There Are Places I Remember

I left Melida yesterday but not before learning first hand why it has the reputation it does for pulpo – octopus. I went to a small restaurant said to serve the very best and, while I have no comparators so can’t be certain, I’d say it is probably true.  It was delicious and the owner was very nice and proud of her reputation. I asked how it came to be, that Melide, so far from the ocean, is known for octopus. She said very long ago a man became legendary for the special way he prepared octopus using certain spices and oils and the tradition grew.

From Melida I made my way to Arzua and experienced first hand the change that takes place on the Camino as the various routes converge. Instead of walking quietly along, in solitude for the most part, on either the Norte or the Primativo, now there is rarely a time someone (or many someones) are not within view. There are frequently groups, guided or otherwise, and everyone’s pace quickens as the Camino markers are now indicating the number of kilometers remaining to reach Santiago. Perhaps they do that the entire length of the Frances but had not noticed it on the routes I walked – but then I wasn’t perhaps looking for it either. Where there was silence there is now almost constant conversations overheard but rarely understood.  I have, however, heard more English in the last 36 hours than in my last 31 days.

I now see many more people putting the first few sellos (the stamps you add to your credential unique to each albergue, monument or cathedral,  or pilgrims bar or cafe you visit) in their credentials. If you are walking the last 100 km you must have two sello per day to assure you have walked and not taken a bus.

I see more young children and even toddlers in strollers. I see groups of people wearing matching shirts, and know there are support vans nearby on the larger roads following along for the groups. It seems like quite a change. The other very noticeable thing is how many people are stopped at each cafe and bar and how much more “stuff” is sold at each one.  This is in no way meant as critical – it is just observation. Each is here and experiencing his or her own  Camino. Many begin with this experience and come back to the Camino again and again. It has a different and often special meaning for everyone and for many different reasons. Everyone seems to have a certain excitement about them as Santiago is so close now,

Many people almost race into Santiago from here. I am taking my time. I stopped early today at a private albergue. I will have one more night tomorrow on the Camino and then will walk the last 15 miles or so into Santiago on the 18th. Even at that I am a day ahead of my revised plan and only three days later than I had originally thought. The time has gone so quickly.

It feels wrong to me to rush it to its conclusion. Despite the many people, I still enjoy the beauty of the surroundings and imagine the weariness of long ago pilgrims without all of the infrastructure that supports the modern day pilgrim. I also enjoy seeing so many others from so many places and stages of life all sharing this common experience.

The people in the hamlets along the way still go about their  rural-based routines that make up their lives. They walk the paths we walk that are part of their daily lives and offer a warm “hola, buenos dias” or “buen Camino” when they pass.

The last picture in this post is a bar just up the way from my albergue. I waited there for the albergue to open its doors. The proprietress is a friendly, warm women who has honed her language skills over the years and serves some of the best (and biggest) bocadillos (sandwiches) I have seen. It is a tradition in this place that everyone leaves their personal graffiti either on a table or wall, or very often, on a Camino-worn tee shirt that they are ready to leave behind as they are about to end their Camino. The photo doesn’t show it very well but there are well over 200 or more shirts with their personal messages written on them hanging from the ceiling of the bar. You can’t even see the ceiling.

While this albergue offers nothing to eat, it is unique in my experience in terms of the quality of the showers. The water, like most, is deliciously hot, but these are fancy hydro massage showers with jets coming from everywhere – a shower massage. What luxury in so unexpected a place. This albergue also serves “tourists” in addition to “authentic pilgrims”. As an authentic pilgrim I paid 10 euro for my room. A tourist pays 55 euro.

Well, I’m about to wander up or down the road to find one of the two nearby cafes for some dinner. Tomorrow I will walk slowly – no longer catering to my injured leg, but rather savoring my last 2 days on the Camino.

Yesterday marked my second day since I have resumed walking. I was clearly overly cautious and reached my planned destinations for the day 2.5 hours before it even opened! While that would normally not be such a problem (tea in a cafe, a stroll taking photographs etc), the albergue was literally 12 miles before the next albergue (or even a bar) and the albergue before it, I had just left only a couple of hours before and it was raining quite hard and had been all day with no promise of a break.

The albergue had a chain across the driveway with a sign saying  “while pilgrims walk, hospitallers rest. We will be open at 1:30″…..I wasn’t going to knock on the door!

I found a bus shelter about half a mile up the road and decided to just wait it out there reading a book on my kindle app.

