May 18--Music

Wow, what a day! A beautiful walk, good sellos, and good people! First off, if you want to know how to say something in Basque, here are a few phrases I have learned:

  • Osso Ondo -- very good
  • Agur--good buy
  • Arre Arte--nice to meet you
We met these people from Basque Country, and they spoke perfect Spanish, but they also spoke Basque, so this lady taught us a couple of phrases which was SO COOL! We also met this guy today who was outside of his house in one of the towns we passed.  His name was Angel, he was born in 1935, and we just talked to him for a bit.  In his town, there are exactly 25 people and one church that meets every 15 days for Mass because there are so few people that they can't have Mass every week.  Isn't that crazy?! Other than that, the hike was pretty ordinary  Most of the towns were completely closed up when we passed through (because who needs to get up before noon, am I right?) but we stayed in a cute town today, and MAN did we get a good inn.

The inn had INSTRUMENTS to play! No violin sadly, but there were two guitars, and they actually weren't half bad! Like really, they were pretty good! So as SOON as I had checked in, I left my credencial at the desk, told my friends to get it stamped and went over to the guitar.  I played a few songs and most of the group I had come in with sat down afterwards, and we just chilled in the lobby for a good 15-20 minutes while I played.  It felt good to just decompress for a second.  Also, side note, this was the CUTEST downstairs--it had a little raised section probably ten feet wide, like it could be considered a stage--and it had a keyboard, two guitars, and fun little cushions and bean bag chairs.  Then the rest of the room had a kitchen in the corner and several chairs and tables which just gave off a great chill vibe.  We went to find a quick lunch (and I visited the tourism office before it closed at 2 pm. for a GIANT sello that they had for this town).  One of my roommates, Ashlyn, also plays guitar, so while I went to shower and wash my clothes, she had already beelined it downstairs and was jamming out.  I was seriously so happy to play music again! I was giddy the whole afternoon.  



It was such a needed experience for several reasons:

1.  Decompression.  Playing music is a way for me to unwind.  I center myself and just let my mind relax but still have something to focus on.
2.  I got to know Ashlyn better, and it was so fun to swap notes about the guitar, play for each other, and sing together.  At one point, my usual roommate, Emilee, came down, and we did a bunch of different songs, just playing and harmonizing, and it was seriously SO FUN!
3.  I got to help someone else by playing music.  The guy who owns the inn and who checked us in was ALSO the one who made us dinner, so from 4:30-7:00, he was cooking dinner for us, and the whole time, Ashlyn, Emilee and I are there playing and singing, and I can see why he has instruments.  He likes to hear music, and he puts those there so people will come play them and he can listen while getting dinner ready.  I don't know if it really was a way to serve him as he was making us literal DINNER, but maybe?

But for real, Emilee, Ashlyn, and I were just jammin'.  Was it 100% perfect? No, but it was really fun anyways, and it was a great bonding and relaxing experience.  As we were playing, the guy started rearranging the cafe area and made basically a giant table that we realized was for dinner! I have to admit, I did not eat dinner tonight for myself.  I ate it for the guy that cooked it.  It was pasta and seafood for the appetizer, fish for dinner, and custard for dessert.  Admittedly, the custard was DELICIOUS, but I have discovered that seafood activates my gag reflex pretty easily, but having witnessed this guy work tirelessly for several hours on our dinner, I shoveled stuff in, washing it down with Lemon Fanta and grape juice for good measure.

After dinner included more music, this time in the form of requests from members of the group.  We sang Home by Philip Phillips in a giant group, and for the inn keeper, we sang Hallelujah which actually was really beautiful, and we ended the night with Long, Long Time by Linda Ronstadt.  The inn keeper gave us some really good advice tonight.  He told us that starting tomorrow, the Camino really begins, because it is the first time we will have nothing to listen to but the sound of our feet along the way.  He said it is the first real day of the journey.  I don't know if I'm writing it very well, but it was actually super inspirational and made me really excited to maybe get into some contemplative thought tomorrow.

Man, I love music.  Today was so nice, and I feel so refreshed for tomorrow.  I'm so happy.  Music is such an amazing thing that brings people together.  Thank goodness it has always been a part of my life.

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