After traveling since 8:30 a.m. we finally reached the Aubergue at 6 p.m.and got a bunk bed in a room with roughly 100 other people. I foolishly thought I'd be able to go to bed and get some much needed shut-eye around 9pm but nope - the room swarmed with people zipping, buckling and velcro-ing backpacks, people snoring loudly, people slamming doors, flushing toilets, shouting, arguing, and talking on their cell phones, and hanging their laundry on every surface possible.
As I lay there with a pillow over my head and an earplug stuffed in my non-infected ear, unable to muffle the cacophony, I thought: what have I gotten myself into!?!?! The thought of quitting did enter my mind just then. I recently struggled through 2 intense years of school - maybe I should have gone to Puerta Vallarte and lain on a beach instead of spending lots of euros only to subject myself to masses of smelly humanity and the grueling slog of 20 km a day walking.
SO.... Just in case you got the impression that this blog is going to be another social media platform full of fake smiles and rainbows... It's not! The Camino is already challenging me pretty intensely and my dad has already asked my mom to pray for him to know how to handle me. Hopefully we can paint a realistic-ish picture here of both the highs and lows (and in-betweens) of this journey.
Today I woke up (well, more like I was woken-up by volunteers turning on the lights in the dorm singing Alleluia - for reals) and I told dad "I'll give it a week". After walking all day in the rolling mountains and hills of the Spanish Pyrenees, I think I'm back on board with this (slightly crazy) trek.
We did it!! Our first day on the Camino - Roncesvalles to Zubiri! 21km :D
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