Last night it was extremely hot in the albergue. We battled to sleep. We were awake by 05:00, had breakfast (bread and cheese) and set off to arrive here by 11:00. We were thinking of pushing on but decided against it. This was the new plan, to rest over two days. So we went for something to drink while we waited for the albergue to open.
After checking in we walked to the beach/lagoon to swim but this was not possible. Back again to the albergue, showered and did the washing of our clothes.
In Spain everything is closed on a Sunday, except for the bars and restaurants. It is almost strange to find everything so relatively quiet.
I reflected on the rule of St Benedict regarding the importance of community, how everything should be done to preserve the wellbeing of the community. Do we do enough in this regard? Whether it is our family community, church community or any other community we find ourselves in, we take it for granted. And then when we are separated from it, we only realise how important community really is.
Maybe it is for this reason that when we meet pilgrims on the road with the same values that we share, we start to form a loose community looking out for one another, try to meet up in the same towns and share the journey together. This is expressed in small gestures like sharing ointment for sore feet or handing a few plasters for blisters. We will hopefully be able to say goodbye, in person when we reach Santiago. As Sarah from Finland said this afternoon, when we finish our pilgrimage in 5 days time, facebook is ok, but it will be better in person.
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