Progress and Ideas

The title of this one is so multi-layered it´s not even funny. Let me tell everyone about last night and then I´ll talk about the title. I think I mentioned that I met an older Swedish woman and I did indeed go to get a sandwich for dinner with her and yet another older German man. She is probably the most outgoing person I´ve met on the Camino while he is very softspoken. Both of them, however, really enjoyed listening to me, so I told them about my idea for an albergue and also about my university and my girlfriend. The Swedish woman asked if in the states we usually get married before moving in together, so I explained about the difference between Christians and non-Christians (though some non-Christians do break the trend and wait as well). In Sweden and Germany people usually wait until they have their first child together to actually get married, which I thought was interesting and pretty sad. They were very excited about my relationship, though, which was sweet. The Swedish woman said she was married in a church because she and her husband believe in God, but based on the way she said her best friend is a "real Christian" I think she might not be. The German man is not married, and would have explained why but did not have enough English. Very kind people the both of them. Now for the title.
Progress: I made it to Mansilla de las Mulas, where it is just a short jump to Léon. All day there were no towns or fountains, but there were also very few people. Finally made it right before my German friend. It´s funny how even being apart for just a day and a half feels like such a long time on the Camino, but we greeted each other excitedly and will have dinner with a Danish woman I haven´t met yet. Also ran into my dinner partners from Castrojeríz, who I had not seen for something like 3 days and listened to the French man expound on his complete faith in the genious of mankind to conquer the universe and understand all problems. They also talked about a South African guy who has a theory that the Bible´s power comes from the simple message "to be," meaning that living in the present gets rid of all the baggage of the ego. I stayed silent for most of it as usual, and I´m glad becasuse I received a message from a Dutch missionary hospitalero who said the best way is always to engage people on the emotional and heart level first. Do not engage with people in the intellectual conversations but try to give people a more personal display and message of Jesus´s love. Good advice.
Ideas: I already talked about part of the ideas of the day with the South African guy, but something rather revolutionary that the Dutch missionary told me is that he thinks a better and more doable idea would be to start a teahouse next to a large albergue and offer it as a quiet, peaceful, and worshipful place where the pilgrims could come without a noisy television or radio. I must pray about that idea because I really like it and it might serve the town better as well. Pretty much every town has a place to sleep, but a place of peace is not necessarily easy to find. And, of course, a teahouse would still be compatible with my desire to plant a church as well. Also, it sounds a lot more like the kind of place that Jon Shuler and his fellow missionaries hosted in Santiago itself. Perhaps a permanent settlement in Santiago is the answer! I´mm really just brainstorming at this point, so for the sake of the 5 remaining minutes I have let me move on.
I was able to wash and quickly dry my underwear again today, so no sweaty unmentionables so far! Hoping to get a fresh pair in Léon and also a cheap sweater I can wear for the higher altitudes where it´s not nearly as warm as I think Spain should be in the summertime (as evidenced by my packing). I´m somewhat hungry for a quiet, private place to sleep, but God is sustaining my spirits for the time being and I will rely on him to bring me to Santiago, Finisterre, Madrid, and home. Thank you all for supporting me with your prayer. God bless!