It happens to us all at some point on the Camino. That point when you hit the wall and you just don’t have any more to give. When you’ve covered more miles than you should have and your body is breaking down. I had covered two back to back 20 mile days starting at 6:30am with very short breaks (by my standards) I ditched my very fun Camino Family #3 and decided to book a room. I could barely put one foot in front of the other. The fatigue was overwhelming.
When I arrived at the auberge the lobby was maybe 8′ x 2′ with a big monster size dog taking up most of the room. A 20 something walker squeezed into the lobby with me to announced she wasn’t staying there, she just wanted to see the dog. She kept repeating to the dog in a high pitched voice, “You are so stinky” Why, I thought, are you hanging here then? I waited patiently for the manager to finish with the pilgrim sitting in the folding chair so there would be enough room to place my backpack down. Finally the manager turned to me to say that he had called me and had decided to give my room to another. They were now completo (no more space). I just stared into space. Meanwhile, the girl asked the manager to take her picture with the stinky dog while I digested the fact I had no where to stay that night. I couldn’t move and I tried to control it but two huge crocodile tears welled up over my lids and poured onto my cheeks with a flood of tears close behind. The manager panicked and moved me into the corner with my back to the door. He felt so bad that he offered to put a cot in the lobby with the stinky dog. My tears wouldn’t stop and my shoulders simply bobbed as my silent crying continued. My hands were covering my eyes but I pulled them down to turn and look at the hippie couple who were arriving and whose room he hadn’t given away. But I didn’t see the couple. I only saw the donkey they were traveling with poking his head into the lobby and taking up the entire doorway. And then it hit me. I wasn’t on the Camino after all. I was staring in a Fellini movie.
Today’s post is dedicated to Nina who is in architectural college in Kenya. She is creative and determined and a natural leader and so very much fun to spend time with.
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