The albergue turned out to be one of my most favorite of the trip. It was beautifully  restored and the hospitaller and his wife were really great – take being hospitallers very seriously and work hard to enhance the pilgrim experience.  He was very disappointed that I hadn’t come to the door because, in his words, “the sign should be ignored if you need us”.

They operate a small bar out of the albergue and have room for 20 pilgrims. They provide dinner for 9 euro and breakfast in the morning for 3 euro for pilgrims staying the night. They have a dining room separate from the bar for this  communal dinner.  They have a special large coiled burner that is specifically designed to cook a large pan of paella …. enough for more than 20 hungry pilgrims. I had been told that you must always eat paella with a group because the best  paella is prepared in this manner. It was proven to be true last night. They made a beautiful seafood paella served with salad, bread, wine (as always, unlimited) and dessert.

A couple of us mentioned an experience earlier in the day of a very aggressive German Shepard that was not leashed and came after walkers as they passed a house. I am a bit wary of dogs anyway and this one really was scary. I held it at bay with my walking sticks but it kept charging at me with its teeth bared and snarling in a low crouch. I really thought it would get to me despite the poles and my shouts. My heart pounded for quite a while once he backed off.

The hospitaller took this very seriously. He drove a couple of us back on the road to identify where it occurred. He will let the police know. Some people (rare actually) apparently don’t have much use for the pilgrims and this kind of thing can happen but the police put a stop to it. People like the hospitaller depend on and support the pilgrim’s walks and want the Camino experience to be safe and positive.

I left after an early breakfast this morning and walked 20 kilometers to Melide, the town for tonight. It is the most famous place in Spain for pulpo (octopus) but I’m not sure why – it isn’t by the sea. Maybe I will go try to find out. I managed the 20 km ok- just some discomfort in the left leg but manageable by managing my pace. Lots of climbing today reaching the highest point of elevation between Lugo and Santiago.

I can’t believe a month has passed since I started my walk. I would be arriving Santiago tomorrow had everything gone as anticipated. While it wasn’t my expected path, it has probably been in almost every respect a richer one. I’m looking forward to really favoring these last few days. Tomorrow I reach Arzua where several Camino routes converge with the Frances. I will prepare myself for the mass of people that will appear. I know I want more time walking the pilgrim paths where it is quiet and the pace is easy and contemplation comes without effort or distraction. I am quite certain I will come back again. There is something magical about walking in Spain.

Today I tested the leg with my first point to point walk on the Way without the safety net of a town and infrastructure if it didn’t go well. My fit bit registered almost 15 miles and I am settled in at the albergue I hoped to reach and just finished a celebratory beer!

I can’t even describe the joy of being back on the Camino walking  toward Santiago.

I am happy I made the decision to bus to Lugo and rejoin the Camino Primativo, my originally planned way to Santiago. It is so quiet with so many fewer people. The landscape is rural; the routes are small country lanes and the original foot paths taken by early pilgrims. It is quiet, peaceful and beautiful.

Over the distance since Lugo there was just one bar. Otherwise just hamlets, small churches and rural scenes.

This albergue is one of only two options for places to stay for quite a distance. I emailed Lali when I was unable to communicate with the hospitaller here on the phone in an effort to reserve a bed. Lali called him and emailed me back and said I should ask for Niko on arrival ( felt a little “godfather-esque”). But, when I arrived and told him I was Katherine, you would have thought I was his long lost daughter!  What a greeting I received! Thanks yet again to Lali!

i know as I get closer to Santiago, especially at Aruza where so many of the routes converge, it will get busy again but over the next few days I will go slow and drink this in. This is the way I want to feel when I think back on my Camino!

Since leaving Leon I have basically been meandering through the Camino Frances by bus. I last wrote as I completed my time in beautiful Leon and then on to Astorga and last night Villafranca del  

Bierza. The top four photos above are in Astorga. The omnipresent Gaudi designed and built a couple of homes here. This one is now a museum and the other is occupied. His style is so identifiable and very “out there” for the times. He used a lot of nature elements in his design and the roundness of angles and surfaces so different from the linear angularity and sharpness of other buildings of his time. I am sure Gaudi went where s client could afford his services so, while his influence is primarily seen in Barcelona, there are Gaudi structures others places in Spain.

