i see a look about many pilgrims here in finisterre, and i saw it in santiago as well.  even before, when i really think about it.  when you look in their eyes you feel you are looking beyond their eyes, deeply into their eyes, and at the risk of sounding terribly cliche, into their souls.  sometimes when you look in people´s eyes, there is a feeling of being held at arm´s length.  that is gone.  there is no arm´s length.  there is no distance at all.  when you look in the eyes it is as if you fall right into them.  when i met misa, a pilgrim lydia has been telling me about for weeks, it was my first day here in finisterre.  i was at the lighthouse about an hour before sunset.  i had been saying hi to the crew who were all calling me by name, when i saw her standing just behind andres.  we looked at each other and she told me her name and we jsut looked into each other´s eyes for a moment.  it was almost like falling into her, like falling into a sparkling crystal well of light.  i know that i didn´t meet her before so maybe her eyes were already like this, but this sparkle, this feeling of shiny brightness, of newness - this is something that i see in many pilgrims.  she was there with william, who i had met before, early in the camino (for those of you who have read since the beginning, i met him when he was telling kim and jenny that he only had one pair of underwear).  when i said hello to him, he had that same look to him and i don´t remember that about him from larasoana.  cata has the same look-her eyes are so bright and shining and are such a crystal clear blue i almost feel lilke i need sunglasses to look at her, she is shining so brightly.

there are some pilgrims who i don´t have any interest in spending time with and even they have a sort of shiny glow to them.  please remember that we are still a rather dirty lot, worn out, and usually in dusty clothes that are often tattered.  this look is something that comes from inside, and it transcends physical appearance.  perhaps it is a force, or power we have picked up by being in nature each day, or by virtue of having walked across a country.  or by living the humble life of a pilgrim for weeks on end.  or all of the above. 

it makes me think about akili´s comment to me before i left for my camino.  it was a wednesday night, my last night at agape before leaving the following saturday and i went by the bookstore to say goodbye before i left.  akili was very excited because he knows the camino, and he will do it himself one day.  we chatted for a couple of minutes, then he said, ´let me look into your eyes. ´he looked silently for a moment then said, ´i will look again when you get back so i can see how you have changed.´ i left wondering how i will change, and how will it manifest, or even if it will be visible.  i am still mulling over how i have changed.  but i know that  if i am like the other pilgrims here, yes, you will see it when you look at me, and akili will see it when he looks into my eyes.

so i will sign off with this, my dear ones- i have made it and i leave this beautiful end of the world tomorrow to return to santiago, and the next day for america.  what  a journey it has been,  thanks to you, and along with you. 
peace and blessings-
a