Chaos Theory

Well, the ride in First Class was very comfy, but I still couldn't sleep. Between the flight, a four hour wait in the train station, a five hour train ride, getting to the Pilgrim's Office, meeting the person who was to show me to our flat, and getting settled in, I was up for about thirty hours. I was one tired puppy. I slept well and was up at 8 am to get ready for my first day at work.

I arrived at the Pilgrim's Office at 10 am and was happy to see so many of the regular employees I knew from my past Volunteer experiences. The new Pigrim's Office is bright and beautiful, with plenty of interior space. The Pilgrim's no longer have to wait outside in the rain. This year I actually get to write Compostelas! I'm so excited. It's like I got a promotion or something. 

Writing the Compostelas was a little nerve wracking at first. There are a lot of pieces to put together. First you have to check their credential to see if they qualify, and with so many different routes that is challenging. Then you have to get the Latin spelling of their name. Then, if they want a distance certificate you have to determine how many kilometers they walked, which route and the starting point. All this and lack of sleep. Holy moly! 

I started to get the hang of it and meeting the Pilrims from all over the world is a lot of fun. And, I am pleasantly surprised that my Spanish is better than I thought it was 

The day was going well.  On the way home, after my shift at the office, I went to the market to get food for dinner and breakfast. I also stopped and got my Spanish SIM card for my phone. Data is a lot more expensive than it was be, even last year. After I got my SIM card, I decided to go to the ATM and get some cash. I put the card in the machine and put in my password. It said the password was incorrect and spit out my card. So I tried another ATM down the street with the another possible password. That machine said my transaction was not authorized. I started to freak out. A transaction which for many, many years of travel had been easy, had suddenly become very difficult. 

I decided it would be best to go home and call the bank's collect number. When I got home, I didn't have my card. I didn't know if I dropped it or the machine ate it.  I think in all my confusion over the failure to get cash, I hadn't noticed it went missing. I'm going to be in Eurooe for three months, in places where a credit card is useless. In the villages on the Camino, it is a cash economy. Next, the bigger problem. Do you know how difficult it is to call the number on the back of the card when you don't have the card? From experience, I can now tell you it is darn difficult. 

After multiple expletives and long distance calls I finally got hold of the card people at the bank on the collect number. They were very helpful. However, since I still didn't know if I had lost it or the machine ate it, I had to wait until the bank opened in the morning to see if it was sitting in the bowels of the ATM   If it wasn't there, they would have to mail me a new card which they could guarantee would leave the US in two days, but couldn't even approximate how long it would take to clear customs in Spain and get delivered to me. Great!

Amazingly , I did sleep well last night. I got up, dressed, ate breakfast and headed for the bank. I arrived at the bank, explained my problem in Spanish to the man working there, he asked for my ID, I gave him my passport and he walked calmly over to the back of the machine. It felt like it took an hour, not breathing, hoping so hard it seemed audible, until he returned with my card in his hand. I never really understood the meaning of "relief swept over me" until that moment. 

So, I went happily one my way to work. I still had to call my bank again to remove the block I put on the card, in case it had been lost, and to verify I have the right password. But that was comparatively easy. 

It's time for bed, to rest, for another day of adventure in the life of a traveling ditz. lol

This is the view of the train station from our balcony.