Hey guys,
Just a very, very quick message because the internet cafe I´m in is either closing, randomly shutting down my session, or....closed because of a STRIKE! That´s right, we are finally in a big city to relax and enjoy normal life for a day....is there a general strike. Almost everything closed. Haha, the irony, right? So the lady of the cafe sneaked me in but she keeps looking nervously outside whether the strikers are noting her down as not supporting the cause.
So i´m gonna wrap this up now and give you a proper story whenever I am not in 1) a soulless shithole, 2) a big town having a strike, 3) a place where internet costs 50 euro an hour.
I did manage to put on some pictures yesterday and now, so hopefully this will give you a bit of an idea of what in St Jacobs name I am on about all the time.They´re in the slidewhow.
xx
Granada
29 September 2010
26 September 2010
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!
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!
25 September 2010
Howdy people!
Well, we didn´t make the 32 km today, but did make it crawling into a town after 25 km. Still pretty OK I would think. Our feet were just too tired (and in my case the tendons at the back of my leg as well) to drag ourselves to Santa Domingo, the "official" stop. Also, last night speedy gonzales C, that had pushed on 3 hours ahead of us, texted us that she missed us and wanted to meet up again the next day. Ahhwww....but ofcourse it was a bit foolish of her to abandon her "motherflock"; no wonder she felt like a lost wee sheep. Because what a cool flock we are! With M as our shepherd, always urging us along when breaks take too long, waving ´Bert´, her wooden walking stick in the air to make us move ours asses. Besides guiding us on the road, M also uses ´Bert´ for other purposes, such as poking into grossly loud snorers haha. Unfortunately I was asleep when the poking took place, but there was indeed a guy that was snoring awfully loud right next to us. So M actually did poke him in the leg from her bed, and she said it worked. Haha, good, because really, these FUCKING SNORERS! I am more than agitated after 8 nights of fucking snot concerts. Some people just snore so incredibly loud and so incredibly gross, like a monster frog being drowning in porridge. Man, it really starts to piss you off after a while. And it´s usually old, grey men, although there is also this Spanish couple with a very ugly woman that snores just as she looks. Actually she looks a bit like a man, so I guess the theory of men being pigs still is valid. Ahhh, i love ranting on the internet. Haha, actually last night, when we were surrounded by ()·$!!·%/$%) again, M told me in the morning that during the night she threw her footcream at one of the snoring bastard´s legs (Bert wasn´t allowed in the room. Obviously they had had accidents before), you know, just to give him a hint like ´dude, you do realize you are the only one getting any sleep...´, and then she said the bastard woke up and immediately threw the cream violently right back at her ... Bastard! Ieh, snoring creep! Go home and keep that cat of yours awake at night (assuming such a guy would never be able to marry someone).
So far I have not thrown any objects at snorers, but try to get by with sleeping with my Ipod earplugs in, they work the best.
Speaking of my Ipod, i am so glad I brought it; it really helps to distract me from having sore, sore feet while walking. I am listening amongst other things to dear Aretha Franklin, Laura pausini (I know, I know), and some hard core electro shit to push me when the road goes upwards.
OK, although the town were are in now is an absolutely soulless shithole and the auberge an pile of dirt, there are actually more people in the bar than the previous night so I have to wrap it up soon. The keyboard is by the way also the grossest I have ever seen; covered in a layer of dust and years old grease. I did just order a glass of whiskey (spanish measures, so something like half a litre) and tomorrow we are going to take it a bit easy I guess, because 30 KM is just not fun, I think we´ll stick to an easy 15-20 tomorrow.
Righto, kisses and stuff.