Much of Astorgas Roman wall is still intact. The albergue where I stayed has been restored and modernized but is on the site of an original “hospital” ministering to the needs of midieval pilgrims making their way to Santiago. Over hundreds of years there have been a countless numbers of pilgrims who have made this journey. I like staying in the old albergues that are former convents, monasteries, or “hospitals” (obviously cwhere our current use of this word originated). Many of the “hospitallers” still feel this deep commitment to serve pilgrims. In Astorga, there are physical therapy students who come to the albergue each evening to minister to the sore and injured pilgrims.

Yesterday I arrived to Villafranca del Bierzo. Of course there were the cathedrals and monuments harkening to the long rich history and tradition. My albergue pictured above with the square tower was formerly a church and monastery. Part of it is now a hotel but one section remains reserved for pilgrims at 8 euro per night for a three bed room with bath. There is a communal kitchen and laundry. The last picture is the view at sunset from my room.

I had dinner at the small restaurant in the photo. It was recommended in trip advisor and did not disappoint. Often the nicer restaurants are very busy at the midday meal and reticent to offer a table to a single diner. I could tell the waiter was advocating for me with the chef who he had to check with before permitting me a seat. The previous day two restaurants had said they were full with obviously vacant tables. An occasional nice meal is good. They are relatively not much more expensive than the inexpensive three course meal available at most bars and restaurants (10 Euro including wine, bread, and coffee). These meals however are usually not fresh things like salads and involve potatoes in any number of ways.

So, now I have been wrestling with the decision about what to do next. I am not doing well with riding the bus past people walking the Camino. I see the tired and satisfied walkers come into the albergues after I am settled and showered and finished with my laundry. I feel bad to be taking a bed though I know many have to bus segments for various reasons.

What I have decided is to give it a try walking again. I am taking the bus today to Lugo Spain which will put me back on the Primativo, my original route plan. Lugo is beyond the mountain crossing part that is most difficult and puts me 103 km from Santiago. I will have 8 days starting the 12th(tomorrow) to make my way over that 100 km. While that seems like a reasonable number of miles per day, the accommodations, unfortunately,  don’t space out evenly. The first leg will be the longest but I am hopeful. I can go slowly. I have tried to identify the slightly more expensive (8 vs 5 euro) private albergues that take reservations and have emailed to try to secure them. Without the pressure of getting somewhere in time to get a bed, I think it will help. The Primativo has fewer albergues than the Frances but the sheer numbers of people walking and filling the towns at night somewhat diminishes the experience for me. I don’t think I would feel that way if I hadn’t had my wonderful experience of the Norte – the solitude, the peacefulness, the personal feel of it. That is there to be found on the Frances as well but I think just because it has become more of a business (small villages have become minor towns serving Pilgrims), it feels a little different.

I can still take a bus from Lugo to Sarria and try the last 100 from there on the Frances with more of a safety net but I will test my leg some more today and make the decision. One way or another there are 9 days left of my Camino and I will immerse myself in this truly special and singular life experience.

As I have moved on to the Camino Frances and into the Provinces of Burgos, Palencia and Leon, many changes are evident.

There are many more pilgrims and the evidence that this is the Way are much more ever- present.  There are many more pilgrim accommodations; much larger (and in some cases – but certainly not all –  less personal). There are shops catering entirely to the needs of pilgrims and a bit more “commercial”. I think part of it is that until I can walk between stops again, I am relagated to my lens being from the perspective of a town at least big enough to have a bus stop.

I had time yesterday to walk in Carrion de Los Cantos before my bus departed. It was Saturday and starting early the town was preparing for a traditional element of their fiesta – decorating the town’s main plaza with floral designs on the plaza stones. They work from a plan, draw the design on the stones and then use only flowers and natural elements; seeds, dirt, petals, nuts and flowers to bring it to life. It is reminiscent of our parades where the floats have to be all made from flowers.

Everyone joins in and has their task to do.

I also walked to the monastery (like many now a hotel) and had my much looked forward to morning trip to the bar for tea, a croissant, and the ever present fresh squeezed orange juice. I think I want one of the juice squeezers used here in most bars – the oranges are fed in at the top whole. They are halved and squeezed and the empty halves discarded in the blink of an eye. The results: delicious. Spain has the best oranges!

I arrived to Leon – another magnificent cathedral (this one rightfully heralded as having the most magnificent stained glass in Spain and perhaps in a cathedral anywhere in the world) in a much larger more urban city. I found the albergue with little difficulty and was soon seeing the sights. The monastery, the Parador here, is now a 5 star hotel. The religious of its day would be astounded by the splendor that has replaced its more humble beginnings and the monastic life.

