Torres takes to the trails

Natasha MunasingheStaff WriterWith just two outfits, a bar of soap and a backpack, Samo math teacher Guadalupe Torres ascended the 790-kilometer walk known as El Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James). To Torres, the idea of hiking from one country and stopping in several small villages along the way was enticing. Starting in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, Torres hiked until she finally reached the grand Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia Spain.The pilgrimage is intended to inspire spiritual comfort and personal guidance.Torres’ family is originally from Mexico and speaks Spanish natively. She has taught at Samo for five years. Before arriving at Samo, Torres studied abroad in Spain at the University of Madrid and The University of Granada. Before going, Torres had known about the walk for some time and said it was always something that she had wanted to do. Torres, who walked alone for 28 days, said she had no trepidations about going on the walk.“I am a pretty independent person,” Torres said. “So I really wasn’t worried about being alone and I met many people from many different backgrounds.”Torres walked everyday for about six to seven hours. According to Torres, it got to around 105 degrees after noon. During the pilgrimage, Torres’ longest walk was 45 kilometers on a flat surface. Torres said her most difficult walk was 13 kilometers uphill.Though there were many memorable moments from the walk, what most stood out to Torres was the fact that she was able to embrace the sunrises and sunsets, something she is not able to do as much in Santa Monica.“[On the Camino], I would wake up at five or six in the morning so the sunrises and sunsets were things that [I saw and] would never really see here at home,” Torres said.According to Torres, there are lodgings for pilgrims and she rested her head at many of them.“There are accommodations; I stayed in convents, monasteries, people’s huts and at pilgrim hostels which provide a bunk bed and a shower,” Torres said. “If you stay at one of the pilgrim hostels you have to show them you own a pilgrim passport and it’s five Euros to stay.”After 28 days, Torres finished the walk at Santiago de Compostela.“Finishing was surreal. The Cathedral is beautiful. If you’re lucky you arrive at noon during the pilgrim’s mass and they bless you,” Torres said. “I went the next day and it’s emotional for some people, but for me it wasn’t sad, it was a feeling more like ‘now what?’ I remember thinking to myself, what am I going to do tomorrow or the day after that? But they gave a great eulogy the next day, they said that your journey’s just beginning and that even though you finished the Camino, your walk keeps going.”Torres encourages anyone who is interested in the walk to go for it. Teacher Leigh McKellar, who has traveled abroad before, told all her Spanish 4 classes about the walk, Torres’ experience and other travel abroad opportunities.“I’ve done it all, study abroad and travel but I haven’t gone on the Camino which is the one thing I have always regretted,” McKellar said.Torres said nothing should keep anyone from going on the walk because it is never too late.Spanish teacher Kelly Bates, who, like McKellar has stressed to her students the importance of traveling abroad, said that she hopes Torres’ story will inspire more students to go out of their comfort zone and travel.“I first learned about The Camino 12 years ago when I did my backpacking trip around Europe,” Bates said. “That year I took a single gauge train along one of the coastal routes of the Camino because I was so interested in the pilgrimage, but wasn’t prepared to do it on foot. The people I met and the stories that I heard along the way amazed me and convinced me that this was a journey that people take when they really want to know themselves fully. Ever since then I have thought about the Camino and have assumed that one-day I would do it.”Bates said Torres’ story has reignited her own desire to walk the Camino.“Before school began this year I ran into Ms. Torres and she told me that she had returned the night before from doing the Camino,” Bates said. “It was clear in her eyes that she had done something magical. Since then I have been thinking about doing it next summer.”Torres said she learned a lot from the walk and now she walks everywhere she goes.“I learned to slow down. We always think about tomorrow and we worry about what’s coming but the walk showed me that you really need to live in the moment,” Torres said. “Now I try to put that philosophy in my teaching. I try to think about where I am every period and just think about the moment the class is in. As a teacher you’re always worried about what’s coming next and you’re always put under pressure by time, but the walk has helped me slow down and think about where the class is.”Torres said the walk was an amazing experience and she hopes that her story inspires many to go on the Camino.“I met so many generous and interesting people from all over the world when I went on the walk,” Torres said. “I cannot wait to go back. It is a life changing experience.”nmunasinghe@thesamohi.com