Day 12 - Survival And Joy - July 27

 Day 12 - Survival, Rowdiness and Silliness - July 27

I do not want to give the impression that people in Santiago are walking around mournfully and crying continuously. I think Spanish history or the history of the Iberian peninsula is a story of many tragedies, turmoil, death and destruction which I believed has created a culture that copes. I'm sure those affected directly and personally are grieving, but the general population view it has a tragic accident and continue with their lives. I don't think from what I have witnessed that they do as much handwringing as we do. In the streets people are strolling, shopping in the markets, going to the farmacía, eating in cafés, etc. I have not heard the train wreck mentioned even once by the Spanish employees, the Spanish Pilgrims or anyone else in the office.

Today in the Pilgrim's office we were as busy as we have been since I got here. There were a lot of huge youth groups that came through. They were singing, laughing, joking, pushing each other around and engaging in general rowdiness, as young people in groups are apt to do. It was noisy and delightful. The adult Spanish pilgrims I interacted with seemed to generally be in good spirits. Tired and very grateful for even the smallest act of kindness, just a smile pleased them.

On my first break today around 3:30 pm I went for a yogurt and got the special flavor again, which is some sort of tart. The price is so many euros depending on the size and that includes one or two toppings, depending on the size. So since I was paying for the toppings whether I took them or not, and for no other reason, I got some little cookies as my toppings. They were whole little round chocolate chip cookies about an inch or inch and a half in diameter. Not the crushed up kind we have in the US yogurt shops. I took the whole thing to the park to sit on a bench in the sun and savor it. It rained on and off, mostly on, all day. So this little spot of sunshine was quite a treat.

So I'm sitting on my part of the bench and I look across the little circle of benches and there are two obviously drunk, obviously homeless people, a man and a woman. There was also a third person, a man, who looked neither homeless nor drunk. The two drunks were drinking something that looked like beer out of paper bags and smoking. Then the woman starts giving the sober man a lap dance right there in the park, in front of Spanish grandmothers, grandfathers, children, and a whole host of other people. She's sitting on his lap facing him and he's pulling her towards him and rubbing her buttocks. I swear I wasn't that shocked at the burlesque show my daughter and I attended in Paris.

The two men sitting on the bench across from me were staring like they didn't believe it either. The kids continued to play looking up occasionally when one of the three made a loud noise. I kept expecting someone to say something or call the Police, but I learned a while ago, when I was living with a Spanish family in Salamanca, that people don't say anything or call the police. The family lived facing a small park that was surrounded by apartments and where the local young people like to drink until 5 or 6 am. I always expected to hear some one open a window a shout at them in Spanish to be quiet or they would call the police. Not once did I hear that.

I finally had to go sit on another bench with my back to them. It was too distracting. And it was a vision of the past that I don't want to forget, but I don't need to see it in living color to remember. I was even known to drink champagne out of a paper bag. lol which reminds me of one of my favorite jokes from those days. Some wine aficionados were sitting around discussing whether one should hold the glass by the stem or the bowl. The last one, a person obviously fond of wine said, "Heck, I hold it by the neck so it doesn't slip out of the paper bag." And that was exactly how the drunks in the park were holding theirs. So I guess it works for beer too. :)

Speaking of people behaving in poor taste, I was sitting in the corner coffee shop having a café con leche and croissant this morning, when this English/British (is there a difference? I've never thought about it before) woman walks in and is waiting to order something and she starts up a conversation with the person standing next to her, a stranger, and suddenly in a very loud voice in a small and quiet cafe she starts throwing in the "f" word and just about every expletive I've ever heard. It was startling even for me, who is known to use expletives on occasion, when necessary. But the time and place and volume were totally inappropriate. The owner eventually suggested nicely that perhaps she would like to sit at one of the outside tables and he would bring her order to her. So funny.

The children today were adorable. I just love the little Pilgrims. They are always so visibly excited and happy to get there Certificates or Compostelas. I had another seven hour day and I ran my behind off. Mario spelled me about 7:15 and I went and had a café con leche and some dark chocolate, in a little place near the office that has wifi, to give me energy to go until 9 pm. I was energetic to the end. Now I'm dead tired. So it is off to bed I go, until tomorrow, or hasta mañana.