Today I will go to Astorga – a smaller town with a very interesting history and culture.

I put about 7 miles on my Fitbit yesterday – the most since my injury. It was slow and spread out over the day but I feel good this morning!  The weight bearing is the issue – not much tolerance for longer distances without resting it and the added weight of the pack is immediately felt in the area of my tibia that is the source of the problem.

I am still hopeful that if I get to Sarria by the 13th  or 14th I can slowly make my way the last 100 km on foot doing shorter days slowly. We shall see.

To say I was impressed by the cathedral in Burgos would be an understatement!  There are three cathedrals considered to be the most splendid in Spain (and among the finest in the world) and this is one of them. Construction of this cathedral began in 1221 and work continued until the middle of the 1500’s as new parts were added or parts were redone to pay homage to rulers and religious leaders. Like most in this time, it is in the Gothic style but later additions reflect renaissance influences. It contains the tomb of El Cid. The domes are beautiful. It is enormous and took about 2 hours to go through. The audio guides are very informative and interesting. The photos did not load in the correct order so the second and third are from today and the rest are the cathedral.

I made it through the cathedral on my leg but not easily. I sat when I could and moved slow and carefully. It’s been a week and a day since my injury and the course seems to support my initial diagnosis of stress fracture. My leg looks so much better and I am completely pain free at rest but weight bearing for even a short time is painful and it’s very clear that getting off of it is the right thing to do. The pain is very localized over one place on my tibia. I think the PT really helped with the inflammation in the supporting soft tissues but I really don’t think this is fundamentally a soft tissue injury. So, it is one day at a time. Do what I can do and keep the long view in mind.

I took the bus to Carrion de Los Condes today. It is a very small town today of 1500 or so but historically it was much larger and at an important cross roads between the river and the Camino de Santiago for those making the early pilgrimages. Tomorrow I will walk out to the large old monastery that used to care for the pilgrims before I take the bus on to Leon.

Riding here on the bus I was very aware of how much difference there is from region to region in Spain. This area is a huge, higher plateau area 800-1000 ft above sea level of gently rolling hills and flat lands. It’s a wheat growing area – primarily agricultural with some other crops and livestock. Right now the fields are littered with big rolled bales of hay. It’s very picturesque. The dryer land areas are mixed with some bright green areas of irrigated crops all set against the bluest sky imaginable. Such a changes from the mountains and the mixed terrain moving back and forth from the rugged sea coast up into the areas of hillside farming and range land and forests and back to sea level of my first two weeks.

I rode through miles of sunflower fields interspersed between the golden hay fields today. Wow.

It is hot here and dry but the nights cool down some. I have my own room tonight in a private hostal – still only $20 or so for the night. There is one municipal albergue here but given my bus arrival time and the location of the alburgue I decided I wanted to have a reserved room. There is also a parochial albergue run by the church but I knew I would be inside resting the leg so wifi becomes an important variable for me. I have to make bus plans and can’t really walk 2-3 km from the bus to the albergue as I was doing before.

I am on the third floor and I have a large window that opens over the roof tops with a big view of the sky and setting sun. Nice.

It is Saturday night and festival time so there are fireworks and people are up late celebrating.  It’s okay though as I have adopted the siesta – this is a survival tactic really given the meal hours in Spain, the afternoons closure of all of the shops, and the night time sounds until the wee hours and early departure times required from the albergues.

I’m looking forward to my morning stroll (and my 11 am checkout) to the Monasterio- hope it goes well. Then, back in the bus at noon and on to Leon.

Today I begin Camino, take 2; a somewhat revised plan but it is the one that makes sense. My time in Gijon with Lali was so restorative in so many ways. She is an incredibly kind, caring, and generous person. I am so grateful.

Physically I am feeling better.

My leg doesn’t tolerate much yet but every day that goes well gives permission for a small bit more the next. Yesterday Lali treated me to a wonderful drive up into the Pico de Europa mountains. We stopped at a famous viewpoint and then went on to a beautiful spot high in the mountains with a small chapel in a cave on the side of a mountain and a large gothic Basillica – the place where years ago Lali was married. They were tuning the huge pipe organ in preparation for a concert coming up. The acoustics were unbelievable.
  

