May 14 and May 15--Two Half Days

If I'm being honest, both of these days felt like half-days.  You know the part in the first Harry Potter book when Firenze, the centaur, tells Harry that anyone who drinks unicorn blood "will live a half-life, a cursed-life"? These days weren't cursed, but they didn't feel like FULL days, probably because I took FAT naps during both of them :D

Anyway, the 14th was a Sunday, so we got to go to church! This was the first time in two weeks that we were in a city which actually had a ward, so we got to go to an 11 a.m. meeting.  You better believe I SLEPT IN on Sunday.  Also, the hotel we were in was NICE! Like man, was it great to be staying THERE for two nights! I woke up, got ready for church, and then went down to the FEAST the this hotel puts out for breakfast.  I'm talking watermelon.  I'm talking mini-croissants. I'm talking literal CHOCOLATE CAKE, and of course the ever-present Cola Cao! But for real, they had the normal spread of salamis and cheese, croissants and fruit, but not only did they have the good fruit (like watermelon and kiwi), but they also had cheesecake, peach and pineapple juice, eggs, sausage and bacon--this place had EVERYTHING!

Originally I wasn't going to take the bus to church and pay the two Euros, but it started raining and I only brought sandals for church shoes (plus Logroño, pronounced Lo-groan-yo, is about as clean as that word sounds cute....), and I didn't want gross city water getting on my nice clean, rested feet.  So I took the bus, and this Spanish chapel had the coolest set-up! The chapel was actually on the second floor along with the nursery, Primary room and kitchen, and there was a huge bank of windows on one side of the building while downstairs they had classrooms and offices.  It was just the cutest chapel set-up--I mean, the missionaries must spend so much free time there 'cause it is SUCH a cool place! 

What can I say other than church was GREAT! This ward is SUPPORTING their new members--the girl teaching class just got baptized in January, and she is so great, the class discussion and lesson were so well done with great comments, and in sacrament meeting, two of the three speakers were converts from the past year! We sang one of our prepared songs which people really liked, and it was just a great way to start Sunday.

AFTER church, you better BELIEVE I took Sunday being "a day of rest" to HEART and proceeded to nap for two hours before getting up, calling my family (happy belated Mother's Day to everybody out there that I didn't personally call on Sunday:)), and then going out in search of food since the rotisserie chicken from yesterday had very few leftovers after I scarfed it down for lunch :-)

The rest of Sunday was just chill--hanging out with other students, calling Gordon, watching Spirited Away, just nice Sunday activities.

Monday on the other hand started out rough.  Our room's climate control was broken, or maybe it was the fact that we were on the seventh floor, but it was HOT in our room all night, and I was SWEATING! On top of that, because we hadn't been hiking, I hadn't been drinking water, and MAN was I dehydrated.  I had a headache too.  And I was rushed for time when I went to breakfast before devotional (and my teacher gave me grief for it even though seven other people didn't even show up), and I didn't want to be late because today we were scheduled to hike 18 miles, and I didn't want to be late getting off!

I would give the actual walk a 9/10.  Our feet and legs were rested, and the group of girls that I was with was CRUISING! But the scenery for the walk was 3/10--we walked on a path twenty feet from the highway most of the time, and when we walk into and out of cities, there is always this industrial/warehouse district area we have to pass through which is kind of a drag.  Once we got out of the city and about 100 feet from the highway, it was better.  We went through this big park at the edge of Logronño that had cat fish and funny looking ducks and squirrels, but there were definitely fewer rolling hills and sprawling fields of farmland this time around which, if nothing else, makes me appreciate the Camino when we are in the wilderness a little bit more.  We met a sweet, big farm dog who let us pet him through the bars, and today I relieved myself for the sixth time in the wild--when you gotta pee and there ain't no WC (water closet since the English-speaking country closest is England), a big ol' bush will do JUST fine.

Also, funny side story about WCs.  The Spanish don't call them baño (bathroom), but instead call them aseo (pronounced a-say-o).  The first day on the Camino, I see this office for ecology and we walk in.  One of the guys I was walking with asks for "un sello" (sello being pronounced say-o)--he was asking for one of the stamps--and the lady gestures towards a door next to her.  After he hesitates, she opens it up and shows us a bathroom.  Anyway, funny story.

But we made really good time on the hike and got in just under 18 miles in about five and a half hours.  After ANOTHER very long nap, washing my clothes, washing myself and talking to my parents, it was about time for dinner, then some homework and bed.  So there you have it! We are staying in this town (Najera) for two days since tomorrow we will be visiting nearby monasteries, so we'll see how it goes!