did we walk 60km?

yesterday as anna and i shouldered our packs and walked out of león, we passed a small man who pointed to a sign on the wall of a building that said "santiago de compostela 350km." tonight, outside of the restaurant where we ate our pilgrim´s meal we saw a sign that said "santiago de compostela 290km." anna and i agree on this fact: we have not walked 60km. we have walked about 37km since beginning--i´m not sure of exact km to mile conversions but you all have calculators and we are estimating about 20 miles. knowing me, thats some distance.

we followed the alternative route out of león, which meant walking a little farther, but also meant not walking along the highway. this was probably a good decision, for scenic reasons, or at least it seemed so for a the first hour. around this point we realized the scenery was not going to change anytime soon. it was hot yesterday, beyond hot, and there was no shade. by the time we stopped for lunch around quarter of noon, i had already drunk 2 liters of water and was still thirsty. here on the mesesta of spain, the first thing you feel is the heat and the sun, but the second is the thirst. towns appear as shimmering mirages on the horizon, little red tiled roofs peeping out over the top of the next hill. as they grow in the distance, you begin to hope wildly that they are the town you have planned to stop in or stay in because your feet are aching and in my case (anna seems fine) your blisters are killing you and every step begins to feel like its own private agony. meanwhile, the sun just gets hotter and hotter.

today was doubtless better than yesterday. we didn´t have to walk through an industrial park to get out of town and into the countryside, and we managed to do all of our walking in the morning on paths that took us through cultivated fields and shade (thankfully!). nonetheless my feet were hurting horrificially by the time we arrived in hospital de orbigo, and after some frustration getting into town itself (a wrong turn took us into some weird field for about 3o minutes, which feels like hours when all you want to do is get into town, but before long we were walking across the famous bridge in town over a "river" (translation: dried up stream) and on our way to a little oasis. there is a garden in this albergue and the church next door smells like gardinias because some little old lady fills them all the vases everyday. the courtyard is cobbled and sweet, and anna and i spent most of the afternoon in deep conversation with two canadian woman, named oddly enough eleanor and anna. we both got accidently sunburned, but otherwise had a delightful afternoon and evening in the company of two women who could easily be our mothers (they both have children my age or older).

this is what is most incredible about this journey: we are some the youngest people on the camino and in many ways have little in common with those around us, many of whom we can only communicated in vague pointing gestures and simple words, and yet we all share this experience of being tired and worn out and yet somehow more alive for the whole experience.

its someone else´s turn to use the computer, so i´ll sign off. 19km tomorrow!

besos.