel inside and out while I found an internet Café and found out that one of my best friends had her first baby! It was a hard day for homesickness.

Ruth didn’t lost her wallet which was a great thing because locating where to send her new visa etc. would be difficult in our nomadic state. We eventually found our way out of Sarria and did a series of tough hills for 15 K before taking a break at a stingy grocery shop with just a few items on the shelf. We then found a gorgeous trail that made me feel like I was on my way out of Hobbiton. This kept my romantic self happy until we encountered the gravel path of doom where we had to CARRY the chariot up hill for a Kilometer with Simeon sleeping inside! We met Keith our friend from Scotland on the path and then a South African family who offered us free accommodation but we wanted to reach Portamarin where the Cathedral was rebuilt stone by stone on the top of the hill because a Hydro dam was going to flood their town.

The best was that we stopped at a little restaurant at the foot of the Chapel where the crazy Brazilian pilgrims wouldn’t stop kissing my children. It was hilarious. They took Rob’s bike and trailer for a spin to see what it would be like to tow such a load and the rest sat around kissing Cammy and Sim for a good hour. We were celebrities. I also bought Kathryn and Sim a plastic Shell on a string for one Euro and you’ve never seen happier children.

We’re now at a pretty great hostel (Priavate room with a curtain and no door so you can unfortunately still hear the snoeres) and everyone is captivated by what we’ve done. They’ve nicknamed our children “Pere-kids” instead of peregrino’s. People keep taking our picture every two minutes shocked that we’ve come this far.

Dinner was sandwiches outside and speaking with a Parisian who has tendanities because he was trying to out-run the never ending planes, who informed us that the two rules of the Camino are:
a)You need to allow yourself solitude on the Camino
b)You need to carry your own backpack

Well, with kids we have possibly lost the time for silent reflection but we’ve made up for it with carrying more than our share of backpacks!

Small steps and great views.

the hard part of climbing a mountain is....climbing.

the best part is going down and if the weather is good.....the view.

common ruthie....you'll get there.

I think one thing the camino has taught us is that when people say, 'it is impossible,' it usually means 'i don't want the struggle, or effort.' Really anything is possible, sometimes you need help, but most things can be done in small steps.

Breaks are burning but the view is amazing!

Camino Day 7 O’cebreo-Sarria
32km by lunch + 12 after

I never thought I would say that climbing the mountain of death yesterday was worth it, but…it was worth it. Seriously, you remember in the Two Towers when there are the vistas of the mountains? I experienced that on a bike…sans snow of course. To descend from the top of the mountain on a gorgeous clear day and descend for twenty minutes with out using the breaks in a soft sloping ride was one experience I will not quickly be able to top; this was quite rewarding after yesterday’s endurance race requiring a basic will to live. We had our lunch of baquette and yogourt in the Monsatic town of Samos and then continued on to our final destination of Sarria.

It was our longest bike ride yet of 41 K’s but it doesn’t really count because 20 K past so easily down the mountain. We found a great auberge run by a little Nonno and Nonna who fed our kids grapes from their grape vine and put a fire on for us in an indoor firepit where they lent us their guitar and Kathryn decided she needed to dance. I then went to find peanut butter which was a hilarious mime experience that did not end well. I had to buy Nutella instead. They also had a great hiking store with every book on the Camino you could ever want in an assortment of languages. We bunked with an Australian and a polish guy who learned to speak English in Ireland so understanding him was entertaining. A great day.

Crosses and Caminos

Crosses actually go hand in hand with any journey. You know those times where you get to a place where you realize, ' i should probably leave this behind.' Not just excess luggage, but burdens. Grace I believe is the thing that allows us the ability to take it off, bury it. Probably the most powerful experience of the camino was contemplating this cross. Here people have nailed, hopes, dreams, repentances, things that they would like to leave behind.

It is as if to say, "Jesus you died for me, and told me to bury my life with you, to leave my sin, my hurt, my past here with you. I can leave this thing here for you."

The crazy thing is that in this random place in the outback of Spain, people pray, and lighten their load. It reminds me of the scripture that God would be praised to the ends of the earth. I wonder where else there are crosses?

