I Don´t Know What Day We Are On!

Wow, i think it´s been about five days since i´ve been able to write and very hard to remember each day where we´ve been or what happened but i´ll give it a try. i don´t have time to reread what i wrote last because pilgrims are waiting to use the one available computer at the albergue. when leaving rabanal del comaino we headed to moleneseca (July 8th); soon on the road as we were climbing up to a road a photographer was waiting for us (Beatrice-photographer for olympus) and wanted to take our pictures. they gave her a new camera to try out on the camino; pictures might be available sometime on olympus photographers diary. when coming to into a villiage that was at the end of a very difficult day of descending rocks jutting up from every angle. at the very last step (of course) i told nicole to watch where she was going because she just mentioned her knees were aching when....i stepped down and my foot took off from underneath me, hitting my face into a rock and then the funny part...my pack rolled me over and i couldn´t get up. nicole reached out her hand to me and i said just a sec...okay...i got up and couldn´t stop laughing; in fact we both laughed very hard all the way into town. sometimes you just have to be there. we arrived in ponferrada also on the 8th and discovered a festival which we stayed for but nothing ever really happened while we were there; we did manage to spot a tex-mex restaurant where i had a margarita...LIFE IS GOOD. i don´t have much time, i´ll share some moments inside an albergue as evening approaches:a young guy just put on some sort of menthal creme which really smells and then he starts coughing. an older couple below his bunk and next to him offier him a throat losenge. plastic bags rustling, zippers opening and closing on packs, whispering, sleeping bags rustling, a dorr to the room opens and closes often, things going in and out of a pack, cell phone lights come on, 26 beds squeezed into a tiny second floor room. the old man yells something at everyone and gets up and slams the door shut. i get down from my upper bunk to give the old couple ear pugs-he must not want to use them because they are still talking loud and trying to control the group with the sounds that are going on in the room. two high windows are open one at each end of the room letting in a nice breeze and maybe taking some pilgrim smells along with the breeze. someone is already snoring. the old man is very agitated when someone opens the door even if quietly because it isn´t closed all the way. the woman next to me was with us in our albergue last night (she and her friend were quite noisy leaving this morning) , she is texting a message, tap..tap...tap. the trees (poplar?) are blowing in the wind, it might be chilly in the morning. nicole was already in bed when a young guy came in and said her bed was his-she had to move-luckily someone had just vacated another bed. more people coming into the room, same noises, the old man upset. it is 10:32 pm....GOOD NIGHT ahhhh, the night life of a pilgrim. yesterday we had a very difficult climb into o´cebreiro, very difficult and were exhausted when we got there, but the view breathtaking almost a 360 degree view. there is a cross that stands alone on a hill above o´cebriebo where pilgrims pound coins into crevices of the wood. i put a coin in and said a prayer for many people in my life. need to get going so i´ll be quick. it´s difficult to type when everyone wants to use the computer. maybe i better quit. i´ll write more soon, only 5 more days until Santiago! then another 3 days walk to Finisterre. to be continued...i read so many e-mails today and cried, thank you for sharing your lives with me, you have no idea what it means. SWEET DREAMS....Know that we are okay, aches and pains are gone. speaking of which, awhile ago i mentioned many aches and pains in a blog...this was only to let everyone know what goes on with us...the good and the not so good, they were just a couple of days...don´t think this is what we feel on a daily basis, right now we are just dog dead tired...we´ve been walking a very long time. LIFE IS GOOD. Love to all, AriZona