First day of rest

Today was my first day of rest after 20 days of walking. Nobody likes to take a day off of the Camino...only if you´re toes are falling off, you haven´t slept in 2 weeks, and the chorizo you ate is repeating itself over and over. The reason: the same reason no one wants to stop eating in the middle of dinner, stop cycling when it´s still sunny, hot, and Saturday, stop talking when you´ve got the perfect group of conversationalists at hand. The Camino is your Camino, but it also ebbs and flows. Yesterday, I managed to swim in the small, icy-pond that´s a swimming pool at my Auberge just outside of Leon, and afterwards I had a small case of hypothermia when I discovered there was no hot water left in the showers!

I was shaking like a dog that´s trying too hard to take a poo, and my friends grabbed as many blankets as possible to enshroud my little quivering corpse.....and after an hour of blanket coverage, socks, mittens, and scalding-hot beverages, I thawed out like frostbitten steak in the freezer. Ohhhhh, and after that, I got a cold. Just a litle one, but enough to make me stay another day at the Auberge, which we now call "Hospital", because everyone here seems to have tendonitis, blisters, sore muscles, broken down feet, fatigue, shall I go on!??? We´re all in the same sicko boat, so we´re all enjoying each others´tranquil company, sharing stories, sharing medications, and learning each others´ languages.

I am eating everything in sight. I guess they say, Feed a Cold? or Starve a Cold? I can´t remember, but I´m taking the first one!!! And, I´m rediscovering my creative side----you can color, draw, and write poetry on the walls here at this Auberge! I´m like a kid in a toystore here, drawing everything and anything, and writing bad poetry in 3 languages and enjoying the warm breeze that flows through the open-courtyard Auberge.

Coffee and Principe "galletas de chocolate", anyone? Panacea.

I´m trying! Buen Camino:)