You get two quotes today.
“Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain
“Ah. Kindness. What a simple way to tell another struggling soul that there is love to be found in this world.” – anonymous
Whoa, Mama. What a day. So much happened so I’m going to try to squeeze most of it into this post.
Today’s croissants were hot out of the oven, or freshly delivered…or maybe just heated in the back room. Who really knows, who really cares at this point, but they were amazing! The butter croissants were more beautiful and what everyone chose but my delicate, sweet chocolate croissant to die for was much tastier. People (Dora) are having chocolate croissant envy and are beginning to eat off my plate. I barely got the photo before her knife sliced into it. I’m happy to share my love of this confectionery goddess that has me wrapped around her finger.
Dora and Hyekyung (I just realized I’ve been spelling her name wrong the entire time) are serious foodies and ALWAYS discussing it. This morning at breakfast we had a 40 minute discussion about street food in Taiwan (I’m definitely going to visit now) which meant we were very late starting the hike (8:30am) so the sun was blazing already. Not a good move on our part.
Today was beautiful…when I was sitting in the shade drinking a shandy. The hike itself was, to put it nicely, challenging. It was hot and humid and the sun was relentless. Barely a “shadow” in sight. We were definitely mountain climbing today so the views were amazing. However, it was mostly road walking so I felt like an egg being cooked from both sides. There were very few cafés to stop and rest. We saw a couple of people just took a rest in the ditch. I would have loved to do this but I’d be like a TKO’d boxer trying to get back up. The guidebook listed today’s walk at 28.6km (18 miles) but my watched registered it as 19.3 miles by the time we reached the hostel. Whatever the mileage, it was long and the heat made it feel even longer. I would definitely prefer to walk in the rain.
Tomorrow is supposed to be worse. So I made a decision to ship my backpack to the next hostel instead of carrying it. This decision did not come lightly but I saw it as a good challenge for me. Of course I could continue to carry my pack. My knee is a little annoyed but it’s doable. I always carry my bag. The challenge is, could I ship my pack on one of the toughest days and not mentally and emotionally beat myself up for doing so. I’m unusually hard on myself most of the time. I push myself to exhaustion and when I do that, nobody wins. I’m a recovering perfectionist. Well, I’m working on it. Within the last few years, I’ve made a conscious effort to cut myself some slack and instead of criticizing myself for my faults or when I fall short, to love myself in spite of what I usually see as failure. We’ll see how tomorrow goes. I’m going to put attention to my thoughts and see what comes up. Stephen tells me I’m cheating by not carrying it but then I remember Song…it’s our own Camino and we can do it however is best for each of us.
Confession. I need to apologize. I totally misjudged Mattia (Cute Pilgrim). I projected on him that since he was cute and muscley he might not have much depth. I was completely wrong. The last couple of days we’ve had some interesting talks and he did something I’ve never had anyone do for me on the Camino. Here’s the story – a few days ago he mentioned that he was going to walk some extra mileage because he wanted to get out of the province of Asturias and into Galicia. I replied, “you know those lines are imaginary, right? A long time ago, a few people decided to draw some lines around the globe and divide us all up. People have been fighting stupid wars over these lines for centuries.” (I do not mean any offense regarding the current war in Ukraine and what people are suffering through or any previous conflict – so hold the hate mail.) He had a bit of a blank stare at the time. I didn’t think much about it. Anyway, last night I got a text from him with a video that said…”what you told me made me think.” At first I had no idea what he was talking about. Then I watched the video. He had left me a handwritten note (one of my love languages) and pinned it to a stone wall along the Camino. I didn’t see it though. (This isn’t common or uncommon for pilgrims to leave messages for other pilgrims along the way – I just didn’t know to look for it.) I won’t list the entire message but to paraphrase, he realized that all the objectives that we set in our lives are imaginary and that we shouldn’t let others or society define them for us. Brilliant. I was impressed. Which actually brought me full circle to my bag situation. Someone, somewhere decided that the only way to truly, honestly, fully walk the Camino is by suffering and carrying this bag full of stuff around with us everywhere. Who are they? Why do they get to make that rule? Why are we all following those rules and judging others who don’t? What other standards and rules have I been blindly following? I also saw him reading an inspirational book (my favorite type) yesterday as well. “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” by Robin Sharma. Wow. You’ve got to watch out for those Italians, they are smooth. PS – he has a cute Brazilian girlfriend. We’ve just become friends, nothing more.
