I ended yesterday’s post with some very incriminating information! The hostess at the Hostel León, in the city of León, a city of 130,000 residents, had done a good job of making sure her hostel had every bed filled. The room I was in was no exception — we had six beds, and they were all full. But the incriminating information that I gave you was that she, whether inadvertently or on purpose, had put five women in there with me. Or maybe she actually put me in there with five women!
Four of the women were from South Africa; one was from Hong Kong. They were very kind and friendly. But for a little bit, I thought I was seeing prophecy fulfilled in my life. Because in the Bible, in Isaiah 4:1 it says this: “In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, ‘We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!’” And I thought, here it is — God is using me to fulfill prophecy! But then, I gratefully realized that was not the case!
And before any viral rumors surface, no, the ladies did not take hold of me. But did you wonder what our conversation might have been like last night? Well, even if you did not wonder, let me just tell you. 😂 Our conversation was very interesting. It began with the typical trivial information that we have talked about with pilgrims hundreds of times over the last three weeks. Questions such as: “What’s your name? Where are you from? Where did you walk from today? Where are you going tomorrow?”
All five ladies were actually taking a rest day today, which is fairly common in the city of León. I was the only one who was going to leave in the morning. I hated that, because even though I would try to do so quietly, unavoidably my stirring would awaken them on their rest day. But they were gracious and said that they were pilgrims, and at this point could actually sleep through anything. And I think they did!
After the pleasantries were exchanged, the conversation really got serious. We started talking about the matter of blisters! These poor ladies had experienced firsthand what it was like to have blisters on their feet. One of the ladies even ended up having to go to the clinic.
I have learned a little bit about blister care here over the past three weeks, as information is plastered on the walls of different hostels. I’m not sure that this treatment would be accepted by our medical professionals in our part of the world, but it is here. If a blister has reached a point where it is fluid-filled, they say take a needle and thread, and somehow sanitize it as best as you can - maybe with hand sanitizer. Then put the needle and thread right through that blister. Once the thread is sticking out on both sides of the blister, take the needle off and leave the thread sticking out both sides - up to a day or two - as long as it is necessary. That will allow the blister to drain and will facilitate the healing process. Now again, I don’t know if that would be recommended by your doctor, but it seems to work here.
That’s what the lady was saying the doctor had done at the clinic. But these ladies, without my asking, were excited to show me pictures of their blisters — if you don’t have a strong stomach, you would have probably been down on the floor. It was ugly!
I asked if I could take their pictures, because I was blogging my experience. They got super excited and said, “Are we going to be famous?”
I said, “Don’t hold your breath on that one!”
My South African roommates
I slipped out early this morning and they barely stirred.
Let me tell you about my walk on the Camino today. While I was studying the route last evening, as I always do, I noticed that the official route of the Camino went way north through the city. It was far from a direct route. I understand that pilgrims are a major part of the economy in this area, so they run the trail by hostels and eating establishments and major scenic areas — that makes a lot of financial sense. But when I’m leaving first thing in the morning and know I have a lot of city walking to do, I want the most direct route.
As I studied the city last evening, I came upon a plan that would be perhaps my most aggressive and risk-filled plan yet for a short cut! I have been open with you that some of my shortcuts haven’t always worked out as planned. This particular shortcut would actually take me in the opposite direction of the Camino, because the Camino initially went east before it went north and then west and south, which I thought was ridiculous! The shortcut I envisioned would eventually meet up with the Camino at the western edge of the city of Leon. So I had my plan!
[Editor’s note: This is our artist’s conception of Joe’s shortcut plan.]
Well, when I left the hostel, I had only gone half a block, when some ladies who I would later learn were from South Korea came up to me. With a very heavy accent they said, “Camino?” They were trying to figure out where the Camino was.
I said in Spanish, “Well, the actual Camino is the other direction, but I’m going to go this way and meet up with it later.” But I could see the language barrier completely blocked any form of understanding. They had that blank look on their faces! So I said, “English?” And they lit up and said, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
I began to explain to them how the trail went way around the city and I had a plan to cut off not just two or three blocks, but a whole lot of unnecessary walking. They looked at each other, and I could tell they were a little bit dubious. I just said, “This is what I’m going to do — you do what you want.” And they finally said, “Shortcut?” And I said, “Yes, I hope so.”
So I started walking, and I saw them following me. My pace was a little faster than theirs, so I slowed down because, even though I have felt safe on the Camino, there have been a couple of places in the cities that took me by areas that I felt were a little bit sketchy. On this attempt at a shortcut, I didn’t know what part of the city we would go through and didn’t want them to feel alone in the dark. Every once in a while, I would just stop and let them catch up, and I would show them where we were on my app, and assure them we were headed in the right direction. Well, my idea for the shortcut actually worked this time, and we finally came up to the Camino! I stopped and I showed them on my app; I said, “We’re on the Camino now!” They smiled a huge smile and said, “Thank you, thank you!”
I then went off at my normal pace.
This caused me to think during the rest of my walking today.
By the way, the walk today was not fun! The last several days have been near asphalt roads, but today was the very worst. It was right by a major highway, and truck noise was so loud I finally had to turn off my AirPods because I couldn’t even hear my music. The last two hours, because there were no trees to break the sun, the heat was just brutal.
Noisy Camino
But during the rest of the walk, I kept thinking that those ladies who have never met me trusted me and followed me. Thankfully, I didn’t lead them astray. But that made me realize that all of us in some way have people who follow us. By virtue of my being a pastor, some people trust me enough to follow me. Others of you, because you are a business owner, people trust you and follow you. And it’s funny, but sometimes people have a following because of their good looks. Some people have people follow them because they are the life of the party.
Regardless of who we are or what we do, people follow us.
On this day, on the Camino, when it seemed God gave me an extra measure of joy (perhaps because I felt I had finally turned the corner on this viral respiratory infection and could actually breathe a little bit), I just prayed, “God, don’t let me lead anybody astray!” I hope you will pray the same thing. Remember, there are little eyes that are watching you. There are little ears that are listening to you. But it is not just the little ones. There are adults who will in some way follow us. Let’s make sure we live a life worth following!
Thanks for following me on my walk today!
Oh, by the way - a lady just walked in on me in the bathroom! And I was in the right one this time! (Don’t worry, I was just walking out of the stall.) She was so embarrassed (I understood that!) and said, “Oh, I even just took a shower in here!”😂 So I’m not the only one who struggles with the signage!
¡Buen Camino!
This was the Camino getting out of the city today.
Finally off the asphalt and another glorious sunrise!
Storks love church steeples
Home for tonight
ADDENDUM FOR TODAY FROM FAITH:
As usual, Joe and our girls and I texted throughout the morning today (his evening). He had finished hand washing his dirty clothes and had hung them out to dry. (I think I’m going to have him do our laundry when he gets back!) Then he shared another cool little blessing.
He had just gotten settled in a room with 8 beds when a man arrived who needed an outlet for his CPAP machine. They asked Joe if he would mind switching rooms, because the outlet by the bed they had given Joe was the only one that would work for the machine. Then they upgraded him to this room with 3 beds, and said they would not have anybody else come into this room. So it's basically a private room for the same money. Yay, God! My very light-sleeping husband will hopefully have a good night of rest! (It doesn’t have an outlet, but he had his phone fully charged before bedtime so should be fine.) God loves to favor His kids, even the “old” ones!
Approximate total miles: 560
Approximate miles walked today: 15
Approximate miles remaining: 252