Monday, March 31, 2003

October 8, 2001
Villafria- Burgos (cold/windy)
5.0m/8.0km - 168.7m/265.2km

We decide to walk this morning and make our way to the refugio on the western edge of Burgos. The refugio is a large cabin set in the middle of a park. When we get there, the refugio office is closed so we eat lunch and wait for it to open. While we are waiting we watch the people walking in the park and soon see T walk into the refugio yard. She has finally caught up with us and we are very happy to see her. After the refugio office opens we drop our packs inside and head back into the city.

Burgos is the home of El Cid and when we reach the center of town we see statutes of him everywhere. There are two kinds of statutes, El Cid as a young man and El Cid as an old man. The young El Cid looks like Charlton Heston in the movie El Cid and the old El Cid looks like Richard Kiley in the musical The Man Of La Mancha. We stop and look at the cathedral where El Cid is buried and then walk over to a Internet Cafe and send e-mails home. J buys us drinks and half way through mine I am lightheaded. Nothing like fresh air, hunger, and weariness to boost the affect of alcohol. After we finish sending our e-mails we split up. J stays at the cafe and B leaves to mail some letters. T and I both agree we have not been warm enough the last two days so we walk back to a sports clothing store we passed on the way to the cafe to see if we can find jackets that will keep us warm. The store is packed with people looking for warmer clothing. It seems this cold spell is not usual this time of year. I buy a fleece jacket, a pair of gloves, a knit cap, and a neck gaiter. T is not sure what to buy and since we have been gone longer than we expected, I go back to the cafe by myself to let everyone know what is happening. When I leave the store I wear everything I bought. Finally, after two day of being slightly chilled all the time, I am toasty warm.

When I get back to the cafe J is sitting at the bar and the second I see him I can tell he is very drunk. He is leaning back the way drunks do when their balance has been affected by to many drinks. He also has a slaphappy smile on his face and is very, very glad to see me. When I first see him he makes me very nervous. I don't like being around drunken men because of my father. Being with my father when he was drunk was like waiting for a bomb to go off. He would start out happy and then drink by drink would move closer and closer to rage and then ultimately explode. There was an aura of danger around my father when he drank and J is confusing to me because I don't sense that danger with him. B shows up and she can see J is drunk and is not very happy about it. We decide to get him out of there.

As we walk down the street I hold on to a fist full of J's jacket to keep him walking in a straight line. We see T walking toward us and when she gets close she asks if J is drunk. I say he is not as drunk as acts and instantly J is not acting as drunk as he was before. When you are drunk you can either slide deeper into it or resist. J is trying to resist it and is now walking without my help. B and I think food is the best thing right now but it is to early for dinner. So the only thing to do is find a bar and order Tapas. T is going to see a movie so we say goodbye and then look around for a bar.

A short time later we find a bar, make dinner out of the Tapas and then walk back to the refugio. When we get there it is dark and we sit on top of a picnic table and look at the stars. J is feeling better and apologizes for being drunk. I tell him he does not have to apologize, he hasn't done anything wrong. I also tell I just have a hard time being around drunk men because of my father. He seems sad, says goodnight to us and goes inside.

After sleeping in hotels for the last two night being back in a refugio with so many people is hard. This one has no heat or hot water and that makes it difficult too. When I climb into my sleeping bag I am wearing most of my clothes and my new knit cap. The bunks have blankets and I wrap mine around me over my bag. As I lay there listening to everyone settle down I think about how much I am looking forward to Leon and another hotel.

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