A Nacho to the Rescue

Camino Day 6 Trabadelo- O’cebreiro
17 kms ALL UPHILL

Today was cold. A ‘Scotland in the morning’ cold; a see your breath and wish that maybe you had brought your mittens cold. Kathryn was turning purple so Ruth pulled out wool socks that her mom had bought in Ireland and Kathryn wore them on her hands. We stopped at an amazing artisan bakery in the morning where we had chocolate buns and hot-chocolate and it took us a really long time to leave because it was so great. A pelegrino who we had met at the hostal in Ponferadda who I know only as “Miriam’s Friend” rubbed Kathryn’s hands until they warmed up, so sweet.

We entered this day with forboding because we would be climbing to O’cebreo…the highest incline of the Camino. All we could do was keep going not knowing how the day would turn-out but I can admit that after climbing up to Foncebadon I was facing the day with fear. We biked a huge climb and took a break in La Faba where we ate with an eighty-year-old pilgrim from germany. On the wall beside us it advertized that if we wanted to take the next section by mule it would provide the way…(To get your pilgrim passport at the end of the Camino the only three legit ways to get there are by walking, biking or Donkey!)…we knew we were in trouble. Then we tried to climb and it was completely impossible. We looked in Ruth’s guidebook and it warned “Beware the road to La Faba” which meant that we had to backtrack down 2K’s to find the next steep route of death.

Oh, if only we had found a mule. Instead we were climbing in the mid-day heat up a mountain that deserved the fear we had projected. The elevation was steep enough that we all had to walk our bikes and the incline kept going up and up and up. Just when we thought we couldn’t do it we were saved by Miguel and Javier. They were two Spaniards who got off their speed-bikes to walk my bike and Rob’s bike for about half-an-hour. When they were spent we thanked them and told them we’d buy them a drink at the top. We had another angel of mercy in Spandex offer help. This guy was right out of the tour de France with the no-body-fat biker build and made biking that mountain look possible. We had just had help from Javier and Miguel so we told Tour de France man that we were okay, and even though he pleaded to help us we sent him on his way and took a break with the kids under the one shade tree to have some lunch. We prayed that Simeon wouldn’t careen down the mountain ledge.

We had just started our slow and cumbersome ascent again when we saw a truck coming down the mountain. The truck slowed down and out jumbped the Tour de France guy! He took my bike, put Kathryn on the back and biked her up the steepest part of the mountain for 10K’s! I rode Ruth’s bike up and Ruth pushed Rob’s trailer as he biked. We found out from Kathryn that Tour de France man’s name was “Nacho”. You could hear them counting from uno to dos in spanish each time the incline got unbearable. We got up the most difficult part until Nacho reached his bike again. We all took pictures and Kathryn yelled “I love you Nacho” as Nacho pedaled into the distance.

We finished the ride up to O’Cebreiro with Kathryn singing “She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes” on repeat. Was it worth the trip up O’Cebreiro? You’ll have to ask me when I can move my legs again…but to be on the top of world and see the view of your life and be surrounded by little thatched huts that are dug into the ground like hobbit’s homes was pretty incomparable. Dinner was also great. Salad, pasta, pork chops, fries and wine for 9 Euro’s. The only problem is we are now in Galacia. Tuna fish country!

Camino Day 5

Ponferrada to (lunch in Villafranca) Trabadelo
Sept. 28
Kms 33 6 hours

Kathryn blew kisses as we passed our Castle on the way out o f Ponferrada. We picked up café’s and groceries for lunch. A typical lunch for us is a baguette, some type of protein (either peanut butter and jam or cheese and ham, water, apples and maybe yogurt.
As is a daily occurrence we got lost. An older couple behind a massive gate with a pet shizu dog directed us to the correct path so that we no longer had to bike along Spain’s equivalent of the 401. We had our lunch in the beautiful Cathedral City of Villafranca where there’s an amazing park right infront of the Cathedral. It was also crazy because the Catheral FOR REAL offers indulgences! Luther would be rolling over in his grave. The kids played at the park and we had Café-con-leche’s and then continued on our way.