Lali and I enjoyed another Asturian meal. There are many special dishes, food, and drink items unique to Asturias and I think with Lali’s guidance, I tried them all.

Our final stop after lunch was at two high lakes that must be accessed by bus because the narrow road with its steep drop offs isn’t safe for bus drivers and motorists to navigate at the same time. There are mountain trails and Refugio’s just as in the Dolomites. How long can a bucket list get???

Today I reluctantly said goodbye to Lali and took the 4 hour bus ride to Burgos. I am going to complete the Camino on the Frances for several reasons but mostly because there are options to bus for now when walking isn’t an option and there is more infrastructure if I need it. There are wonderful things to see this way. I had chosen differently because of the much larger number of Pilgrims on the Frances and I am so grateful for the 16 days I had on the Norte. This will be different but I’m excited for the experiences to come. the first difference to note is the loss of the sea and its influence of the weather. It is 90 here.

I am about to visit the cathedral but am having a cold drink and wifi moment at a cafe across from the Albergue. I was surprised to discover how comforting it was to settle into my bunk and feel like a pilgrim once again. I felt right at home and went through what has become a practiced routine arriving at a new Albergue.

My hope is that I will be able to walk the last 100 km. time will tell. If not though I think I will have my own special feelings on arrival to Santiago.

I still find it hard to understand how I could be so blessed and fortunate. What brings together such seemingly unconnected events across time and space that result in such good fortune?

Lali picked me up yesterday in Oviedo and brought me to her lovely home in Gijon. Lali is a wonderfully kind and generous (and truly delightful) person. We are able to communicate well and are similar in many respects; we are mothers, professionals, have a love of travel, and appreciate food and wine. Lali has traveled  extensively having been to the U.S. to work in a lab at UCSD. She has seen more of the U.S. than I have!  She is my self-appointed nurse.  Right now I am waiting in an orthopedic and physical therapy clinic (sports medicine-type) in Gijon in hope of getting some means to enable me to walk short distances while my leg is healing.  I am hoping for a walking soft cast or boot but even crutches would be helpful.

They will be able to see me in about 30 minutes. Lali will interpret on my behalf.

My hope is to be on my way again in a couple of days traveling by bus, making my way to Santiago. I only want to travel short distances between the towns still being able to appreciate the scenes, the people, the tastes, the feeling of the Camino.

I hope to catch up with Brigitte and others I have met along the Way and see them again in Santiago.

I am so grateful to Nancy for reaching out to Lali on my behalf; and to Lali for being so gracious.

Yesterday I did take a short walk (very gingerly) and toured the cathedral in Oviedo. Oviedo is the city where the original pilgrimages to Santiago began.  There is even a special rate to take the audio tour if you have your Camino credential. It is very beautiful and has many important and significant relics. It is considered one of the three most beautiful and revered cathedrals in Spain.

I appreciate your thoughts and support.

The experience of “forced” vulnerability and being not in control has never been high on my list of the situations I want to be in. The miraculous thing is though, that when it happens – and only then – do you have the opportunity to fully realize the true kindness and generosity of others and really understand this thing called humanity.
I had a friend in high school named Mike. Mike was a big, very nice guy with a great smile and a little different way about him than everyone else. I always liked Mike; he lived not far down the street from me. I have not seen him since high school (maybe at an early reunion – but suffice it to say, its been a very long time).  Fast forward 40+ years and I get a message from him on Facebook asking if I am his old friend from high school. I responded and we have chatted back and forth on Facebook. He is a professor of Virology at UC Irvine and is married to a woman named Nancy whom I have not met.
Nancy has walked the Camino and has been following my blog. She had commented on the blog and contacted me through the blog when she learned about my injury.

She has a friend (Spanish) who teaches biochemistry at the University here in Oviedo. Her name is Lali. Nancy contacted her and told her of my situation. She is picking me up here Monday and taking me to her home until I have recovered sufficiently to move on! She has a home near here in Gijon Spain. She, her daughter and son-in-law who both just graduated from architecture school speak English and will help me with doctors etc if still needed on Monday.

I am overwhelmed by the kindness I have been shown and the seeming serendipity of how this has come together in this big world to help me in this very personal way. From my walking companion of one day, Brigitte, with her angel companions and belief that angels walk the earth; to the man at the bus station in Ribdasella who would appear every time a bus arrived to shake his head to say “not this one” and find me in the crowd to nod to me when it was time to get on and off and saw me through a transfer and all the way to Oviedo without ever saying a word; to Alfredo, my Spanish friend who explained to me so clearly in his “second” language how the universe teaches us what we need to know and that the Camino is life; and  to Nancy and her friend Lali, who have walked the Camino together……
I feel very blessed and humbled. Thank you all so much.

