Giggles on the Camino

There are always things that happen on our trips that make us laugh, and we can’t wait to share the stories with family and friends. The Camino has been no different. I’m sure there will be others that will come up, but for tonight, I thought I’d share a few.

Poop– This one actually started in Madrid. We were heading out for the day and Jim went to throw out the garbage. As he was throwing stuff in the outside receptacle, he felt something squishy on the bottom of his sneaker. Dog poop! He was so upset. Annie and I helped out with napkins and tried not to laugh at his reaction. Unfortunately, he managed to step on dog poop again the next day and one more time on our first day walking the Camino. By this time, Annie was begging Jim to play Lotto. We all managed to get a big laugh out of Jim’s misfortune.

Silence Lady- On our walk from Roncesvalles to Zubiri, Jim and I were walking and talking with Camino friends Terry and Kat. We were going through this forest like area. There were two older women in front of us, when all of a sudden the taller of the two stops and turns around to say something to us. At first Kat thought she was asking how much longer before we get to Zubiri. Based on her tone, I knew there was something else going on. The woman spoke again and we understood she wanted us to stop speaking. She stated this was a spiritual place and we needed to stop talking. We were all stunned into silence. After about 5-7 minutes, the woman’s friend started talking. The woman told her to shut up and to that the friend responded with more words for which she was told to shut up again and they let us pass. Once we were a ways from them, we all started laughing at the absurdity of the moment. We got scolded!

Jim and I saw the women the next day on our way into Pamplona. They were just chatting away!

“There’s no Maria Here”- Today we stopped in the town of Zariquiegui to buy lunch in a small cafe. While we were waiting to order, an Amazon delivery guy walked in and had the following conversation with the young man behind the counter:

Amazon Guy- “I have a package for Maria.”

Counter Guy- “There’s no Maria here,”

Amazon Guy- “It’s Maria in number 4.”

Counter Guy- “Nope no Maria. There’s a Maria up the street but she’s much older and probably wouldn’t know how to order anything online.”

Amazon Guy- “The name is Maria Pilar.”

Counter Guy- “Oh that’s my mom.” And at that point his mom comes out from the back and says, “That’s what they call me.”

We busted out in laughter and so did the young man. He genuinely did not put the pieces together without her full name.