Day 61 - Bercianos - September 14 - Day 14 of 15

Day 61 - Bercianos - September 14 - Day 14 of 15

Well today has not been mundane. The trip to the church in Gordaliza del Pino

was very interesting. From what I understood from the explanation Jorge was giving to Rosa and Merusa in Spanish, the church was built in the tenth century. And they have a picture of their patron saint on one of the walls, I didn't catch his name. He was depicted in battle armor in such a way that supports the tenth century idea. Under the picture on the wall was a box (casket) in an area enclosed in the same material as the wall sort of a pocket holding the box. When Jorge opened the lid of the box, there were bones inside. Now I've seen many crypts in many cathedrals with a likeness of the person carved on top and I've always wondered if there was a person inside. I guess so. But this one you can check on. 

Then there was a picture of death and the two places you can go after death. It reminded me of style of the Bosch painting, "Garden of Earthly Delights" which in fact is in the Prado museum in Madrid. Anyway the depiction of heaven wasn't so interesting, but the on of hell had devils with large red tipped penises. 

Then we proceeded to the back of the church where there were skulls embedded in the wall. That is something I've never seen before! Rebekah told me that sometimes when they are building a church, they find bones, because maybe it was a burial site or battleground, they put the skulls in the wall either to remind people of the resurrection or to preserve these people for the resurrection. Something like that. Don't hold Rebekah to my explanation. My mind tends to drift during conversations, probably because it is untethered. 

After seeing the church and Jorge's house, garden and garage; we went to Sahagún and had breakfast, shopped at the mercadio, the ferratería, and Bazaar Chino. By the time we left we only had two hours left to get home, get our day's cleaning done and be ready to greet pilgrims. I don't know what has happened to me, but I figured it would all work out. Rosa and Merusa were in a panic, so much so that Merusa missed the exit for Bercianos and we had to go down the road a piece to turn around. There was a flurry of Spanish between them. I just suggested "respiran." 

On the way home we dropped Rosa at the tienda to get the eggs for cena (dinner.) we got the albergue and realized Rosa had the keys. We drove back to the tienda and got the keys. Rosa hadn't even been waited on. Remember my post about the tienda a a social event? Merusa and I went back to the albergue and unloaded the stuff from Sahagún and started cleaning. 

I was in the hallway and I heard someone's voice through the broken bathroom window that is covered by a towel. I thought it was a pilgrim wanting information, but it was Rebekah come to visit. What a nice surprise! She came in and after hugs immediately asked what she could do to help. So she helped me with my cleaning and we chatted. The Camino provides help when you need it in many different ways. 

We were ready for the pilgrims before the time set to open. And they came, in droves. Every square foot of space has a body in it. One of the hospitaleros who will replace showed up and started helping with dinner preparations. He seems nice, but he only speaks French, so we couldn't talk except with sign language. I took a siesta. By the time I woke up, the place was packed and there were voices in many languages, laughter, confusion, and gratitude. About 5 pm the other two hospitaleros who are replacing us arrived, but I think they saw the packed house and decided they would rather stay in Sahagún tonight and return in the morning. Too bad, they missed a yummy dinner. 

So now it is time to say good night my friends. I've had waves of sadness today realizing tomorrow is my last day and I will be leaving my new friends. But, I'm also excited to be back walking the Camino as a Peregrina. 

I will be posting more pictures (especially of the things I shared about the church) when I get some time with wifi. I realized the pictures use a lot of data.