Well, we didn´t make the 32 km today, but did make it crawling into a town after 25 km. Still pretty OK I would think. Our feet were just too tired (and in my case the tendons at the back of my leg as well) to drag ourselves to Santa Domingo, the "official" stop. Also, last night speedy gonzales C, that had pushed on 3 hours ahead of us, texted us that she missed us and wanted to meet up again the next day. Ahhwww....but ofcourse it was a bit foolish of her to abandon her "motherflock"; no wonder she felt like a lost wee sheep. Because what a cool flock we are! With M as our shepherd, always urging us along when breaks take too long, waving ´Bert´, her wooden walking stick in the air to make us move ours asses. Besides guiding us on the road, M also uses ´Bert´ for other purposes, such as poking into grossly loud snorers haha. Unfortunately I was asleep when the poking took place, but there was indeed a guy that was snoring awfully loud right next to us. So M actually did poke him in the leg from her bed, and she said it worked. Haha, good, because really, these FUCKING SNORERS! I am more than agitated after 8 nights of fucking snot concerts. Some people just snore so incredibly loud and so incredibly gross, like a monster frog being drowning in porridge. Man, it really starts to piss you off after a while. And it´s usually old, grey men, although there is also this Spanish couple with a very ugly woman that snores just as she looks. Actually she looks a bit like a man, so I guess the theory of men being pigs still is valid. Ahhh, i love ranting on the internet. Haha, actually last night, when we were surrounded by ()·$!!·%/$%) again, M told me in the morning that during the night she threw her footcream at one of the snoring bastard´s legs (Bert wasn´t allowed in the room. Obviously they had had accidents before), you know, just to give him a hint like ´dude, you do realize you are the only one getting any sleep...´, and then she said the bastard woke up and immediately threw the cream violently right back at her ... Bastard! Ieh, snoring creep! Go home and keep that cat of yours awake at night (assuming such a guy would never be able to marry someone).
So far I have not thrown any objects at snorers, but try to get by with sleeping with my Ipod earplugs in, they work the best.
Speaking of my Ipod, i am so glad I brought it; it really helps to distract me from having sore, sore feet while walking. I am listening amongst other things to dear Aretha Franklin, Laura pausini (I know, I know), and some hard core electro shit to push me when the road goes upwards.
OK, although the town were are in now is an absolutely soulless shithole and the auberge an pile of dirt, there are actually more people in the bar than the previous night so I have to wrap it up soon. The keyboard is by the way also the grossest I have ever seen; covered in a layer of dust and years old grease. I did just order a glass of whiskey (spanish measures, so something like half a litre) and tomorrow we are going to take it a bit easy I guess, because 30 KM is just not fun, I think we´ll stick to an easy 15-20 tomorrow.
Righto, kisses and stuff.
24 September 2010
The Camino: Day 8
Soooo, it´s been a while. It is surprising how little time you have on the Camino to keep blogs and stuff. Although I am not really sure what my plan was with this blog anyway. But one thing I am sure about is that the last thing i wanted it to be is a summing up of boring facts, such as ´I got up at 6. We walked very far. My feet hurt a lot. The weather was nice´. I am sure that i would fall asleep myself while writing it.
thus, i´ll try it interseting for yáll. I have to say though that this is rather hard considering that at the end of each day I always feel pretty worn out and can only think of having a warm shower, and all my brain can come up with is a boring factsheet. Today, however, although feeling pooped as always, I am in a very, very quiet town (perhaps a house or five in total) and there is no time limit on the internet for a change and up till now also no one breathing in my neck waiting for his turn o inform the homefront of all his personal sufferings.
Because suffering is what we do here, amigos. Every pilgrim has to be at least a little bit sadomasochistic to continue with this hike for more than three days. Today was my 8th day of walking between 20-30 km without a day off. And it is mainly this non-stop mode that makes the Camino a challenge. You can stop, of course, but you don´t want to! The walking is strangely addictive. From day one you just get caught up in this flow, and it seems a bit like you would be breaking a spell if you took a day off. Some obvious reasons for this "flow" is that the Camino practicaly organised in this way. As a pilgrim, you are only allowed to stay in the pilgrim auberges for one night at the time. They offer special, very cheap rates, so after one night you can book another private hostel or just continue walking. Since there is usually not much to do in the mainly tiny villages where these auberges are located, and since you came here for walking anyway, the most logical option is to just continue with the journey. Another reason, that gives a stronger impuls, is that majority ofpeople walk the same distance every day, so after a couple of days you get aquainted with most of the other pilgrims walking in the same "flow". This creates a bond and a sense of familiarity, and this feeling of comeradery is what urges you onwards. It is inevitable though that along the road the group changes as people fall behind or speed on ahead, as is what happened with our womens gang today. Having walked agonizing (for the final two hours) distance of 27 km yesterday, three of us, including me, had either too sore feet, bruised hips, or lack of sleep, to make the 29 km to Najarena. Instead, V, M and I stayed in this quiet cluster of houses, while C sped on ahead. We had still walked a respectable 20 km today and although I was considering torturing myself for 3 more hours to keep to the "main" planning, my footsoles were screaming for a rest and, well, why push myself to shreds? I think it was a good decision because a bit of peace and quiet (and more importantly: clean showers and a relatively small dorm of "only" 12 beds) are allowing me to collect my wits and update my blog for example. Nevertheless, it is a bit of a pity that we have now fallen behind with our "flow" crowd...amongst which a rather cute Irish lad, D... But running after guys has never gotten me very far and i am pretty fed up with it to be honest. One of the things the Camino has inspired me to, is to more accept the flow of life. No need to push and run too much, just try to grasp the opportunities that come your way, and if the opportunities you wished for don´t occur, have faith new ones will take theri place.
