all day yesterday into the late evening i was thinking about papa, and thinking about the idea from the song lyric ´´ speak in ways that i may understand´´.  i even thought of it this morning as i began my day, meditating in the courtyard of the convent of santa maria which houses the albuerge that i slept at.  it is rumored that st. francis of asissi once stayed there.  most of the pilgrims had left so the courtyard was quiet and it was wonderful to just sit in the silence.  it was another absolutely beautiful morning as i began my usual walking and praying and singing.  i came upon alex and catalina as they sat eating a mid morning snack and joined them for a quick bite before walking again, now with the lovely catalina.  we were walking along when we spied some people ahead of us.  catalina knew them.  she said that it was the youngest pilgrim, a young man and woman with their baby.  she said no one knew anything about them because they were very quiet and kept to themselves.  as we passed them, the little girl was toddling along, holding both her parent´s hands, and it was impossible to walk by without admiring her cuteness!  i didn´t know if the parents understood me, but catalina speaks every language beautifully so i thought we must be able to communicate somehow, so i asked what language they spoke.  they responded czech (please forgive me the spelling here).  they looked positively alarmed as i actually did a little jump, saying ´but i am part czech (i know, so you think i´d know how to spell it!), and started babbling about how my grandmother was chzeckoslovakian, and came to america.  the couple by now looks almost sorry that i am talking to them, and they are clearly not the kind of people who jump up and down when they find someone of similar descent.  i try and slow down my english,and tell them that my nana taught me a song and i wonder if they know it.  i start to sing the first couple of lines, and they actually smile, yes, they nod, they know it.  nana taught me that song when i was little, it is a kid´s song, a sort of lullaby, or mother goose type song.  so i asked them if they would be willing to sing it with me so that i could remember all the words, and they DID!!!  so there we were in the middle of nowhere, the three of us singing ´shla na ninka duzaleee, duzalee, duzalee...´´ it was...amazing.  i think the last time i sang that song was at nana´s funeral.   the little baby watched us with her big blue eyes the whole time!  i asked the baby´s name, and do you want to guess what it is...no, really, guess.  i want you to.  in the middle of nowhere, probably the only people from the czech republic who are walking the camino, and possible the only american woman with a chzeck grandmother, what do you think their baby girls´s name is.  annushka!  like MY name!!!!  i turned to catalina, and said, that is my name!  you are hearing all of this, too, right, and she laughed and nodded.  we said goodbye to them , much to this very shy couple´s relief i am sure, and we set off.  i was just so amazed at meeting them, and she said ´´now that was very american of you!  no one else has asked them so many questions, and they just keep to themselves.  only an american could do something like that!´´  maybe only nana could have done something like that. 

the final part of the camino is through a part of spain that was once settled by the celts, so i am hoping that my irish ancestors will ´speak in ways that i can understand´  there.

tonight i am staying in the halfway point of the camino, terradillos de los templarios, the old site of the knights of templar headquarters.  it is interesting that they chose the middle of the camino as thier center, symbolically reinforcing the notion that god is at all of our centers, i am sure.  it is a beautiful, quaint albuerge and we have a home cooked meal to look forward to for dinner.  catalina, alex and i are staying in the same room, a freshly painted room with three real beds in it, that even have s bottom sheet on them along with new, pretty bedspreads.  we all spent the first half hour just lying on our beds saying how this is the nicest albuerge so far!  it has been a wonderful day. 

thanks so much once again to one and all.  your comments and prayers made walking today a great pleasure, and the kilometers passed easily.  we even found three trees to eat luch under, catalina, alex and i all having a tree to lean against.  just as we finished it started to drizzle, so we put on our ponchos but took them off a half an hour later because the rain was so light, and the sun was shining.  catalina says that in rumania when it rains while the sun shines, they say it is a holiday.  it was a wonderful holiday today.

peace and blessings,
anushka