May 13--Logroño

Today was our longest hike yet, coming in on Strava at just under 18 miles.  I have to say, although I am sore and my joints are a little stiff, the most pain near the end of these long hikes comes from my feet.  You know that tiredness you get when you are waiting in line at the amusement park forever? It's like that, but like, even worse.  But otherwise, the hike was great! I got another two credencial books which is good because I am almost out of spots for new sellos, I had fun walking partners, there weren't TOO many hills, and it wasn't too warm or too cold today.

Honestly, because the hike was so long, we didn't have a ton of time to do anything else today.  It was also an especially long hike because four miles in, we all met up as a group to stop and see this church (which is where I ended up getting my new credenciales).  It was pretty old and probably built by the Knight's Templar (based on the octagonal shape), but like I always say, if you've seen one Knight's Templar church, you've seen them all :) The one unique thing I liked about this church was that it had really fantastic acoustics.  Because it was pretty small, when we sang, it didn't take a lot of volume to get a great balance in the space which just made for a sweeter sound--no one was forcing volume and messing with tone.  But, because we all met there after the first four miles of the hike, we added an extra hour to our regular travel time, making us come in around 3 p.m. instead of 2 p.m.  And that was with us being the FIRST people from our group to come in.  Some of the students and professors didn't get in until as late as 4:30 which is pretty rough.  We didn't have any church tours or dinner tonight though, so it was a more chill schedule.

It was fun that for lunch/dinner (or as we in the Kennedy household call it linner), one of the kids found this chicken place.  Some of the students, after walking there, decided they didn't want that food, so they were all talking about different places to go, but I honestly was too tired and hungry to go anywhere else.  I took one look at those rotisserie chickens, and another girl and I said we can SPLIT that! I've noticed that in this group there are certain people who say they don't have an opinion when it comes to food, but they actually do, and instead of just making a decision and either getting food or looking for another place, they sit there planning to get other food but take FOREVER to actually do it.  After the long hike, a shower and washing my clothes, I was just ready to EAT, and this place had GOOD portions, so I just ordered and waited for the food to come rolling in! My roommate and I decided that we would split the meal which included salad, half a chicken for each of us, bread, and a 2-liter to split.  For 20 euros, that seemed like a STEAL to me, and it WAS! Holy SMOKES, that food was GOOD, and there was a LOT of it! My mom has been pushing for me to eat more protein since I've been here, and with half a chicken, I sure got it today! 

On that note, I've taken note of some cultural norms and friendliness when it comes to ordering food.  Unlike in the States when it comes to ordering food (especially at a counter), you don't wait for the person behind the counter to acknowledge you in Spain, but instead you just start ordering.  The faster and more concise you are when ordering, the more they like you.  I don't know if it's because you are spending money or if it's because they aren't going to wait around for you, but when you take charge and order in a fast and concise manner, people in food service all of a sudden get WAY nicer.  These norms are especially prevalent when we are in large groups as a study abroad ordering.  It's quite an ordeal! I get even more brownie points with the food service workers ESPECIALLY when I am contrasted with the other students in my group, usually getting called cariño (kind of like sweetie, or sweetheart in English) and being able to ask for just about anything.  But it has been really useful in learning how to earn some quick bonus points in the eyes of the Spanish when I go into a fast-food style place :-)

Other than those things, really the walk was just chill, and most of the rest of the day has been spent eating and resting.  A couple of the other students and I started watching The Truman Show yesterday, and we finished it tonight which was a good way to unwind.  My roommate and I went and bought snacks/prepared food for tonight and tomorrow, and we all just limped together in a loose hoard around Logroño, the city where we are staying for the next two nights.  One interesting observation--all of the towns we have passed through have been up to a certain standard--really clean and just generally nice--but Logroño is definitely moving into the rougher side of Spain.  Would I describe it as scary? No, not really, but it is a lot more dirty, has a lot more graffiti, and is way less inviting and charming than a lot of the other cities we've been in.  It DID have some cool graffiti as we were walking into the city though--like some good stuff--AND they have a cool shell symbol (the one that marks the Camino) which isn't the same as the normal yellow and blue shell we've seen so far :-)