Now this may sound a bit new-ag-y, hippyish and all, but let me defend myself by saying that this really is a part of the Camino. What better opportunity is there to go over the deeper things in life and your attitudes towards them? Although every pilgrim has a different reason or personal goal for undertaking this journey, many are also seeking to find more depth in their daily lives. To illustrate the variety of personal goals you hear about along the way; C told us she was speaking to a 50-something old Danish lady who was desperate to get laid. And she is not the only one: the italian guy joining our "flow" has ´desperate´stamped all over his forehead. As 37 year old dude who´s biological clock is loudly ticking, he literally clings to anything female between the ages 18-40. In the most obvious and cheesy way possible (when he and I were the only ones left in the auberge´s garden for example, and the keeper announced no more speaking was allowed, the italian started something about body language and communicating by staring in the eye. NO THANKS). I pity him a bit though, perhaps I should suggest him he can always buy his Russian bride on the internet if he gets more desperate (if that is possible). Anyway, you can´t really resist the thinking-about-the-important-things-in-life, since every day it is just you, the countryside, physical pain, and strangers. If you were thinking I am building up to a climax to enlighten you with all the new insights I have gained; sorry, so far it has only occurred to me that getting fit and flying back with slim, muscly legs, may not be the only result I will get from the camino.
One of the ´gifts´of the Camino to me is very obvious though: bedbugs. BLOODY HELL. What torture!! These fucking ANIMALS have bit me all over my body, covering me in flaring red, very itchy bumbs. Bedbugs are a widespread problem in all the auberges. You can´t see them but they come out at night and after biting settle in your clothes, sleeping bag, basically evrything made of cloth that is in sight. Remember I wrote about the mosquitos loving me so much? Well, it was the fucking bedbugs. I started to become a bit suspicious when the bumbs didn´t go away, itched about 5 times as much as a regular mosquito bite, stays about 5 days longer, and is about 3 times as big. I don´t really react well to any kind of insect bite, and these 50 or so bites I counted on every part of my body (the fuckers even got me on my earlobe and forehead) started swelling and burning. Yesterday I went by the farmacy because it was looking rather bad, and the lady there told me what it was that had got me. I´m on pills and a cream now and need to wash and tumbly dry my clothes on 100 degrees to rid of the little fuckers. Ofcourse, when you are walking every day and didn´t bring many clothes to begin with, it´s quite hard to do this all at once. So basically I have washed and torched some of my clothes but as I´m typing I believe I have just gotten two new bites of the fuckers hidden in my Jersey. Yesterday I was suffering so much I thought this would be a close call to throwing in the towel. But a large glass of vodka before bed did the trick and I passed out within 5 minutes, preventing me from scratching myself all night long instead of sleeping. Things are better today though and I have faith again i can go on!!
I´m starting to fell guilty now for occupying the only public computer in this village for so long. There is much more to tell but I better go and order something at the bar to easy myconscious for using the free internet for so long.
But it is a weird and cool thing this camino. Although I´m usually more a city person and enjoy a party here and there, somehow this walking routine detaches you from "real" life and instead you become caught in this sort of parallel reality consisting of physical pain, fatigue, and meeting new people. There was a festival at the (actually fairly big) town last night, which i would normally enjoy checking out, but I just didn´t feel like it at all! We just did our regular thing; shower, chill, go out for some tapas and climb into bed between 9-10 to wake up at 6 and start walking at 7. I´m actually enjoying this rather bizarre routine. I´m going to try and make 32 km tomorrow, to catch up with the schedule. Light a candle for me if you can ;).
