I finally got my scallop shell. Two shells, actually, one for me and one for Tom. I found them in a crafts store then had Tom drill a small hole in each one. Theoretically you aren't supposed to arrive at the Camino with a scallop shell, you're supposed to find one that's been washed up along the beach only after you've walked all the way to the sea, thus earning your shell. But I couldn't wait, I wanted Tom and I to each have one from the start to tie onto our backpacks, because the scallop shell is the symbol of the Camino. Apparently the image is everywhere along the way showing the pilgrims where to walk, identifying the albergues, maybe just cheering them on. I'm guessing the scallop shell is the symbol because of the sea metaphor, but I also read that "the grooves in the shell, which come together at a single point, represent the various routes pilgrims traveled, eventually arriving at a single destination." (Kelli Crull). For twelve hundred years pilgrims have been making their way from all points of the world to the single point of Santiago de Compostela. And God willing, three days from now Tom and I will be among them.
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