Where was I...?

I think we were talking about how I am being forced into getting better at my Spanish, because I have to actually wait on people here at the bar. It gets less terrifying every day, mainly because people are so nice, but it´s still nerve wracking.

I think it´s also hard for me because I actually like waiting on people; I like asking how they´re doing, where are they travelling from, how´s their day going...i can´t really do any of that yet, ´cause I can barely understand what folks are saying when they are ordering water from me.

Part of the problem too, is that I am in Northern Spain..way Northern Spain..about 15 miles from the French border, Northern Spain; and so people here speak ¨Catalan¨- which , I was told in no uncertain terms today, is not Spanish...it´s Catalan. Okay, got it. And it´s actually more closely related to French and German than it is Spanish, according to those who told me so. They have a lot of similar words, but some very different ones as well, and the pronunciation of even the same words is realy different. So...my ear has a hard time hearing Spanish all the way through, so when someone comes and spews Catalan at me...I´m lost pretty fast.

But...you know, it goes okay and people are patient and sweet, and so I´m learning two languages instead of one. Bueno. It is exhausting though, and I just lost my English speaking companion, Alexi, who left today. Angela, from Spain is here now, and doesn´t speak much English...so..I get a lost frequently throughout the day and it´s tiring.

Anyway, so, we work until about 12:30-1:00 and then head down to the kitchen to make lunch. And really, you never know what´s going on until you get down there. Yesterday we had to prepare salads for the family that was hanging out here all day, and we did that before we had our lunch. Today we ended up getting a couple of hotel guests, so we prepared a nicer lunch than we normally would have and ate family style with them. That´s wierd to me...I can´t imagine checking into a hotel and then eating with the owner and the staff...but, it all seems like business as usual here, so we´ll have them dining with us for the next couple of days.





Which means I sit there like a beached trout while everyone is telling stories in Catalan.

Anyway, after lunch we do another 3 hours of work. Today it was cleaning up after lunch, doing a lot of watering, cleaning up a couple of the hotel rooms and chasing the two horses that showed up, back into their pasture on the other side of the river.

We then have a break for about three hours and then meet back in the kitchen to prepare dinner. It´s a good day...long, but not fast paced at all. I love working in the garden, weeding and watering. There´s always plenty to do and the work is really peaceful.



So I´ve been here a week now..and I´m starting to finally settle in a little it seems. My jet lag is past me, thank goodness and I´m starting to sleep through the nights again..I can pick out a few more words and verb tenses than I could a week ago, which is excellent, and I´m getting ready to leave here in about ten days to hit the trail which I am really excited about.

Because I´m so close to France, I´ll be taking the train through that country to get to my starting point on the Camino (St. Jean Pied-de-Port) on the French side of the Pyranees. I´m also going to stop off for couple of days in France - one day to check out the neolithic cave art, which I can´t believe I´m that close to (I´ve always wanted to see those cave paintings, and they are less than 100 miles from me), as well as take a night and see the city of Toulouse, which I hear is amazing.

Anyhoo...that´s all for now...pretty straight forward stuff. Miss sending you guys photos, but I´m sure they´ll show up down the road.

Lots of love. Thanks Joe and Big G for writing comments! Glad to hear from you both!