We ran into the Danish couple again. Jakob (sleep talker) and Caroline. They are so cute and so fun. They are in our hostel tonight. Jakob made a joke about the sleep talking. They are in a different room than us. Also, they are vegetarian and said it’s been fairly easy to eat for their lifestyle…just in case any of my vegetarian friends were curious.
I got Cecil to participate in the traffic mirror selfie and he was all in!
The fresh squeezed orange juice in Spain is delicious.
Hyekyung has hurt her back so she shipped her backpack today. She had been really far ahead of the group but at one point I saw her standing in the middle of the road. She was waiting. I caught up to her and we started walking and talking together. She had just gotten off a phone call with the guy she likes back on South Korea. She said, “I’m so happy.” “At least one of us is,” I replied. Remember, I’m sweating like a banshee under this big ball of fire while walking across Spain…suffering! Ha! Anyway she proceeded to tell me that she is going to Portugal for 6 months on a working visa after the Camino and this guy said he would come visit her. She said they’ve been trying to “figure it out” and if he comes to visit her in Portugal, she will know he is finally serious. It’s funny how no matter where in the world we are, everyone is basically worried about the same stuff…relationships, jobs, money, family, friendships, etc. For her sake, I hope he makes the trip. She seems to really like him.
My poor nose has sunburned and peeled at least six times. No matter how much sunscreen I put on, it still gets burned. And yes, I wear a hat sometimes…including today.
Darren and Molly ordered beers on a break and it was the first time I’ve ever seen a frosted beer mug here in Spain. The old lady (at least 80) behind the bar gave a thumbs up as if she knows what a true hiker and beer drinker needs. We all clapped for her and she had a huge smirk on her face! She is a boss. Hahaha!
As soon as I arrived in the town I’m staying in tonight, I stopped at the grocery store. Stephen went on to the hostel. I was craving yogurt and strawberries. I walked in the little market and the woman behind the counter greeted me. I made my way to the back of the store to buy the strawberries in bulk. In America, you fill a bag and they handle everything at the register for you. Here, you have to weigh it and print the label yourself. This has always intimated me. Anyway, I got everything figured out except the print button wasn’t working, or so I thought. I found the nice lady stocking shelves and asked her to help me. She was so kind, patient and gentle in teaching me how to use the machine. Anyway, I grabbed the yogurt, some razors and met her at the register. While I was checking out, she looked at me, touched my face and said in Spanish…my translation-“oh sweetie, put suncream on your face…your poor nose is peeling.” She said it just like a mother would. I tried to explain that I put it on and reapply it several times a day but I sweat and it’s just not working very well. Anyway, she touched my arm and had this look on her face like she wanted to take me home like a lost puppy and fix me up. I almost cried. I was so touched by her kindness. You could see how genuine she was. She was very concerned for me. Melted my heart.
“People don’t always say “I love you.” Sometimes it sounds like: Be safe. Did you eat? Call me when you get home. I made you this.” – anonymous ***or in this case “wear more suncream.”
Lost and found:
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All day Graham believed he had left his guidebook at his hostel. He seemed slightly annoyed and frustrated since he mentioned it numerous times. Not a fun thing to lose. I offered to let him take photos of my book so he would have it as a backup to the app but he said he would figure it out. After he arrived at his hostel late this afternoon, I received an elated text from him saying he “found it in the bottom of his rucksack.” Another crisis avoided.
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I was so moved by the woman’s kindness in the grocery store that I left my hiking sticks near the register. After about 45 minutes at the hostel, I realized it and ran back to get them. And there she was just like a worried mother holding them for me. She patted her heart like I gave her a heart attack. She handed them back to me and wished me a Buen Camino. Bless her for her genuine kindness.
Highlight: While at the grocery store I found Mach3 razor replacements for 9€ ($25 in the States) so I’ll be stocking up before I return. I don’t care what anyone says, men’s razors are better than women’s. End of story. When I worked at the Royals, one of the clubhouse guys gave me a couple razors to try and I’m never going back. Never. Ever
I’m excited to announce that the avocado was fully ripe today and we had a “Guatemala” party with the pilgrims. Dora, Hyekyung, Stephen, me and even Mattia came over to try it even though he is staying in another hostel.
It. Was. Amazing.
Ribadeo – Lourenzá – 28.6km
Goodnight and much love from Spain.