But really, guilt now, gotta go!
Besos!
thus, i´ll try it interseting for yáll. I have to say though that this is rather hard considering that at the end of each day I always feel pretty worn out and can only think of having a warm shower, and all my brain can come up with is a boring factsheet. Today, however, although feeling pooped as always, I am in a very, very quiet town (perhaps a house or five in total) and there is no time limit on the internet for a change and up till now also no one breathing in my neck waiting for his turn o inform the homefront of all his personal sufferings.
Because suffering is what we do here, amigos. Every pilgrim has to be at least a little bit sadomasochistic to continue with this hike for more than three days. Today was my 8th day of walking between 20-30 km without a day off. And it is mainly this non-stop mode that makes the Camino a challenge. You can stop, of course, but you don´t want to! The walking is strangely addictive. From day one you just get caught up in this flow, and it seems a bit like you would be breaking a spell if you took a day off. Some obvious reasons for this "flow" is that the Camino practicaly organised in this way. As a pilgrim, you are only allowed to stay in the pilgrim auberges for one night at the time. They offer special, very cheap rates, so after one night you can book another private hostel or just continue walking. Since there is usually not much to do in the mainly tiny villages where these auberges are located, and since you came here for walking anyway, the most logical option is to just continue with the journey. Another reason, that gives a stronger impuls, is that majority ofpeople walk the same distance every day, so after a couple of days you get aquainted with most of the other pilgrims walking in the same "flow". This creates a bond and a sense of familiarity, and this feeling of comeradery is what urges you onwards. It is inevitable though that along the road the group changes as people fall behind or speed on ahead, as is what happened with our womens gang today. Having walked agonizing (for the final two hours) distance of 27 km yesterday, three of us, including me, had either too sore feet, bruised hips, or lack of sleep, to make the 29 km to Najarena. Instead, V, M and I stayed in this quiet cluster of houses, while C sped on ahead. We had still walked a respectable 20 km today and although I was considering torturing myself for 3 more hours to keep to the "main" planning, my footsoles were screaming for a rest and, well, why push myself to shreds? I think it was a good decision because a bit of peace and quiet (and more importantly: clean showers and a relatively small dorm of "only" 12 beds) are allowing me to collect my wits and update my blog for example. Nevertheless, it is a bit of a pity that we have now fallen behind with our "flow" crowd...amongst which a rather cute Irish lad, D... But running after guys has never gotten me very far and i am pretty fed up with it to be honest. One of the things the Camino has inspired me to, is to more accept the flow of life. No need to push and run too much, just try to grasp the opportunities that come your way, and if the opportunities you wished for don´t occur, have faith new ones will take theri place.
Now this may sound a bit new-ag-y, hippyish and all, but let me defend myself by saying that this really is a part of the Camino. What better opportunity is there to go over the deeper things in life and your attitudes towards them? Although every pilgrim has a different reason or personal goal for undertaking this journey, many are also seeking to find more depth in their daily lives. To illustrate the variety of personal goals you hear about along the way; C told us she was speaking to a 50-something old Danish lady who was desperate to get laid. And she is not the only one: the italian guy joining our "flow" has ´desperate´stamped all over his forehead. As 37 year old dude who´s biological clock is loudly ticking, he literally clings to anything female between the ages 18-40. In the most obvious and cheesy way possible (when he and I were the only ones left in the auberge´s garden for example, and the keeper announced no more speaking was allowed, the italian started something about body language and communicating by staring in the eye. NO THANKS). I pity him a bit though, perhaps I should suggest him he can always buy his Russian bride on the internet if he gets more desperate (if that is possible). Anyway, you can´t really resist the thinking-about-the-important-things-in-life, since every day it is just you, the countryside, physical pain, and strangers. If you were thinking I am building up to a climax to enlighten you with all the new insights I have gained; sorry, so far it has only occurred to me that getting fit and flying back with slim, muscly legs, may not be the only result I will get from the camino.
