Entries this day: Breakfast Camera Gin_in_Victoria_Euskadi Karina Old_quote YRUU zzzzz

Breakfast

1:34pm CDT Sunday 8 September 2002

This morning, Gem (ROB) and I (Marta) eagerly awaited our breakfast in bed. Since I've been rather sick lately, Cherub and Dale (my two best friends from karate) called Friday volunteering to come make us whatever we desired for Sunday breakfast. I requested a Mexican burritto with eggs, Cheddar, veggie sausage and salsa. ROB felt awkward allowing my peeps, whom he's only met a few times, to wait upon him hand and foot. But Cherub (AKA Chucky) explained this was her way of both caring for "My Marta" and showing ROB her appreciation for his waiting on me hand and foot over the past week plus. He accepted and ordered homemade blueberry pancakes.

Chucky and Dale said they'd be at my apt. by 9:00 to start, but were delayed until 10:45. To pass the time, ROB and I (ordered to stay in bed) played "the Jackie Purdy game". I should mention that I am still the undefeated champion of JPG, even having played several times now with JP herself. :-) When they finally showed up, they forgot that we were leaving the door unlocked and knocked. We screamed for them to come in, but my bedroom is in the back. Finally, ROB crawled out of bed in his undies to crack the door open and run back. I giggled as he not-so-sneakily attempted this. Before long, he also had to "powder his nose" (as I say), so he ran to the bathroom door across from the kitchen. Chucky, making her way to visit my sick ass in bed, was taken quite aback hardly knowing ROB and not expecting their "brief encounter". She blushed and covered her eyes first with her hands, then the bedsheet. "Hide your shame, Gem!" I screamed towards him as he returned. "Hide your shame!" Although he tried to stretch a t-shirt, inevitably the commotion brought Dale running around the corner, "Shame? What shame?" But, ROB was back under the sheets and Chucky off to fetch more pancakes.

We taught them the game and, although neither felt comfortable singing in public, we all had a great time. Eventually, Chucky turned it into the Movie game where each gives a quote and the rest guess the movie. While ROB and I waited for our 12:00 breakfast, Chucky and Dale could be heard screaming at each other in the kitchen like a cranky, old married couple. Gem has pointed out that it was more of Chucky screaming at Dale, amusing considering he is a second-degree black belt. Because we kept receiving orders to "Get back in bed!", Chucky began bringing chunks of pancakes to hand feed us just as it was our turn to sing (still playing JPG, of course). Finally, all four camped out on my bed, picnic style. Thanks, guys. It was pointed out to us that although ROB requested the pancakes, he ate his burritto first. And I, who requested the burritto, started with the pancakes. We both concurred that we were saving the best for last. We played the Movie game for a while longer, long enough for me to learn that I'm much better at storing songs in my head. Then Chucky entertained us with a good amount of the Princess Bride (5 mins. worth) she knows by heart.

Dale did the dishes (Chucky's orders) as ROB, Chuck and I spread out for a nap. Eventually, Dale joined us and was the only one to sleep while Chucky and I reminisced and joked around with Gem. Although we were all quite comfortable and wanted to stay and really take a nice nap, ROB and I were running late for an appointment in Plano. Hugs and kisses goodbye (mostly me and Cherub... we're close!), then off.

Camera

2:35pm CDT Sunday 8 September 2002

Chillin' at Best Buy, in line now to get my camera examine by the tech guys so they can be all, "yup; it doesn't work" and then I cna get a new camera. :-) I'm glad I got the four year guarantee on it when I purchased it. Good $60 well spent.

2:50pm

Pooh. This ain't Walmart or Target where I can just get the shit exchanged in two seconds. They will send it far away and it should be replaced/repaired by 28 September. Pbbltt. I shoulda taken it in sooner. Ah well.

I gave them Bibby's address for shipping.

- - - -

Ah; I know why I was surprised. When I brought my handspring visor in, I was able to get it replaced immediately.

Gin in Victoria Euskadi

5:10pm CDT Sunday 8 September 2002

From: my friend Gin from my YRUU days
Date: 8 Sep 2002 18:08:13 +0000
Subj: Gin in Victoria, Euskadi

Hello Luckies, I hope this day finds you happy and healthy.Ê

ÊÊÊÊ ÊI am feeling well, and free.Ê I think I stuck with the pilgrims
about 3 nights and 4.5 days.Ê I walked south westerly with them as far
as i could stand before heading back into the hills with my compass
and a wish.Ê It was fun, the intense togetherness. i learned some
Catalan, Italian, Brazilian, and for the first time since
understanding french, spent some time with an older generation of
french people and loved their subtle jokes and comments about the
spanish, themselves,Êand everyone else.Ê Too many people for me
though.Ê I like the lone wolf feeling.Ê Off the trail i went into the
sierra.Ê The country peopleÊin theÊBasque land are really...Ê words
fail me again... nice?ÊSomething further than that, but they are
amused to see someone walking around with a back pack, unlike the
villages along the "camino", where i got theÊfeeling the locals
thought anything with a backpack was kin to a rabid rat.

