Unfortunately, I felt less than rested the morning after my break from walking. I woke up early and shook Marc awake on the bunk below me.
After searching thoroughly, I realized I must have left my change purse at the pizza bar the night before. I was disappointed in myself for losing it, though there wasn’t a lot of money inside. It was an unfortunate time to have no change because we were so early the only drink or food available was from vending machines. I was too proud to ask my friend to lend me some money. This was ridiculous because from the first day we met, Marc and I had been trading off buying each other’s coffee or tea. Instead of speaking up, I dwelled in a bit of self-pity and felt kind of faint and sick as we walked the next few hours.
Thankfully, we ran into my Irish guru Phil and he distracted me from feeling bad with his chatter. Marc, I knew, was totally zoned out. I’d learned quickly that he is not a morning person and even after a few cups of coffee he prefers silence until the sun is fully shining.
Eventually, we parted from Phil and the two of us continued quietly. I was increasingly frustrated that we weren’t reaching a town where we could stop and have breakfast. The day after a day of rest always feels like a Monday. So, I had the camino Monday blues.
Since we didn’t talk a lot, I took the time to think more about my relationship. In the beginning of the camino I would think about our past times together and imagine our perfect future. Each day I walked I gained a little more perspective and realism. I realized that I was about to fully commit to a man I had only really known for four months. I was in love, but was I ready? Everything seemed less certain the nearer I was to Santiago.
Eventually my mood improved and I went from miserable, to contemplative, to in awe of the beauty I was walking through. The clouds overhead and the fields all around and the tall piles of stones left by wishful pilgrims all combined to create a sort of fairy tale setting.
It was only noon when we reached the town we planned to stop in. We had to sit outside with some other pilgrims and wait for the hostel to open. Sitting on the steps of the village church, a feisty older Italian man started up a conversation. We shared no common language, but he happily showed me pictures of his hometown in the south of Italy and I made the appropriate ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ at the lovely Italian countryside.
This albergue wasn’t as nice as some of the others we had stayed in, but I was grateful for a bed. After a nice siesta, Tom and I walked around outside and found Simon. We convinced him to stay in our albergue so we could enjoy the evening together. There was very little to see in this town so we sat on a curb across from the minuscule convenience store that posed as a super market. We talked about a lot of things and Simon showed me his juggling moves.
The town’s only restaurant was so full that we decided to buy meals in the 'super' market. I got a microwave dinner and the boys decided to share some cereal and milk. It was a funny scene as they scooped up their cold, unusual dinner. We enjoyed conversation as always. Somehow Simon convinced us that he didn’t believe in the moon landing.
I felt so close to these two guys. It was hard to believe I’d met them only a few weeks before. Despite my horrible attitude in the beginning of the day I went to bed thinking how grateful I was for good friends and fun times together.
