I first saw her three days ago. I had just descended the mountain before her. She was struggling up the hill to The Albergue, near tears, and slumped down hard: her pack hitting the wall behind her. She looked at me and we nodded. She was from Spain and my simple Spanish would not work (all I really know is “where is the bathroom, cafe con leche grande please, and simple greetings.

She pulled her socks off and her feet were a brilliant red. I wanted to get her a wash basin of water, do something! Instead, I sat by her and we tried to talk about how hard that day was. 

I thought about her today and wondered if she made it. To my surprise, late this afternoon, she came panting up the hill, and we both exclaimed, “hola!!!”  It was as if we had known each other for years. 

She and I laughed throughout dinner trying to communicate through jesters and noises. She ends her Camino in Pamplona tomorrow. We are sharing a room and laughing because I have a translater on my iPhone and we were trying to talk each other. 

It’s after lights out and we were told to be quiet: quite sternly, which only made us laugh harder!! What a drastic change from last night: where I felt so lonely.

Camino friends.