One cr-azy day.

Yesterday was a bit of a weird one. I didn´t have access to the internet, so I spent the last 24 hours mulling over whether I should post this or not.

The day began as we woke up late -- 7:15 a.m. -- in Villar de Mazarife, a super tiny town just past Leon.
The hospitalero there has one brown eye and one blue eye, and a long grey ponytail. I pin him at 62-years-old. His name is Pepe. I met him two years ago on my last camino. During the winter, he is a physiotherapist in Alicante, Spain and during the summer he runs his hostel. I must mention that he is also a spiritual healer.
Last time I visited Pepe, I was in a bad place. He helped me out by talking to me the morning of my departure from Villar de Mazarife (about the passing of my Mom and other things) and also straightened the tendons in my legs where I was experiencing Tendonitis. What a guy.
This time was no different. I have had a crick in my neck for nearly two years. I think it occurred when I checked my blind spot a little too enthusiastically one day. Since then, I haven´t been able to check my blind spot with the same vigor.
So, back to the story. Pepe fixed me up again. He assured me that I was in a much better place than last time he saw me and that we would meet again.
He fed Becky and I some Churros (Google it) and we were on our way.

I was feeling rather peaceful and spiritual on our way out of the town. I popped in the old iPod earbuds and bounced down the street happily.
Here´s when life changed.
I must mention I was listening to the audiobook version of Deepak Chopra´s ¨The Higher Self¨. I was just about out of the town when I hear a big ol´¨HOLA¨come from across the road.
I look to my left to see a (estimated) 50-year-old man mopping the entryway of his home with, well, absolutely no clothes on. Flasher, indeed. I won´t elaborate too much here.
My response? Although I always thought my response to a flasher would be clever and hilarious, all I could muster was a, ¨Hola-ugh!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!¨
I kept on walking and turned around to Becky, who was about 25 feet behind me, and yelled, ¨HEY! Don´t look in there!¨ as I pointed to the guys house.
Luckily for her, the guy had closed the door by then.

So, honestly, the day got better from there. We went to a bar in the next town for coffee. I had been there the last time I did the camino as well, and mentioned to the barkeep that I remembered the kittens he had showed me in his patio two years ago. He responded, ¨If you stick around a few days longer, you might see some more.¨
But what do you know. We stuck around 5 minutes longer, and saw some brand new, baby kitties.
It was a good end to the weirdness.
-J