Day 59 - Bercianos - September 12 - Day 12 of 15

Day 59 - Bercianos - September 12 - Day 12 of 15

Well today has been almost mundane. I got the sweeping, mopping, scrubbingand hanging laundry done. I sprayed my back pack, the bears, some assorted items and my sleep sac to deter bed bugs in anticipation of my departure on Monday. I even got a shower!

Here in the village going to the local market is a social event. It's not like home where I view it as a time consuming necessity. I drive up, park, run into the store, grab a cart, fill it up, wait impatiently in line while some takes thirty minutes to sign their name on a check or find change in the purse to pay the exact amount, and exchange a quick hello with a stranger working the cash register. Here folks stroll to the little store and once there engage in lively conversation with the owner of the store, her daughter and the other people in the store. They trade information. It occurred to me that if you were new to the village you would want to get on the good side of the people that run the store. :) nobody seems to be in a hurry. I believe it is a daily activity, because they carry what they buy. 

It reminds me of growing up on Avalon, on Catalina Island. Skaggs Grocery store was a place where you ran into your neighbors and had long chats with them and the people who were working at the registers and were also your neighbors. Everyone in town was your neighbor, because you knew them all. It was a gaily activity for many because there weren't many cars then, so you pretty much bought what you could carry and for many of us there was a hill involved. We had live operators and party lines so you could listen to other people's conversations. Our telephone number had three digits. Mail was delivered to the post office, not your home, and was another place you would visit with neighbors.   

My ensalada mixta was such a hit, I've been asked to make it three days in a row. Today I put too much vinegar in the dressing, the Spanish folks loved it. I don't understand how they don't all have heartburn with the amount of raw onions they eat and the quantity of vinegar they ingest when I was living in Salamanca with Torji and her family I had to find sneaky ways to soak up the o and vinegar or to find some other food to set the lettuce on so the liquid would drain off. It stimulated my creativity. 

Well the day remained uneventful. Even the sunset was calm and soft. No dramatics. My time here os coming to an end. Though I am excited to get back on the Camino, I am sad to be leaving my new friends and my little home away from home. It has been pure joy, tiring, and frustrating at times because communication can be so difficult. I've learned a lot if Spanish and they've learned a few expressions in English. We have had laughs, disagreements and cooperation. I will miss them. Right now though I'm going to go to bed  and try to actually get to sleep before 11 and before I start writing about flies again, because today I was wondering if it would be a little more spiritual if I prayed for their little souls when I swatted them. Then I wondered if they have souls. You see how these things get started. I'm off to bed.