Camino de Santiago Sept. 3 - 9th

This blog is dedicated to all you masochists out there.  Choosing to go on a vacation where your skin is dry and sunburned, achy joints, blisters, mystery bugs, and bleary eyes sounds like a good time, right?  We got sick (along with about 10 other people walking on our schedule) and had to slow down due to lack of eating...we´d rather lose some kilometers than lose our stomach more than once.  That only lasted about three days, but then my ankle aches turned into a bull blown problem.  Luckily, I had a spirited Italian albergue host who saw my ankles, which looked like cankles!  He promply went to the kitchen for ice, and this AMAZING, mystery anti-inflammatory cream that works wonders.  I don´t know why we don´t have this stuff in the states, but you´ll be sure I´m stockpiling before we take our leave of this fine country.

Speaking of fine countries, if you ever find yourself unemployed and living in Spain, be sure to check out the job opportunities in either a post office or bank, both of which are only open from about 8 am to noon!  Talk about a nice gig, and air conditioning too.

Our food intake has been sporadic, at best, and interesting.  A few samples of our menu include cereal and milk that I´ve been craving with a vengeance since I´ve arrived.  MMM, Good old fashioned cereal and milky goodness.  Today tops it off, though, with a ¨Meson¨Sandwich which consists of bread from a baguette, tuna, hardboiled egg, tomato...and Fried!  That was our morning snack and oh was it wonderful.  Anything fried, really, hits the spot, but this magical combination did wonders for our trek over the mountains today.

And speaking of treks, I have to mention the feats of the family of a nice Bra

zilian woman, who was actually the one who saved my ankle by lending me her anti-inflammatory cream.  Her husband has done 13 ironman but that´s small cheese compared to her son, nicknamed the Black Bull.  He competed in Race Across America, which for those of you who don´t know anything about it, myself included, it´s a bicycle race from the West Coast to the East Coast appoximately 5000 km I think.  Anyway, it turns out to be a whopping 325 miles a feakin´day!!!!  Her son got 8th place and it took him 11 days with only 4 hours of sleep each night.  What tha!  Who are these people.  The first place finisher did it in 8 days.  I just had to sit and listen in awe, which also immediately alleviated the measly little pain I thought I had in my ankle.

Last night we stayed in an albergue in the mountains run by hippies, including Nag Champa, vegetarian food, and of course, a generic Vishnu-type tapestry on the wall.  I shouldn´t jest though, because the dinner was the best dang food I may have ever had in my life, nevermind the fact that lately my hunger greatly outweighs my taste buds.  It was paella made with wild rice, shrimp, homemade wheat bread (of course) with local honey that tasted like barley or rye or some undetermined grain.  And the salad; oh how wonderful the salad was.  A plain lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and maybe onion mixture, with a simple, yet unbelievably refreshing plain yogurt dressing.  Add a little salt and, as the French say, Voila!  Their tienda, by the way, sold only bio-food.  Those dang hippies.

Anyway, with all our recent turmoil and not-so-perfect happenings (Jacob´´s bug bites swelled up to whelts, by the way, but are back to little dots), I think it´s safe to say that we have found ´The Way´.  We complain about blisters, and silly superficial things of the sort, but really overcoming them is what makes life that much more fulfilling.  The night after my one bad night of crying and yelping out of pain and frustration, cursing the Italian make-shift doctor, I was reading a philosophy book I had brought with me and the last sentence I read before going to bed was an earyily applicable one for our journey.  One of Nietzche´s favorite philopher mentors said ¨the art of living lies in finding uses for our adversities´.  Well said my friend, and well taken.  8 more days until Santiago, baby!

By the way, it might be awhile for more pictures...it takes an eternity to upload.