Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage 017
Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

This morning began at 4:30 a.m. I made plans to walk to the Basilica in Cartago as part of the celebration of Costa Rica’s patrona, The Virgin of Los Angeles. She is also known as “La Negrita”- that is because she is little (hence ita) and black (hence negra). Anyhow, I made plans to go with three sisters who are my neighbors here in the country. We also met up with one of the sisters’ husbands who had started his trek at 2 a.m. from our pueblo. I am not sure how far we walked- somewhere between 15-18 miles, according to my estimation. It was a beautiful day. There was not much sun, although I somehow wound up sunburned, and the long walk felt great. As of this evening, I can only report some mild shin pain, probably due to the fact that I wore a pair of old tennis shoes.
When we all arrived at the Basilica, Rosivel, Leidi, and I went into the Basilica to see the statue of The Virgin, but apparently she had been taken outside for a Mass that was going on when we arrived. So, we saw the Basilica, and then got in line for the holy water that is dispensed from a row of several spickets, elegantly placed in a rock wall garden. There were masses of people lined up to fill up coke bottles, squirt bottles, whatever, with holy water. I bought five bottles in the shape of the Virgin of Los Angeles and filled them up to hopefully bring a few home to people who dig holy water and the Virgin. Rosivel told me, “You should drink some of this water from the spicket, it is good for your health.” And so, the photo you see either above or below this entry is yours truly getting a great big heaping dose of Virgin Mojo, which I figure can only help. Maybe The Virgin of Los Angeles can help prevent those nasty bronchial infections I get each winter. We will see.
When we got picked up by the brother of the three sisters at around 2 p.m., we drove back the same way we walked. It was hard to believe how far we had come. We started walking at about 6:30 and finished up at about noon. We walked fast. The road from where we started (Desamparados) to where we finished (Cartago) is flatter and more giving than what I am used to walking here, so Rosivel and I were making fast time. A few times we had to stop and wait for the other folks. Rosivel and I had a blast- walking fast, sometimes jogging, and other times dancing to music that was coming out of vendors’ makeshift tents set up along the pilgrimage route.
Now, of course, I could not help but think of Canterbury Tales when I was on my pilgrimage, and that probably has something to do with Mrs. Carter and my mother, both English instructors. I thought about the similarities (people hawking their wares, food, and religious icons, people struggling to keep going, people hoping for salvation) and the differences (Bob Marley’s music emanating from some vendors’ stalls, the midriff-revealing, spandex one-shoulder shirt for women, the hi-tech cross-training shoe) and so for a moment I felt a connection with my contemporary pilgrims and those of the past. It was a really great day and an experience here I will not forget.