Monday, April 22, 2024
This was one of our better mornings getting started, and we would have been in great shape, but I misplaced my wallet, and it took some time to find it.
The headline of the day today was cold wind. It blew and blew the entire day. It’s exhausting to walk with the wind blowing like that. Betty struggled the most with it. She’s never really done well with the cold, and I think that the strong cold wind just sucked her dry.
The albergue we are in here is really great. It’s called Espíritu Santo, and it’s run by a nun named María. She was waiting for us when we arrived, and we got a big room all to ourselves. There are no bunk beds. They are all just regular beds, and we even pushed two together to make a big bed for me and Betty and River. María also gave us a space heater because Betty was so cold.
In the afternoon Nidia and the girls and I made a huge pot of spaghetti. It was delicious. Then we went to a prayer meeting with Sor María. She talked about how special the Camino is, and how it brings together people from around the world. Then she asked if anyone wanted to sing. We were the only pilgrims who accepted her offer. First we sang “I Am a Child of God,” and then later, as an encore we sang “Families Can Be Together Forever.” Also, Maria taught everyone the song “Ultreia,” and we sang it together (in French). It’s kind of unofficial anthem of the Camino.
It was really a sweet little meeting, and afterward we visited with Maria a bit. Something that she said stood out to me and Betty. She said that it was so good to see us doing the Camino as a happy family because most people who do the Camino do it out of a desire for healing from some kind of loss. Many people come to mourn the death of a loved one or after a separation or to ask God to heal something. She was really happy that we were happy. And that made me happy.
The rest of the night has been kind of weird. It’s pretty late, and people are just getting to sleep. With this cold wind, I don’t think anyone is super excited about hiking tomorrow. The weather for the next week does not look good. This is something we knew could happen, but we aren’t looking forward to it.
We will see how it goes.
