The camino in all of its golden glory. Well Renee and I are SICK. Like really sick. We are currently staying in an Albergue run by nuns, both of us wrapped up in our sleeping bags and huddled by the heater. We've been fighting off this cold for a few days now, but today and yesterday it really hit us. We might be taking a day off tomorrow so I thought I would use this down time to get some blogging done.

One of the things I have really begun to notice is the generosity and kindness shown to the pilgrims on the camino. We've met two people on different occasions in very different circumstances who are doing the camino with out money. They rely only on what people will give them to eat or to sleep, and both people so far have not been found wanting. Free soup or a simple bocadillo (sandwich) is readily available for them and people are more than happy to let them stay the night for free. It's very strange for me to see this because of the attitude we have in America towards people with no money. I can't imagine anyone letting a homeless person off the street stay at their inn, or feeding them even. We have such a negative attitude towards people who ask for help in America, and it's incredibly refreshing to see first hand the generosity of others in such an authentic way. All three of us have experienced this in one way or another, we've received free meals, some hot soup as we pass through a town, tapas when we sit in a cafe etc. But more recently we had the good fortune of meeting Lordes off the street. She is a hospitalera that found us looking for an Albergue in Fromista, she welcomed us into one of the nicest Albergues we've seen this whole trip. The place had a washer, a hot shower, and a kitchen overflowing with food and drink. The abundance was startling at first and I didn't know what to do with that kind of wealth! We ended up just sleeping and taking time to rest, our bodies need time to heal from this cold. But Lordes generosity didn't end there, she knew we had to move on that day because more people were arriving to her place that night and we wouldn't all fit. There is no bus, so we would have had to walk or take a taxi, but instead Lordes called ahead to the next Albergue and gave us a ride in her car. I am so grateful to have met her, we are all so incredibly lucky to have been placed in her path!