Last night I decided to stay at the Alburgue run by the nuns. It was interesting. Normally, you have to be in by 10pm but this one was 9:30. It was a very crowded and busy place and I got a bed on the bottom bunk. I heard a lot of people talking about bed bugs but they had fumigated the place that day so I was´nt too worried. I got myself ready for bed and then all of a sudden a little nun came through the place clapping her hands and telling everyone to come with her. I got out of bed, threw on my shorts and followed, no idea what was happening. We all filed into a small room for evening prayers and there were little books in all different languages so we could follow along. This took about 20 minutes and I thought we were done. Then, she opened two big doors that led into the church and we all filed in. I sat near the front and as is common in some of these old churches, there is a space at the front separated by iron gates where the clergy or nuns sit. All of a sudden, about 20 nuns filed in 2 or three at a time, like penguins. They were so cute! They began the evening prayers in Spanish, or latin I think and I just listened and enjoyed the warm feeling of the moment. Then one of the older nuns began to sing. It was so beautiful as she had a clear and perfect voice. It brought tears to my eyes and I just embraced it all. After that, there were a few more prayers, lots of standing up and stitting down, and then a woman who worked there came to the front and named the countries of all the pilgrims that night. There must have been 25 different countries! At the end, there was the pilgrim blessing, wishing us a good journey to Santiago. It was beautiful. The other good thing about this albergue was that the men and women were separated and even though there were 30 or 40 people in my room, there was NO Snoring!! I had a pretty good sleep.
I´ve discovered that my least favourite part of this whole thing is going into and leaving a big city. Sometimes it takes 1-2 hours. Leon was not well signed and I really had to pay attention and look at a map. Because it is now dark until nearly 8am, it is impossible to do this in the light of day. Anyway, I made it out onto the quiet road and walked a mere 23km today.
Since I spent a day in Leon, I have lost my original travel group for the most part. I have met new people already and feel okay about spending some time alone now. Tomorrow is a long day - 32 km to Astorga, a slightly bigger city.
I am more than half way to my destination and am considering walking to Finisterra, another 100km if all is well. We´ll see when I get to Santiago.
Tonight I am staying at a private Albergue for 7 euros and 9 euros for a delicious home cooked meal. I ate together with new people, Rudy, Guillia, and a German guy whose name I can't remember, and it was nice. Salad, squash soup, and paella. I think I will go to bed early and make a start around 7am. Blisters are healing, new ones cropping up....this is how it is meant to be for me.
I hope all is well with you all at home,
Jena
