One year has passed from this image...
CARLOTA VALENZUELA
Pilgrim, Finisterre-Jerusalem
I am already on my way, on the first day. The truth is that this morning I felt less prepared than ever.
...to this one. Carlota Valenzuela, the pilgrim who traveled almost 4,000 miles from Spain to Jerusalem, finally reached the Holy City. Once there, she discovered that her pilgrimage had another destination. As she progressed on her journey, her grandmother's health worsened and Carlota was forced to change her plans.
CARLOTA VALENZUELA
Pilgrim Pilgrim Finisterre-Jerusalem
So I moved up my arrival in Jerusalem several weeks. And when I arrived, that made me feel like I was going to an exam that I had not studied for. I was going in feeling completely unprepared and I guess that's the way to approach these things. Knowing that you can never prepare and that this is not about you.
I learned that you are never prepared.
Carlota was planning to do a week long retreat in Gethsemane, study Jesus' Passion in depth and visit all the holy places before entering Jerusalem. But due to the seriousness of her grandmother's condition, she was only in the city for about three hours. Carlota says the expereince was not what she expected.
CARLOTA VALENZUELA
Pilgrim Pilgrim Finisterre-Jerusalem
When I arrived in Jerusalem, it was very surprising because I didn't feel anything. I arrived at the Holy Sepulcher, kissed the stone and felt nothing. And I thought: 'Wow, after all the effort I have made to get here...How is it that I got here and feel nothing?' I got on my flight home and I arrived on Sunday night. I rushed from the airport to see my grandmother, to take her by the hand. And at the moment I met her, I felt that I had reached my destination. This was my Jerusalem.
Carlota says when she arrived at her grandmother's house, there was a photograph of Carlota with the Pope on her bedside table. Her grandmother had her by her side in her last days.
After spending time with her loved ones, Carlota has returned to Jerusalem. She believes her grandmother is with her and that she wants Carlota to get to know the places Jesus lived for the both of them.
RM
TR: KG
