 |
| With Mike and Michele-100 km to Santiago |
I had pizza last night with TDFSF ATP. Lea ate with, and hung out with the young Bohemians. After dinner I had a drink with some of them and Sting.
I didn’t want to drink anymore because I felt like I might be coming down with a cold. I’ve been drinking a lot of water.
We left Sarria just past 6 AM. It was about a 14 mile walk today to Portomarin. There was some Justin drama today. As I mentioned before, Justin is obviously in love with and obsessed with Lea. unrequited love.
Over the last couple of days Justin started acting very strange. He became jealous if Lea spent time with any other man. He looked and acted depressed. He regressed socially. He didn’t always respond when spoken to. At 4 AM I got up to take a pee at the Albergue. I found him fully dressed, wide awake in the bathroom writing in his journal.
I was worried about him. I thought about contacting his mom. As I got ready to leave the Albergue, he sat in the lobby silently. Lea had been out drinking. She did not get up to leave early with us. As I walked out of the Albergue, I saw Justin put what looked like a note in Lea‘s shoe.
Justin and I started the walk with Michael Snow and Michele. After a short distance, Justin stopped. we weren’t sure if he went back to town or followed us. It was dark. He had no light with him.
Mike, Michele and I discussed what to do about Justin. At the first opportunity, we stopped for breakfast. Michele sent a message to Jayne , Justin‘s mom expressing our concern about him.
Justin is on the spectrum. There is little dispute about that, despite that I don’t think think he’s been formally diagnosed.
Chuck and Don arrived at the breakfast place. They saw Justin back in Sarria. He told them that he had or would delivered a private note to Lea.
I sent a message to Lea alerting her to the situation and asking her to try to be nice to Justin, because we were worried about him. I got a vague message back from her asking whether I knew what Justin wrote to her. I didn’t, and still don’t. I will update everyone later, when I find out.
We saw Justin on the trail a lot today. He seemed perfectly fine. Whatever happened couldn’t have been too traumatic.
Mike Michele and I had a great walk today. Many laughs.
We stopped at another café for a second breakfast. Recall that a horde of new pilgrims joined the Camino at Sarria. The trails were more crowded. They were more and fancier cafés.
What happened at this café was priceless. As I stood in line to order, the two women in front of me asked for soy milk with their café con Leche. That is a pretty ridiculous request in this country. I noticed that they had brand new shoes and clean backpacks. First day Pilgrims. I’m only observing, not judging. However, we had a good laugh about them all day long. I saw them several other times throughout the day. You can guess their nickname: soy milk.
Later in the walk, I had the good fortune to walk with Kim and Judy. I adore these two women. they have a wonderful accent. I’ll try to get a video of them. Judy told us a story about her and Sting. She asked him to remove her water bottle from the back pocket of her backpack. After she had a drink she asked him to put it back in again. She then said, “when is the last time you heard that?“ She is hilarious. A mid 60s-ish retired social worker.
We reached our destination town – Portomarin, about 12:30 PM. A big gang of us sat at a café, drinking and snacking. TDFSF showed up. Recall that Kim and Judy felt that TDFSF were arrogant and pretentious. In no uncertain terms, they did not like TDFSF. Chuck sat at our table. I could feel the tension. He had no idea they didn’t like him. After some awkwardness on their part, they were civil to him. He asked them all about Newfoundland. He wants to vacation there. I hope they realized he is not an ogre.
Mike, Lea and I are sharing a room a mile out of town. I needed to call them for a ride but Lea hadn’t come to town yet. she sent me a text that she still had 10 km to go and they were stopping at every cafe for a beer. There were more than 10 cafés along the route. I suspect she is walking with the young Bohemians. One of them, John, had his birthday yesterday. They are still celebrating.
Mike and I got tired of waiting. We got a ride to our hostel. don’t ask me the difference between a hostel and an Albergue. I have no idea. I took a hot bath. Mike and I had a great lunch. More octopus for me. i’m gonna go back at 9 PM for dinner.
I heard from Lea. she is on her way to the hostel. more to follow.
Love,
b
No comments:
Post a Comment