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I am constantly meeting people and hearing their stories, I am reminded of the Canterbury tales about an ancient pilgrimage whose format is pilgrims meeting and telling their stories. Tone made me cry.

I walked beside a women who said she left South Africa 30 years ago to marry an Austrailian soldier who was in a UN peacekeeping force, Her father was black

and her Mother white and they were poor, but her father felt that the most important thing was her schooling, his friends said, why educate a girl, but his father was insistent, this was the way out of poverty, and a girl might need to make her own way. She recounted walking barefoot to school. When she got there the nuns gave her bread with gobs of peanut butter, she can still remember the taste of it, for lunch they gave soup that had a strange taste, it had protein powder mixed in. Now she volunteers each year, with her husband, and sometimes her children at a hospital in Cambodia.

I have not done volunteer work, my excuse is that had too much work to do and everything I did was socially usefull. What will I do now?

Feeling much better today.Only two more days on the Measeta, I am not mad yet. Today is my first day in. municipal aubergues. Aside from being a little more crowded it is quite nice. It is staffed by volunteers and it is a donativo, ie you pay what you want, of course this for me makes it more expensive than a fixed price because I always feel that those of us with more have to give more, I also didn’t have change of a 20, accomodations and dinner have in general been quite cheap 6-12 E for a bed and 10-12 for dinner, but food during the day adds up. And of course anything adds up when you are out for 50 days.

I pushed yesterday and walked 30k big mistake, I good and sick, I couldnt eat breakfast or dinner. Today I walked 10K to a bigger town where I could get a private room, and slept the rest

of the day. I still have zero appetite, which worries me. Nothing tastes good to me. I might stay here anouther day. The muerta, the great planes of spain seem endless. It is said to drive pilgims mad

This is a convent town, all the pilgrims facilities are provided by religous orders. I went into one of the churches because I wanted to see one of the few surviving Romanesque churches (12th century). A group of young women came in dressed in long robes and begain a service which included sung prayers accompanied by clavicord that echoed through the vast space of the church. There are many catholics on the camino. I am not one of them, but all prayers go to the same place…

On a less spiritual note a broke down and bought a bar of soap. I was using shampoo to wash myself and my clothes. Soap is heavy. Now I am carrying one extra thing, a pair of shorts I bought in Burgos. It is too cold for shorts in the morning and evenings so the zipoffs are the best thing to wear. I like shorts so much that I dont want to abondon them. Now I have one pair of zipoffs, one pair of pants when I am washing the zipoffs, and one somewhat extra pair of shorts, I have three pair of underwear(Just in case I cant wash and dry one) two T shirts, one long sleeved T, one shirt and two pairs of socks.

A short way in the path split, one way was more popular but followed the road, the other was longer and did not go through any towns but looked more pleasant, I took the road less traveled by, halfway through met an old couple(actually a few years younger than me) from australlia and we talked the whole way. The “Canterbury Tales” gives me the idea that pilgrams now are not so different now than then. People meet on the road and tell their stories, although I haven’t yet heard anything like “The Miller’s Tale”

Days have a routine, wake up at 5:30, Breakfast, Walk until 1 or 2 with a snack on the way. Arrive, check in, take a shower, hand wash and hang up your underwear, explore the town wearing your flip flops, at 7 eat then go to bed.

Todu I learned that my limit is 25K about 15 miles. I started at 7 and

walked until 4, when the guidebook suggests a 35k day I won’t do it. I just mapped out my trip and I will be in Santiago on the 11th at the soonest.

I stopped at the one albergues that is what it was, run by a religous order, it is in the middle of nowhere and has no electricity

I great sight on the way a field of poppies.

Took an easy day, Made a reservation and sent my pack ahead. I am moving slower than I thought. Luckely I have plenty of time. I am in the measetta the great plains of Spain, it is quite and peaceful and it is a long way between towns.

In the morning I noticed that my shadow had a halo am i blessed.

Always a glutten tor punishment, the town I stoped at had a ruined castle on the hill.

Which I climbed,

The social aspect

of the Camino is wonderful, you meet people from all over the world and strike up friendships, sometimes you meet the same people agai and again and remeber their names. Some you only meet once. Around the table, Germany, Miami, Austrialia, South Korea, Taiwan and me)

I didnt make mu 35km goal today. At about 25k I figure I would get in at about 4pm, by that time there would be a good chance of no bed available. So I stopped two towns before. I tried to call ahead but could not connect.

I am walking endless fields of wheat, barley and alfafa, I am in the planes of spain, without rain, but I did not see any irrigation machinery.

Burgos was Beautiful

When it begain to pour I went into the Museam of human evolution. Europes larges archeological dig is 15 miles outside the city. I walked right by it without much thought. However the best artifacts found are in the museam. The museam is bilingual and is mostly pictures illustrations and text. Ellen did you know that grandmama has a biological purpose?

Here is a selfe of me as an australopithicus visiting the museam.

Tomorrow is 35km, I will try to start really early, wish me luck,

I am not sure that these are pilgrims, but I was surprised how many of us are significantly overweight, I guess what you don’t have in physical conditioning You can make up in will power.

I have been impressed by how many small villages have impressive alter pieces. Apparently many villages cant keep them up. This museum was built to preserve and display them and allows you a closer look.

In this piece Christ is clearly Mary’s child, who were the models? Next I visited the cathedral which is said to rival chartres. They had an audioguide which described each treasure, the artist that created it and the bishop or noble that commissioned it. What is not discussed is who created the wealth. Wealth comes only from workers and peasants. For spain, first feudalism, than colonialism. What would the world be like if columbus stayed home. Of course I oversimplify, hard to be subtle typing with your thumbs. Thanks for reading my blog, it has enhanced my trip to write it.

These are storks, a city bird that eats garbage. It is strange that we tell children that the stork brought them when they don’t exist in America.