Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly...

somewhere else. Today the problem for me was the temperature! I haven´t gotten a look at any thermometers recently, but with windchill (a significant factor) it had to have been in the 30s when I first started this morning. It has been windy pretty much all day, but on the bright side, none of those gnats that seem to like divebombing my eyeballs.
After my last post I got to meet a Dutch man who had biked all the way from home, camping most of the time on the way. He surprised me by using the word "soccer," but he explained it was for my benefit. Condescending, but very considerate. Had a nice dinner of "Laughing Cow" cheese, bread, and an orange while my German and Quebecan friends shared some of their wine with me. My Quebecan friend will be bussing ahead through Léon, which means I will probably have little time with her, so next opportunity I would like to ask her to read some or all of one of the Gospels with me. She has a major beef with the church, but I know if she would only put that aside and give Jesus himself a chance her former inhibitions will diminish. Time will tell, though.
Tonight, however, in Terradillos de los Templarios, I am once again staying with the American students. There was only one spot left in a double cubicle with my German friend, so I was fortunate to be able to stay here and not backtrack to the other one. (I know some of you are wondering, "Isn´t the German friend female?" Yes she is, but while there are only two beds in the space, it is hardly private because none of the walls go all the way up to the ceiling. Think tall office cubicle. Feel free to pray against any persistent temptation for either of us, though.)
Everywhere I passed today has potential, so pray with me about each village. I´m noticing that while the church certainly seems to have a presence in every village, a lot of them in the smaller towns seem to be empty, which means the pilgrims staying there must go without any outside spiritual nourishment save what God gives them through other means.
As I said in the last post, I have at least an extra week after I get to Santiago, and I think I will use part of it to walk to Finisterre. I think that an albergue and church along that path may be exactly what some of the pilgrims will need if they are looking for some kind of further divine experience after Santiago. We´ll see.
Not much else to say. I still miss home, but not as much as a few days ago. I´m looking forward to my return so I can see you all and, of course, sleep in my own bed. God bless!

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