People 2

As the title suggests, this post will mainly be a discussion of the new folks I´ve met since falling behind my "old group." Before that, however, let me bring you up to speed on where I am and how I´m doing. Astorga was by far my best night´s sleep in over a week. The bed was long enough, comfortable, and nobody in my room was snoring! Absolutely wonderful, and I didn´t even get riled by the people who got up at 5:00 because I was so well-rested. Walked through rain for the first couple of hours, stopped at a cafe to warm up with some cafe con leche and a donut, and then walked through the warm sun that came after the shower. I´m staying at a small, very nice, but fairly cheap (€5) albergue in Rabanal del Camino run by a cute and friendly couple in their low 50s. My underwear is almost dry due mainly to the cold upper-altitude winds that are whipping through the village, and my other clothes will not be damp for long either. I´m definitely feeling the higher altitude, so I got some powdered soup and stuff for dinner and probably will stay inside most of the day today.
On to people. Yesterday afternoon I met a fellow American while cooking my lunch/dinner. She´s from Seattle and told me after some conversation that one of the best compliments she´s ever gotten was "You must be a Christian." We parted ways to explore the city, and I after an hour or so I returned to the albergue to finish what I´d started (meaning my pasta) and then went to a place for ice cream and explored the city some more.
I soon regretted leaving my rain jacket at the albergue because it started pouring rain at about 7:00 or so, and I took shelter with a young German girl in a candy shop. She was walking for the second time, but only to complete the stretch she skipped last time (Carríon to Astorga) due to an inflamed ankle. She was thrilled with the idea of a missionary albergue or hostel and seemed like a kindred spirit, so after the owner of the store got frustrated with us for staying without buying we continued our talk in the albergue about the experience of the Camino and the various lessons we´ve learned on it. Her time was almost at an end because tomorrow she´s going home and back to work, but she considers the Camino her kind of "secret escape" where she can go whenever she´s stressed or overwhelmed with the busyness of life. Very nice girl.
Today after the rain stopped I was just catching up with an American woman as we passed "Méson Cowboy," which I can only assume is a Western-themed restaurant (in rural Spain, mind you). I knew she was American, but suspected she thought I was European, so I commented somewhat sarcastically that it was nice to see a bit of the States. We walked to Rabanal with her and learned that she´s a pancreatic cancer survivor, Catholic, and used to be a prison warden. She also lives in WA (Spokane) and I marvelled at the miracle of her healing through the Whipple procedure (however that´s spelled). We talked about this and that, particularly how much speaking someone´s language can get someone to really open up and feel welcomed. She told me a particularly touching example about how her son would speak Spanish with the mostly-Mexican inmates at her prison, so all of them loved him and opened up with him in a vastly different way than any of the guards or even her. I posed for a picture so she could add me to her documentation of everyone she meets and she went on, but I feel certain we´ll see each other again.
I´m seeing more and more Koreans, so I think sometime soon I will try to "break into" one of their cliques so I can get to know some of them. I also met an older man from an island off Madagascar, which is definitely one of the more exotic places I´ve encountered. I think he speaks mainly French so I don´t know how much he and I will be able to talk in the future, but he´s very friendly.
There´s a vespers with Gregorian chant with the Benedictine monks here tonight, so I´m looking forward to a nice deep lullaby before bed. Until tomorrow, God bless!