Our hosts at the albergue in Almaden were 2 retired women-Betty, who's from Ireland and Valerie, who's from Scotland, but now lives in Spain. We sat around the kitchen table and told stories and they invited me to attend mass with them that evening. As we walked down to the church, the streets were filling with people, revived after the afternoon heat.
The priest read from the book of Ruth, "where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God." And the great commandment from Matthew, "live the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your being and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: you must love your neighbor as you love yourself."
The two are one in the same, they can not be separated. The priest reminded us that the call to love is not just for our nieces and nephews, or spouses or friends, but all others. It is to love whoever needs to be loved. We love one another not through distant third-party charity, but face to face, by actually coming to know one another. Such great love is impossible for us alone, but is dependent on God.
As we walked back, the town was fully alive at night. People road their beautiful gaited horses, with tassels on their bridles, anxious for the roberia that weekend. The noise of the town echoed up to the albergue, the air was still and hit in our room, so there was precious little sleep and a long day ahead.
We packed up very early, around 5:30 and walked the first 10 miles along the highway in darkness. Our headlamps revealed the way forward and alerted the few passing cars, but mostly we walked without. The sky was filled with stars and we discussed how to say "Milky Way" in different languages.
Past the highway, we entered a nature preserve with dry grasses, oaks, and eucalyptus. We saw several and deer and came upon a fox. She quickly skittered across the road, just 5 feet in front of us. We all stopped to marvel at her and watch her scamper across the creek and up up the side of the hill.
Up in the hills today, the air was cooler and the company made the long 29km lighter. We listened to music from Juan's phone and danced "suavemente." In such moments, the world seems suspended and I can't believe I'm really here, really doing this. The last 2 km were steep and slow, exhausting steps, but we were rewarded with a vista of all that we had traveled today.
After much-needed rest at the albergue, I ventured into town-past the old clock tower decorated with more giant nests of storks who had made their home there. I ambled to fountains and the plaza, and stopped in at a cafe. It was the first time I've had WiFi since Sevilla so I could call my family.
Tomorrow I had only planned to go the 14km to Real de la Jara but Diego, Gerard, and Juan are going another 20k on to Monesterio. Their companionship has been such a gift, my body feels fine (only a couple tiny blisters), and with the cooler temperatures I can take me time after the sun comes up. After Real de la Jara, we'll be leaving Andalucia and entering the region of Extremadura.
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