Day 089s: Cast away by Carmen … (July 12, 2019)
I flowed quite smoothly into Poblacion and found the Municipal Gite completely empty. I had been told to check in with Carmen (the same hospitalera who had told Gabriel back in Fromista that I would be welcome here) at the nearby hotel but she was not in, so I headed back up to the hostel proper to shower and wash my clothes and cook the spaghetti & tomato sauce that Anita had given me for dinner. After relaxing for a bit I headed back down to the hotel to check in officially, to thank Carmen in person for allowing me to stay, and to see about getting a hostel stamp in my travel journal. I waited awhile in the lobby of the hotel and then Carmen’s husband came out and gave me the desired stamp. Carmen herself the came out shortly thereafter and proceeded to be shockingly unkind & even blatantly disrespectful (?!?) – condescendingly listening to me explain the hows & the whys of my Peace Walk and then aggressively telling me that I would have to work off my ‘debt” for being able to stay with them (?!?). I didn’t have the linguistic ability to explain to her in Spanish that I have actually already been ‘working for her’ (and the rest of humanity) for the past 88 days, much less explain that I would work for her for free without question, but not as any form of ‘rent’ or payment. I tried once more to relay an abbreviated tale of my Walk – thinking that she might not have comprehended the sincerely Loving Objectives of the same, and yet she only continued scoffing at the same quite openly. So I simply paused mid-telling, smiled at her gently, thanked her for the (unwitting) hospitality that she had already shown me, and headed out the door – back up the road to the hostel, where I packed up all my belongings, and then back out onto The Road and into the growing evening gloom …
“People can be illogical, unreasonable, and even mean. Love them anyway … If you do good, some will accuse you of having selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway … Honesty and sincerity and kindness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and sincere and kind anyway. Some will receive your caring and reject it or ridicule it. need help but may attack you if you do help them. Be caring anyway … Give the world your best and you’ll sometimes get kicked in the teeth. Give the world your best anyway.” ~ via Kent M. Keith
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