More than students: pilgrims and companions
They get off the bus in flip flops and exhausted, with backpacks on their backs. They are the same ones that have been loaded into the 110 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago, which they have traveled like true pilgrims: with all their luggage on their backs and stopping at hostels. No hotels or luggage racks. this friday The eight students from the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción school in Badajoz have returned who have participated in this initiative, with the professor of Religion, Manuel Matos.
They went out the previous Friday night. They started walking on Saturday in Orense and have traveled the Camino Sanabrés in five stages.
Alejandro Píriz is the director of this concerted center located on Padre Tacoronte Avenue and explains which is the third Camino de Santiago that they organize. Always with first-year Baccalaureate students, with a learning and service project.
Parallelism with life
In the Religion subject they analyze what the Camino de Santiago is, how many there are and they do work with it. parallelism of the path of life. The students are the ones who choose which Camino they want to do. They have never repeated. Every year a different one. "Let's go with what we find," says Manuel Matos.
Unlike any other trip, this It's not for tourism. «We go as pilgrims, with our luggage on our backs and we realize that the more weight we carry, the heavier the path becomes, as happens in life. In this way, "we take advantage of the fact that the important thing is not to reach the goal, but the path that we are sharing, we accompany each other, we pay attention to whoever happens to be weaker that day, we look back, at the life that each one leads, and forward, where we want to go, what we would like, Those who are at this age, where do they want to go?«.
The important thing, above all, "is the step by step that we are taking and facing the circumstances that touch"One day rain, another mud, now downhill, today you're sore, today an ankle hurts and there we go with each other." In the end it is "life" and "the richness of the experience, vital, not a tourist trip," says the Religion professor and traveling companion.
They arrive tired, but full of energy. "It has been hard, but at the same time it has been beautiful, that is what I have left of the Camino, it means that we can share the complicated moments with our companions," says Juanma Bustamante, one of the young participants.
According to Marco Antonio Borba, "it has allowed us to relate more with others, tell each other things we didn't know, it has made us open up, after so many kilometers, and it helps us a lot to express ourselves, with the closest teacher." "Because at school we are in a different environment," says Bustamante. Marco Antonio turned 18 on the day of arrival. Daniel is 16 years old and agrees with his classmates that the best part of this experience "has been the moments of lunch and dinner, When we told each other anecdotes, they were super gratifying.«.
60 liter backpacks
They have been true pilgrims. "When I saw the children who came from Santiago with small backpacks, I compared them to mine, which was 60 liters," Juanma complains, but he does so with pride. The effort has been worth it. «Do the Camino with your friends and with the teacher who is supporting you makes it much easier«.
Marco Antonio had never considered it "and when they said it at the beginning of the school year, my eyes opened, I had an incredible desire." So many that he convinced Juanma. "In the end I did it and it was worth it."
One of the images that they have saved in their retinas is that of the day they the three of them bathed in the river, next to the Taboada bridge. Although it may seem surprising, they have been hot. "We got into the cold cold water." "The truth is that your bones and muscles thanked you, after so many kilometers."
Matos was surprised the effort these guys have shown. They have overcome "hard" stages of hup to 30 kilometers. The first day it rained a lot and it was complicated because, in addition, they traveled all night, they arrived, they had breakfast "and we started walking, practically without having slept."
