Rambo in tha house!

Ahh, people, I thought I could load my pictures on this computer, but helasement, this computer is weirdly sized, or my USB stick is. And I am dying to show you all those thrilling pictures of farmland, town, more farmland, and my masterpiece, a dumb sheep staring sheepishly into the camera. Next time!

BUT, what am I on about here? More important things to tell, namely that Rambo would´ve been proud of me today! I walked 30 K, aaaayt! I knew I said we would probably take it easy today, but that plan was made when we were very, very tired yesterday, our feet throbbing. So tired, in fact, that we all went to bed at 8 PM, and believe me, I was knocked out pretty quickly. The mattrass was really hard though so i woke up 2 hours later with sore hips, and this waking-up-turning-over routine continued throughout the night (same for the other ladies) but at least my feet were able to get a luxurious 10 hours rest. We had also arranged for a room for just the four of us, because if we had been confronted with yet another snorer, the shitty little town would´ve probably had to deal with its first murder case in its history. Although the Auberge was a bit dirty and run down (and my standards really aren´t that high), in the end we did warm to it because of the hilarious, and a bit crazy, keeper of the place. the middle aged dude had the face of a clown, which formed a nice contrast to the serious way he went about the Auberge business. He cooked us a healthy meal of lentils and rice, salad, and walnuts as desert, and well, he was just actually really sweet, you just had to adore him. He warmed to us too and even kissed us goodbye the following morning.
Another great thing about this still rather shitty town was that it was utterly quiet...ahhhh. No traffic, no traffic, no traffic. How enjoyable silence can be! Around sunset the silence was broken by the unreal sound of all kinds of birds singing. Unreal because it was so loud and clear that it almost seemed like there was a taperecorder on. I really enjoyed just sitting outside in the cool mountain breeze while the evening sets in, and listen to the silence.

There, I´m trying to make this piece sound less complainy, because I don´t want this blog to become some sour-creamed over-dated dish. So, what more did occurr today? Ah, well, the walking does give me freaky weird dreams. Last night I dreamt i had a fight with our Dutch neighbour (a middle aged, upper-class, retired man, who probably uses words like "chips" on the rare occasions that would make him want to curse). Anyway, in my dream he got so angry he threw the garbage bin through our kitchen window, after which i took revenge by cutting off his carefully tended to roses in his garden. Ah yes, pretty fucked shizzle i would say.

Anyway, although we started the day slowly (after all, our initial plan was to only do like 12 k), we arrived in the first town at 9 AM, and since it was sunday, it was even deader than it would usually be. So after drinking a coffee and having a croissant, we pressed on to the next town, repeat the story. The tendon at the back of my left leg is still a bit overworked so i walk a bit funny, but somehow I did have the mojo today, and I went from town, to town to town, leaving the chica´s behind after 21 k. The town they are staying looked nice enough, and the auberge even looked splendid, it was however yet again a cluster of five houses with nothing to do and hardly any people. And even though I had already exchanged my boots for my flipflops once again since my little toe was falling off, i did feel like I could make it 9 km further to the supposedly bigger town of Belaro where i am now. I just felt like taking on a new challenge and detach myself from the semi-comfortable and safe routine our group has developed over the last ten days. I was also in need for a bit more LIFE around me and some new faces. Thus, I wobbled on for another two hours on my flipflops along a very boring, straight, straight road. My Ipod, playing Florence and the Machine, The Whitest Boy Alive, and Royksopp kept me in relatively high spirits for 8 km or so, whilst the last 2 km my feet really started complaining and I started craving a wheelchair. Well, the town is hardly more lively than the ones we passed today, it is bigger and at least there are 2 restaurants instead of one. Ah, the luxury of choice!

Half dead I checked in to an auberge conjoining the church, run by a very old Swedish couple, and completely sustained by donation. The couple was really sweet, offering the new arrivals a cuppa tea and a cookie and took time to explain the house rules. I was starving however, so I took a warm shower and stumbled to the nearest bar where I am now. All i had enery for the past two hours was to stare with empty eyes at the (soundless) Spanish television program while stilling my hunger with an overly delicious tortilla de patatas with ham and cheese. And a glass of wine and a smoke, something i will have later again hehe. I mean, hell, I deserve ten tortillas if I wanted to! Since I have no energy to be all social and interactive and stuff, I am just now relaxing by babbling away on this blog.
Damn shame about the photos; i also had a really nice one of the cutest and tiniest beagle puppy on the planet...ahhh, doggy! I´m sure you can´t wait. I also have evidence of my bedbug torture, something which is still continuing by the way. The little shits have probably settled in my backpack and are still roaming around in some of my clothes, which I simply have not been able to clean on the required temperature. But the amount of bites I get each night is doable, compared by the complete invasion I had a few days earlier. And I now know what they are and that they will disappear after 6 days or so, first turning from red, to a concentrated very-red, to actual pruple, after which they slowly fade. They are still a nuisance however. But as I said before: the Camino is about suffering.

I am actually really starting to look forward to arriving at Burgos in a day or two. This is supposed to be a PROPER big town, where the chica´s and I had already dreamed about taking a "chic" hostel, hopefully without fleas or bedbugs, and a clean shower. I will probably take a day off there and enjoy "normal" life again, to charge me for the days of hiking that will follow again after Burgos.

Righto, i think I´m all typed out for now.
Hope y´all are doing fine, that the job hunting is going somewhere, dissertations are being written, and may the sun shine in glasgow! If i wasn´t so tired i woudl probably miss you...a little...maybe.. ;)
Luv y´all! Keep it cool! Peace out mah homeehs!