ÊÊÊ ÊÊÊI found myself crossing 3 sierras the other day, so happy and
taking pictures of myself with the basque flag (iÊwas gifted by a
local along the route) onÊmountain tops.Ê I was also gifted a map, in
100% Euskera (theÊancient language of the Basques).ÊThe towns have
Basque names and Castilian (Spanish)Ênames.Ê In general, the Basques
resent with fury being a part of spain.ÊÊMy map is all in Basque, a
language that is as farÊout as Hungarian, orÊFinnish.Ê I love it and
haveÊhad a fascination with it since i first heard of it.Ê On the top
of my 3rd sierra some nights ago,Êi planted my tent.Ê It was over 1000
meters to the bottom of the sierra and the night was falling.Ê I saw
the cow patties.Ê Up with the tent, it was cold and the wind was
blowing.Ê I crawled in my sleeping bag and the spectacle began.Ê First
one cow.Ê They all had big cow bells on... then another bell,
andÊanother.Ê All sniffingÊand probably wondering what theÊhell kind
of creature could look like my tent.Ê I once was camping in the
Wichita mountains in Oklahoma, and in the middle of the night a herd
of Buffalo walkedÊby and we were left untrampled.Ê I remembered that,
andÊthought that i feared not so much as to worry that a cow would
want to cuddle or worse... so with about 20 cows immediately outside
my tent sounding like a Tibetan concert i fell asleep.Ê When i woke
up, they were so far away it was silent.Ê The next morning i woke up
and in my pokey morning routineÊgreeted the cowsÊthat were smart
enoughÊnot to sleep on the top of that mountain. ÊI eventually started
down the mountain.Ê The view was spectacular.Ê

ÊÊÊÊ ÊAbout an hour or three into the hike i went into a village,Ê met
an old woman that pointed out where the water fountain was that did
not contain the "shit chlorine" that they are forcing upon them in
their houses.Ê Unlike France, the small Spanish villages do not have
pay phones or little stores.Ê They have bread trucks with obnoxious
horns that sound as they roll in with fresh bread.Ê I left my back
pack by the fountain and went to get half of a loaf of fresh bread
(baguette).Ê There was a little blonde headed boy chewing on a piece
of bread, his beautiful mother not far behind.Ê He followed me back to
the fountain, and his mother and iÊbegan to talk.ÊÊShe asked me where
i was from and when she said "oh, Americana..." it must have been the
look on my face, cause she said, "yea, i know, we BasquesÊfeel the
same way when we say we are from the Basque land and people sayÊ'oh,
Spanish'..."ÊÊ I asked her about the history of the village.Ê There
are 14 families that live in the village, 4 of them speak Euskera.ÊIn
1982 when they were renovating the church, they discovered paintings
from possibly the 13th century that show war scenes, a woman being
raped, a guy pooping in a pot, people killing each other, sacrificial
offerings and other strange paintings that would otherwise not be
found in a church.Ê I asked her to write down several more words in
Euskera for me, like 'please',Ê then she gave me a little
Euskera-EnglishÊ dictionary.Ê Her name is Estibaliz.Ê

ÊÊÊÊ ÊI took a westward hike towards Victoria that day.Ê The evening
came, and someone told me about a monastery called Estibaliz just
about on the trail westwards.Ê I decided it was aÊsign i should go and
ask the Fathers if I could camp there.Ê I met aÊFather Jose, and he
showed me the church, with relics predating the church and worshiping
the SUN!Ê He really did not even know how to interpret the holy
relics.Ê I found it most fascinating.Ê They looked like celtic relics,
but definitely sun worship, later translated to Virgin Mary- Sun
worship.ÊÊThere were 7 monks (priests) living there, and he pointed
out that their numbers were dwindling because people were noÊlonger
interested in dedicating theirÊwhole lives to celibate worship.Ê I
told him I was not catholic, and that i had recently taken my name off
of the roster at my church in theÊname of solidarity with all of
humanity in a growing spirituality, without dogma orÊreligion.Ê We
talked for hours and he seemed quite stimulated and un-offended about
my personal beliefs.Ê I in turn had questions for him about
Malchisidek and the Virgin Mary.Ê He is the author of several books in
Euskera, mostly children's stories he heard as a child in a small
village where he was born near here.Ê He gifted me with the lightest
of his books, and i have been translating the stories one word atÊa
time.Ê I had such a nice time atÊthe monastery, it is a wonder i ever
left.Ê Ê

