Walked: 24.4Km
I'm just coming back from the pool a little bit disconcerted. I went there to change a bill in order to pay for the albergue, which the hospitalera asked me to slide under the door of her office at the albergue. She's in town, but not at the albergue because she's on vacations.
You see, it all started in the morning when I called the albergue to let them know I would arrive at around 1pm. A lady answered and told me that it was impossible, she was the hospitalera but she was on vacations, she would be back on duty next week. She suggested to walk to the next town, an extra 16Km which would be gruelling under today's scorching 35ºC. I didn't try to plead my case, I thanked her for the advice and wished her that she enjoyed her vacations.
The road up to Berbegal is steep and the sun just past noon was blazing overhead. I was thirsty, tired and hungry. I made my way up and found a plaza. I was crossing the plaza to reach the water fountain when a female voice called me from overhead. I looked up to see a middle aged blonde woman leaning on the railing "Peregrino! Would you like to stay here tonight? It's really hot today"—"Wha... Yes! Absolutely! Thank you! Just let me drink some water and I'll be there with you".
She checked me in to the albergue and explained me the basics. Before leaving we chatted about her work. She told me these were her first vacations in the entire year, that she was only taking two weeks when she was entitled to four, that she was a part-time employee of the municipal council but in practice she was on duty 24 hours. Not only she was in charge of receiving pilgrims but this building also hosts seasonal farm workers and also has an extra apartment for more upscale tourism. She does the invoicing, cleaning, reception work, etc. She basically manages a hotel on her own.
I told her I appreciated her hard work and that I would clean after myself. She had already gone the extra mile by checking me in me while she was on vacations. I tried to pay her but she didn't have change, so we agreed that I would slide it under the door once I got my bill changed.
So, when I went to the pool to get the bill changed, the attendant asked me if I was a pilgrim. I said yes, I'm changing the bill so that I can pay for the albergue. "Well, that's strange" she said, "there was another gentleman here a while ago who was also a pilgrim, but Nela didn't check him in because she's on vacations". What? Why me and not him? I will not speculate on the reason, your guess is as good as mine.
However, today I was blessed with many acts of kindness, in stark contrast to what I experienced yesterday. When I dropped off the keys at the office of the residences back in Monzón I was treated like a friend by the bureaucrat behind the desk (a rarity worldwide, particularly so in Spain).
Then, a group of three cyclists slowed down before passing me, each one of them emphatically wishing me buen camino, looking back at me to make eye contact.
Three hours later I would see them again at this chapel, coming back from their tour. I overheard the lady in the group ask "do you think he's carrying water?" (I was not) and when they approached me one of the guys asked if I needed water. Even though I was thirsty, I foolishly declined reasoning that I was 30 minutes away from Berbegal when in reality it was 60 minutes with a steep hill to climb.
Before I got lucky with the albergue, I was already planning on writing that this day stood in stark contrast to yesterday, thanks to the kindness of people. There's even more things I could write about (I must mention this: at the restaurant, when I asked my steak to be cooked a bit more, they gave me an extra serving of fries which I had already devoured off the plate, unasked).
I admit to being pleasantly perplexed at this. One day I'm invisible and unimportant to everyone, the next one I'm special and treated as a friend by strangers. Yesterday I wrote:
I have the intuition that my experience today will make sense further along the journey.
I hope not to be too premature in my sense-making, but I can see how today could have gone unappreciated if it weren't preceded by a bleak day. The perennial wisdom of the Tao Te Ching comes to mind:
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Beyond the simple gratefulness for experiencing a pleasant day, there's a deeper gratefulness for experiencing the relationship between a bleak and a pleasant day.
Edit 11:30pm, as if the the day hadn't already given me enough gifts, the moon peered through my window to wish me good night. I feel loved.