Thursday was my 15 th day on the Camino and my walk took me from Colombres to Llanes where I had reserved a room in the youth hostel. Though forecasted to be 100% chance of rain all day, the weather forecasters are the same the world over, and they weren’t quite right. By late morning the rain stopped.  I was pleased I had decided to decline the suggestion of some women I had met to take the bus to Llanes.  Instead I walked, taking the longer, more beautiful coastal route.

In the youth hostel I met a Greman woman from Munich named Brigitte. We immediately struck up a conversation (she wanted to work on her English that, quite honestly, needed little work). We had a nice dinner and explored Llanes a bit and agreed to walk on to Ribdasella together early the next day. It would be her first day on the Camino having come to Llanes by bus.  She only had enough vacation to begin the Camino there and hope to finish in Santiago.  Like so many I have met, it is not their first Camino.  Many are doing partial Caminos with plans to maybe finish later.

Walking to Ribdasella was again rainy much of the day – the last forecasted day of rain in the next several days.  It is good because the hostel in Ribdasella had no washer or dryer and it was not a day things would dry on the line.  So that brings us to the real message of this post and a most difficult one for me to write.

Yesterday with about 10 kilometers to go approaching Ribdasella I began to experience acute pain in the lower part of my left shin.  I didn’t do anything acutely like a fall or a twist or the rolling of an ankle  it just began to hurt with each step and then began to show bruising and redness.  I honestly wasn’t sure I could walk the rest of the way but – well, there isn’t much choice on a dirt (mud) footpath along the Atlantic Coast.  I literally hobbled into Ribdasella and found the hostel. Brigitte went to the pharmacy for me and got a wrap and ice packs.  I iced and elevated it for a couple hours but the truth of it was beginning to sink in. I could not bear weight on it and, based on my limited knowledge and Google, I came to the conclusion I am probably dealing with a stress fracture of my tibia and likely the end of my Camino.

i think yesterday I was largely in denial and I am still holding out a little bit of hope that this is some kind of strain or sprain of a ligament but I am not optimistic.  I made the decision to take the  bus today to Oviedo.  I found an Airbnb in the center of Oviedo that is inexpensive ($30/night) but I have my own room and use of the kitchen and bath. Carmen (the hostess) is unbelievably nice though neither of us speaks the others language. We use Google translator and get by.

A man here at the house offered to take me in his car to the urgent care clinic where I hoped to get some confirmatory diagnosis by X-ray one way or another. It turned out that they have no X-ray at the clinic and I would have to go to the hospital for that. I saw the clinic doctor and he didn’t think it was fractured but I’m not sure he understood I was concerned about a stress fracture. He gave me a prescription for an NSAID and told me to ice and elevate it.  I’m doing that now.

The Camino offers so much.  I know it is about something more important than finishing in a certain place on a certain day.  This is just part of my Camino and it brings its own lessons. I now have a very different sense of what it is like to need medical attention somewhere where you cannot communicate and you can’t understand what the people caring for you are saying to each other or to you.  It is very hard and such a helpless and totally dependent feeling. As some of you know, helplessness and dependence are not my strong suits. Maybe this is just part of what I am to learn.

This is how the Camino works: I met my friend Alfredo, a banker from Murcia Spain when I called out to him that he had missed a way mark and was headed off the Way.  He thanked me and we talked for many miles and over several days.  His English was very good and he helped me with my Spanish and he talked about the philosophy of the Way from a Spanish pilgrim’s perspective and about his life and thoughts.

He showed me much of the food and drink traditions and taught me to pour cider from high above the glass. He gave me his phone number in case I needed it in Spain. Today at the clinic I used that number and Alfredo talked with me and the doctor and translated for us both. He assured the doctor I could be trusted to go to the ATM to get the money to pay for my visit. I wouldn’t run away.  After, he sent me a txt to remind me this is all just part of my Camino. It is what is given to me by God or the Universe or whatever you believe. It isn’t to be judged; just experienced. Maybe for me, it means I come back someday. Maybe it just means I accept with humility my fallibility and that I make the most of the new path in front of me.