ÊÊÊÊÊ On my solitary path, i have a new anthem that i sing as loud and
as long as i feel.Ê Last year it was 'Pennies from Heaven' and 'El
Corrido de Durango'.Ê This year it is an old Irish tune called the
'Rambling Rover'.Ê It makes me think of all of you, and the times and
adventures we have had together.Ê

ÊÊÊÊ I arrived in Victoria (Gazteiz in Euskera), and the coldness of
city folks is a slap in the face, but as long as i only look at the
old and the young and the freaks, i don´t feel so strange.Ê It was
saturday when i arrived yesterday and after washing half of my clothes
in the sink of the crappy little hotel i found i was too tired to go
find the wild zone.Ê I did get up this morning to make the discovery.Ê

ÊÊÊ This is such a tiny little country, if i was walking every day,
all day, i could cross it in three days.Ê I think i will continue in
my search pattern, and spiral around a bit.Ê Durango is not far from
here, and i want to head into Cantabria then Asturias before i hit
Galicia.Ê If i could draw a connect the dots in this letter from where
i have come from to where i am and where i want to go, ya'll would
laugh or block me off your list.Ê It is a little loca, but my
pilgrimage was to bring me to the Pyrenees for the winter then to
here, and to top it off, Finistere (after Santiago).Ê I am only
ripping my own heart out, and inflating my own blisters, so what the
heck, right?Ê

ÊÊÊÊ I hope this fall comes on slowly, and weÊbehold the changing
colors of the leaves and the scents in the air.ÊÊ Please hug each
other for me, and know that you are my co-pilgrims.Ê Thank you for
your love and your energy, i try to remember all that i have learned
from you in our times together.Ê Ultreïa (go beyond), ginÊ

Karina

3:18pm CDT Sunday 8 September 2002

Wow. This is the first time I've been to a Kinko's that charges for their internet access. But here is the weirdest part: I am able to ssh to my account, and therefore assume I can move my journal entries online via scp, but I cannot get http requests or smtp requests (web and email). Wow.

I wonder why they allow some internet traffic instead of disabling all.

3:25pm

Muwahahaha! Even though part of my journal update process normally requires a http request, I am able to ssh to my account and run that perl executable from the command line. Yay for free semi-internet access!

3:43pm

Double Muwahahahah! I got around their system simply by bypassing a box underneath the desk here. My IP address jumped from 192.168 something to 10.14 something and now full access! Whoohoo!! Jon, tell Karina or send me her address. :-)

Old quote

5:38pm CDT Sunday 8 September 2002

The manager of Kinko's is helping a guy next to me and they were making smalltalk. The manager goes, "you know you're getting old when your little brother graduates and starts getting a job."

I guess I won't get old for a while...

YRUU

5:40pm CDT Sunday 8 September 2002

In Plano YRUU now. The Sai Baba followers (I don't know what they call themselves) are here each week. A few weeks ago one of the leader types gave me a stapled pack of literature, none of which I have read since he gave it to me.

He inquired about it, and I was all, "um, I haven't read all of it, but there's some very interesting stuff in there." I guess there is.

Simon was talking about the girls in his debate class at school. He thinks they're kinda cool and Marta was all, "but what about you only liking YRUU girls?"

Simon goes "they're liberal so I can relate."

I go "and debate."

Simon: "what?"

"Nothing. sorry, mate."

"Don't do that!"

"too late."

hahahaha from the group.

me: "don't hate!"

6:26pm

Jackie just paid me the dollar for the naming rights to Jackie Purdy's Game, which we will hopefully play after checkin. I'll give fifty cents to Wende. heehee I can direct deposit it.

Jackie points out that "Kate" rhymes as well.

Kate's birthday is on Wednesday. Jackie's is this Friday.

6:32pm

Leigh met a woman at the vet whose dog is named Dog, pronounced "Dee-o-gee."

6:53pm

At the risk of being un-youth empowering, I directed a conversation about what YRUU means to each person, and then a short soap box on what this incredible community can be to people if they choose to accept the power.

Then I described how the YAC is designed the mouthpiece of the youth group, allowing the church to understand what the youth want.

Okay, now who wants to be on YAC???!!!

(no response)

que sera sera.

zzzzz

2:11am CDT Monday 9 September 2002

Just watched Marta's favorite movie, Orlando (gag me with a spoon) and then Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The only thing Orlando has over the other is a shorter title.

Bedtime now.