About 10K’s later we stopped at a beautiful Romanesque church and met up with Paulina. She is a friend who Ruth met before we arrived in Leon who is a professor of linguistics in Prague. My kids love her, especially Kathryn who held her hand up one hilly section of the journey so that I could drag up the trail-a-bike with less weight. We arrived in Trabadelo which is a tiny town with one auberge but it was a beautiful bike ride through trails and woods to get there. We met up with the Brazilian’s in the hostel and there was a playground for the kids to play at while I did laundry. Rob splurged on some ice-cream bars and the kids were in heaven. We also met an older Dutch man at the hostel who had been biking for five weeks where he biked out his door from the Netherlands! He had a very neat trailer that held his essentials so that he could bike without panniers. He would be travelling right to Gibralter and then taking a bus home. We asked him why he wouldn’t be taking a plane home and he replied that after doing such a long journey to just arrive home instantaneously would feel too much like time-travel.

Community Farming

From life in zambia

Trans Africa Theological College, where we are staying, has about 3 hectares under agriculture production as a demonstration farm. We currently have a grant from CIDA to do this. My challenge is to help out in every way possible to get the farm to be profitable in the next 3 years. That is why I am here, but the farm itself is really a side story. Since beginning the demonstrations last year we have trained 150 community people. These community leaders are learning conservation agriculture techniques. Every week they come to see how we do it, in exchange we are giving them their own land that they can farm.


Outside our college and between us and the nearest compound Racecourse, there are plots where these people are practicing what they learn. The place is mind blowing with its potential. The place is transformed. Imagine your neighbours coming to your house to learn something and then you all going into business together. This is what this is like. The amazing thing is it is going to change the way agriculture is done in this region. Racecourse is a shack town. Very few houses have water or sewage, the kids play in the garbage dump. One of our workers left work early because his roof blew off the other day. He is lucky most have bags covering holes in their houses. The land we give them to farm is going to provide extra money for these people. The things they learn are going to produce more food for their families. This is what our agriculture project is doing in the short term.


This year the goal for the program is to begin setting up community farms on the traditional land in front of the college, starting a seed bank to provide quality seed for the people who need it. We will also be investigating starting a co-op to buy back the harvest this year to see if we can get a better price if we farm together. Our community classes will also train another 200 people.

kate bungi

Hick town

From life in zambia

To say we are in a hicktown would be relatively well defining. The grocery store is usually a place where one can buy the things that you may need for say baking. However our store carries some produce when it comes in. They carry it….but only when it is in. Case in point, brown sugar we can get, but only 1 week a month. The good thing is that if one shops around at the other lesser known stores, that cater to the muzungu (aka whites), we can usually, with a little driving get everything we need. The danger of driving is of course driving.

Potholes and speed bumps here are known as the silent police. They keep drivers honest. There are other hazards of course like the taxi buses that stop randomly to let passengers on and off. Of course the biggest obstacles on the roads are the broken down transports that block roads sometimes for days at a time. The major highway in town here had a lane closed for 6 days before it was towed.

Being part of a hicktown isn’t all that bad. It is kinda fun to see the kinds of things one can pick up in random ways. I had a guy last week approach my car to sell me stuff and he pulls out a brand new iphone selling for- $150. Solutions have to be creative here. When you have only rocks to scratch together to make money people here get very creative, and very simple in their approach to business. In this sense business is booming in Kitwe. From leather belts, to street grub and even the occasional iphone people will sell and fix almost anything for very little. The opportunity for us as westerners isn’t just to pump badly needed money into the economy simply by buying groceries, and knockoff watches from street vendors, but also in the very simple expertise we bring to business.

One of the great privileges of teaching at the college to the students and the community leaders is the opportunity to encourage people to branch out, try new things, test niche markets, sell their produce at higher market prices. All of the basics of small business that in very life changing ways make a difference. This week I showed someone how to double their profits. By teaching good agriculture practices farmers this year will be making 5 x the profits from last year. Change comes slowly but the good thing about being in a hick town is you can see it changing.