One of the ´gifts´of the Camino to me is very obvious though: bedbugs. BLOODY HELL. What torture!! These fucking ANIMALS have bit me all over my body, covering me in flaring red, very itchy bumbs. Bedbugs are a widespread problem in all the auberges. You can´t see them but they come out at night and after biting settle in your clothes, sleeping bag, basically evrything made of cloth that is in sight. Remember I wrote about the mosquitos loving me so much? Well, it was the fucking bedbugs. I started to become a bit suspicious when the bumbs didn´t go away, itched about 5 times as much as a regular mosquito bite, stays about 5 days longer, and is about 3 times as big. I don´t really react well to any kind of insect bite, and these 50 or so bites I counted on every part of my body (the fuckers even got me on my earlobe and forehead) started swelling and burning. Yesterday I went by the farmacy because it was looking rather bad, and the lady there told me what it was that had got me. I´m on pills and a cream now and need to wash and tumbly dry my clothes on 100 degrees to rid of the little fuckers. Ofcourse, when you are walking every day and didn´t bring many clothes to begin with, it´s quite hard to do this all at once. So basically I have washed and torched some of my clothes but as I´m typing I believe I have just gotten two new bites of the fuckers hidden in my Jersey. Yesterday I was suffering so much I thought this would be a close call to throwing in the towel. But a large glass of vodka before bed did the trick and I passed out within 5 minutes, preventing me from scratching myself all night long instead of sleeping. Things are better today though and I have faith again i can go on!!
I´m starting to fell guilty now for occupying the only public computer in this village for so long. There is much more to tell but I better go and order something at the bar to easy myconscious for using the free internet for so long.
But it is a weird and cool thing this camino. Although I´m usually more a city person and enjoy a party here and there, somehow this walking routine detaches you from "real" life and instead you become caught in this sort of parallel reality consisting of physical pain, fatigue, and meeting new people. There was a festival at the (actually fairly big) town last night, which i would normally enjoy checking out, but I just didn´t feel like it at all! We just did our regular thing; shower, chill, go out for some tapas and climb into bed between 9-10 to wake up at 6 and start walking at 7. I´m actually enjoying this rather bizarre routine. I´m going to try and make 32 km tomorrow, to catch up with the schedule. Light a candle for me if you can ;).
But really, guilt now, gotta go!
Besos!
20 September 2010
Hoy estaba muy chulo!
Today was great. I am writing this in a slightly tipsy state thanks to some very good Spanish wine. We are approaching the area where they make the famous Rioja wine, and this expertise is rubbing off on the surrounding areas. We (the gangsta womens gang) had a nice picknick just now in the garden of the pilgrims Auberge in Puenta la Reina with some other pilgrims we knew from the previous days, enjoying manchego cheese, fresh tomatoes and olives (and wine of course). Puente la reina is just as lovely as most other Spanish mountain towns; lots of churches (of course), a mideaval bridge, and cobly stoned streets filled with limping pilgrims. Haha, everyone around us seems as stiff as we are, except for the hardened die hards that have either walked the Camino x times or have run up and down mountains at home to train.
Today, our group started rather optimistic. In my case, my heels had managed to heal a bit overnight so i could wear my boots without too much trouble. i didn´t have much sleep though; perhaps you remember me mentioning a very loud snorer on the second night about whom I was glad to be sleeping at the very other end of the room. Well, this night, he was sleeping...in the bunk above me. My god, they should brand this guy on his forehead and prohibit him to sleep anywhere near other people within a distance of 100 meters. Really, this guy has a masters degree in snoring: I believe I could feel the bed vibrating. Every three minutes or so he would snore himself awake, only to noisy twist and turn a bit to start over the process. Honestly, this should be forbidden! They should make a sound proof snorers room where all the elephants can go and start a snoring band. Besides the snoring, i am suffering from having such tasty blood. I know i should be grateful for being loved, I just wish it wasn´t by musquitos! They are shameless: they even got me on the cheeck. Not extremely contributive to impress the sexy male pilgrims around me. Not that there are much; the few tasty individuals we have already spotted during the past few days, but we seem to be scaring them away with our wit, intelligence, charm, and good looks (i understand this can be a somewhat intimidating combination, but come on, you were born with balls, right?!! Although my latest personal experience before coming to the Camino has seriously made me doubt this myth that men are born with balls .. !!...!!). Anyway, especially M and I are having some good fun making up stories about how to corner our victims this time, hehe. Our womens gang is great. It´s just cool to be able to share all our physical pain and the rest of the journey together. No strings attached though; everyone is free to go their own way or seek solitude for a bit.
