so here i am in lorca,on the world´s stickiest keyboard, but since no one else is around i am able to really catch you up on where i have been.  a funny thing happend here.  first of all, let me mention that i had to get over 2 things before i could stay here.  one was my ambitious self, pushing myself to walk on to estella, where lydia and her team are sleeping tonight and where the guidebook recommends as a good walking distance for the day.  i have this sort of competetiveness about it, like if that´s the way the guiebook says, i ought to be able to do that and more!  second of all, many, if not all of the people i have been walking with are probably staying in estelle tonight, and i would love to be with them.  i have already made acquaintances or friends with many of them- yin soor, the frenchmen, and, of course, manfred! - and feel like they are my walkingmates.  i don´t know this crop of pellegrinos, or at least that is what my critical part of my head is saying.  and yet, i recalled that just a few day ago, i didn´t know any of those pellegrinos either.  so i entered the albergue here just knowing that i would find new friends.  sure enough, i am in a room with anna, a brazilian girl just graduated frmo university who is as lovely and funny as can be.  we have just been laughing and laughing.  and jos ramon is the name of the young man (early 20s at most) who is running the cafe and albergue.  this story involves jose ramon. 

i got here mid afternoon and was drawn by the sign saying ´free internet´outside the door and the sign saying ´limonadas natural - fresh lemonade´ inside.  i asked him if it was okay to use the iternet even though i wasn´t sure if i would stay there tonight and he said fine.  so as you know, i have been typing away.  after a while we chatted again and i told him that my knees were hurting and that is why i had stopped  he brought me ice packs for both knees, and after about an hour i decided i would not walk the 8 more kilometers to estella, but would stay here.  he rought my pac to my room where i met anna, had a hot shower and washed my clothes.  i hadn´t washed anything at eunate because it had been so cold.  hadn´t even taken a shower (i am telling you i would definitely win quien es....) so i was a day behind.  a day behind in washing on the camino basically means you have no more clean clothes.  since there was an actual hot shower here, i did all my clothes and hung them out to dry.  (imagine my dismay a few minutes ago when i went to pull them off the line and nothing - NOTHING - is dry!!!)  anyway, anna told me there is a supermercado just down the street so i decided to get some food for tomorrow.  i walked there, partly downhill ·UGH· and picked out some nuts to add to my oatmeal packet i still have for breakfast.  then, i realized i had forgotten to bring my money.  Arrrgh!  so i walked back, and was telling jose ramon, kind of laughing, and feeling like, oh well.  he thought for a moment and said, ´do you want to take my car´, holding up his car keys.  i was amazed, and declined, saying that i didn´t know all the rules here (even though it is just down the street and a little ways on the main road).  he paused for a moment then said ´i will take you´ and grabbed his keys and started for the door.  i went with him, amazed again at how nice people have been to me.  we went down the road, and where we turn on to the main road there is a stop sign, which jose ramon drove right through.  ´see, in my country we stop at those´i said to him.  ´oh yes, here too, but i am anarchist.´he said.  i got the nuts, got back safely, and am still laughing over it.
he made me a great meal of salad, pasta, strawberries over yogurt for dessert with 2 glasses, one full of water and the other full of wine.
life is very good, and i know that this rest has been good for my knees.  also, it was good for me to overcome my blind ambition and stop even though i hadn´t gone as far as i thought i would.  i may ice my knees one more time before sleeping.  right now, i am off to my room to chat and laugh with anna.
peace and blessings-
a
ps-i have been totally spoiled by being able to blog so much today.  don´t know when that will happen again, but so glad i could share the special and funny things that have been going on here ..   love to you all-a