pamplona--day 3

Much as it troubles my perfectionist self to write unedited remarks, asi es. I have limited time. In no particular order . . .

***I´ve been doing quite a lot of walking. I´ve lost count of exactly how many km, though it seems to be in the neighborhood of 60ish over 3 days. Today was a very short day in comparison. I think we only walked for about 4 hours.

***The scenery sort of reminds me of a Vermont landscape in some places. It is very beautiful. Most of the time we are walking through fields listening to cow bells or along streams or up wide open grassy mountains. I find myself trying to memorize the landscape to remember it, but it slips from my head. Today there were a couple of towns. That´s a welcome change.

***On a day to day basis, the routine involves waking up early, though not as early as Boot Camp. I think that´s going to change for me tomorrow, though, as I have concocted an idea for a more efficent ritual for getting ready. Anyhow, after putting together the pack, I spend the day following yellow arrows and yellow scallop shell signs. It´s well marked.

***I adore potable tap water. I just never get tired of it. Ever.


***The other folks are a varied sort. I look like a kindergartener tagging along behind most of them. The vast majority of folks are retired or at least in the 50s, 60s and 70s. I keep trying to imagine my parents walking for 8 hours at a time and then flopping down in a comfortless room full of snoring humanity. I¨m struggling.

***The pilgrim community is truly odd. Chaucer was right. It´s a sort of amorphous group of people. I never know what language to begin a conversation in, even just to greet people. I chose French in France and Spanish in Spain. When in Rome . . . One dude has been walking since Rome. Egad. I¨ve learned that my English is excellent, my Spanish is serviceable, my French really sucks, and that there are a whole lot of other languages in the world and none of them make much sense, but people insist on talking to me in them whether I understand or not.

***So far only minimal physical complaints. Just one little blister. A special shout out to all my blister advisors. You´ve done good work. By far the most time consuming part of my day is preparing to don my boots. It´s a little ridiculous, to be honest, but the duct tape and Body Glide and liner socks (perfectly straight) and the smartwool (also perfectly straight and the tightly laced boots and and and all seem to be working well. I´m sore, but not even close to as sore as I imagined I would be. It feels like the day after a particularly tough day at Boot Camp.

***I´ve spent a good bit of time walking with other people. The first day I walked through the Pyrenees with a guy in his 60´s_ (Pretend that´s a question mark henceforth.) named Arnaud. He´s from Holland but has spent much of his life teaching in Ghana. It was good to have companionship as I began just as I was getting the hang of things.

***Yesterday, day 2, I walked from Roncevalles to Larrasoana and spent most of the time with a couple from Canada and New Zealand. They are well traveled. They are finishing up a year around the world, including a recent unguided trek up to Everest Base Camp. I took particular joy in hearing the two of them proclaim that this hike was harder than Everest. I even made them repeat it for me. I doubt it very much, though. The walking isn´t really that hard, and the Spaniards have this amazing invention called oxygen. I´m beginning to think that they stole oxygen as well as gold from the mountains of Peru.

***Today I finally managed to walk some by myself and then met up with another couple about my age from Brazil. The guy has already done the Camino before. It was interesting to hear his perspective on the second time around.

***Really the only negative so far is that it seems very competitive to find a place to stay at the end of the day. The available beds fill up fast, which leads to people hurrying along on their walks. It´s frustrating. After helping a bedless girl to find a place to stay last night and talking to a bunch of people, I´ve decided to shift my mindset a bit. I´d rather take my time and enjoy myself than race along from place to place just to have a spot to sleep. It won´t kill me to sleep under the stars.

***People tend not to forget you when you have a rainbow mohawk. This has pluses and minuses, though if I get lost, I feel absolutely confident people will be able to recount the last time they saw me. Unfortunately, everyone else thinks I remember them, even though they do not have distinctive hair. This is problematic. Fortunately, I am not winning the prize for the biggest freak. That distinction goes to a Barry Birch look alike who spends his life--and his Camino--walking barefoot.

***The albergues are a sociological study unto themselves. The one on the first night--at Roncevalles--was an enormous room absolutely full up with bunk beds. I believe there were more than a hundred of them. I think there were only 4 bathroom stalls and 2 shower stalls. There´s no room for modesty. Fortunately, I don´t have any to begin with. Also, the ability to sleep through anything--snoring, people packing early in the morning--is useful. Fortunately, I am also very skilled in this department. Earplugs come in very handy to block out the snorers.
SCENE--MAN SNORING IN BUNK RIGHT NEXT TO ME. MAN SLEEPING ON THE OTHER SIDE GESTICULATES (I BELIEVE IT WAS A GERMAN GESTICULATION) THAT HE IS LOUD, THAT WE ARE IN FOR A LONG NIGHT. GIRL WHO SLEPT IN THE BUNK ABOVE ME THE PREVIOUS NIGHT INDICATES: You think he´s loud: You should listen to her, gesturing toward me. It was brilliant.

***It´s odd to pass stores and wonder why anyone would buy anything at all. It all just looks heavy, except for pain chocolat (my only French. can´t remember how that works in Spanish.) As I walk along pondering whether I can squeeze out half of the antibiotic ointment and muscle ointment that I have just to cut a few ounces, people are purchasing bags of clothing and whatnot.

Okay. That´s plenty. Time to find more chocolate.