Although today it were my foot soles that hurt like hell for the last two hours, I feel my legs are slowly growing stronger. My blisters have somewhat returned but the woman from yesterdat gave me the the needle to drain the fluid so i will do this tomorrow I guess since it seemed to work. Tomorrow another 20 km ahead to a town called Estrella. If everything is going to plan we will enjoy dinner with the italians and japanese guy from today (the plan is that they will do the cooking haha). Damn, I just wish these musquitos would leave me alone, or my skin will look like some weird dune-landscape very soon.
So, the journey is getting more fun and interesting as the days pass. The weather today was awesome again; about 24 degrees, clear, clear blue sky and a slight cool breeze. This is definitly the perfect season to do it, although tomorrow it might rain again, which is actually good because my tan is on the border of looking like the regular sun burnt west european tourist.
People, I believe the lights have already gone out in my dorm and I need to start looking for my pyjamas, do the dreadfull brushing of the teeth routine and try and get some sleep because tomorrow will be a busy day again.
Ugh, a moth just landed on my keyboard. it is The Spirit saying i should get soem sleep.
Haha, scared you for a moment huh; almost sounded like becoming a twisted, meditating, "spiritual" individual no? No need to worry; I´m still not flexible enough to sit crossed legged for more than 10 minutes and am too tired to think about God and stuff.
Internet running out!
Grandes besos!
Today, our group started rather optimistic. In my case, my heels had managed to heal a bit overnight so i could wear my boots without too much trouble. i didn´t have much sleep though; perhaps you remember me mentioning a very loud snorer on the second night about whom I was glad to be sleeping at the very other end of the room. Well, this night, he was sleeping...in the bunk above me. My god, they should brand this guy on his forehead and prohibit him to sleep anywhere near other people within a distance of 100 meters. Really, this guy has a masters degree in snoring: I believe I could feel the bed vibrating. Every three minutes or so he would snore himself awake, only to noisy twist and turn a bit to start over the process. Honestly, this should be forbidden! They should make a sound proof snorers room where all the elephants can go and start a snoring band. Besides the snoring, i am suffering from having such tasty blood. I know i should be grateful for being loved, I just wish it wasn´t by musquitos! They are shameless: they even got me on the cheeck. Not extremely contributive to impress the sexy male pilgrims around me. Not that there are much; the few tasty individuals we have already spotted during the past few days, but we seem to be scaring them away with our wit, intelligence, charm, and good looks (i understand this can be a somewhat intimidating combination, but come on, you were born with balls, right?!! Although my latest personal experience before coming to the Camino has seriously made me doubt this myth that men are born with balls .. !!...!!). Anyway, especially M and I are having some good fun making up stories about how to corner our victims this time, hehe. Our womens gang is great. It´s just cool to be able to share all our physical pain and the rest of the journey together. No strings attached though; everyone is free to go their own way or seek solitude for a bit.
Although today it were my foot soles that hurt like hell for the last two hours, I feel my legs are slowly growing stronger. My blisters have somewhat returned but the woman from yesterdat gave me the the needle to drain the fluid so i will do this tomorrow I guess since it seemed to work. Tomorrow another 20 km ahead to a town called Estrella. If everything is going to plan we will enjoy dinner with the italians and japanese guy from today (the plan is that they will do the cooking haha). Damn, I just wish these musquitos would leave me alone, or my skin will look like some weird dune-landscape very soon.
So, the journey is getting more fun and interesting as the days pass. The weather today was awesome again; about 24 degrees, clear, clear blue sky and a slight cool breeze. This is definitly the perfect season to do it, although tomorrow it might rain again, which is actually good because my tan is on the border of looking like the regular sun burnt west european tourist.
People, I believe the lights have already gone out in my dorm and I need to start looking for my pyjamas, do the dreadfull brushing of the teeth routine and try and get some sleep because tomorrow will be a busy day again.
Ugh, a moth just landed on my keyboard. it is The Spirit saying i should get soem sleep.
Haha, scared you for a moment huh; almost sounded like becoming a twisted, meditating, "spiritual" individual no? No need to worry; I´m still not flexible enough to sit crossed legged for more than 10 minutes and am too tired to think about God and stuff.
Internet running out!
Grandes besos!
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