I tossed and turned all night. I find myself doing that frequently seeing that everybody I communicate with is on the other side of the world and they are awake when I am “sleeping.” After a while I check my watch and I am told it’s around 0930. I like that here, in Spain and Andorra at least, they use military time. It makes me feel at home which is odd because home doesn’t use military time. Anyways, I open my door and I get hit in the face with bright light! Yup, it’s 0930!
Water runs freely around town and it’s pure clean mountain water that everybody consumes!
I love my room. Nothing fancy but it’s great. I have a small twin size bed, sheets, blankets, and a window that opens to the world with no screen. It does however, have an awesome metal curtain that you can close internally and it blocks all the light out of the room, making it easier to sleep longer. It also means I can keep the window open at the same time as having the “curtain” closed and it cools my room. I figure I might as well take advantage of the nice winter weather seeing that for the rest of my summer I will be doing nothing but sweating.
Not much on the agenda today. I leave the apartment and walk around town taking the same course luis took me on yesterday. I didn’t have my camera yesterday so I take it this time. Of course, I realize that I should have taken it the first time as the lighting was much better but I can’t go back in time so I settle for harsh light and snapshots. I walk down the middle of town looking at some of the shops and I stop at the tourist office. I’m really wanting my passport stamped and I’m hoping they can help me with that. Of course they can’t and they direct me to the border where even then, it isn’t allowed to actually stamp a passport, but you can get a piece of paper stamped!
One of the signs along my journey!
After a while of messing around the town of Canillo I decide I want/need to head to the main city. I am suppose to meet Luis in Central Part at 1445. I didn’t really feel like taking the bus and it’s a downhill walk the whole way so I step out onto the warming blacktop and begin putting my feet in front of one another. I come to realize that where I am going is about 22k away. I begin thinking that this was a bad idea. After about 7k of walking I stop at a market, grab some food and spot the closest bus station. There’s a young girl sitting there… maybe she can help explain how the busses work.
I walk to the bus stop and stand there. She doesn’t say hello, which is a little strange for this area as people love to say hello so I just stand there. She is young. She’s carrying a Tommy Hilfiger purse and a straw hat and on her right cheek you can see a fading heart that has been drawn in permanent marker. She must have been at the street party last night that the entire country showed up to. I finally sit down on the bench next to her (it’s a very small bench) as my legs are hurting from all the walking. I’m not getting much younger and my military service is quickly catching up to me!
The girl at the bus stop!
Finally, after about 15 min of silence, I look over and say, “You speak English?” She seems relieved that I have said something, as if she’d been sitting there thinking the same things I was thinking. She quickly replies with “yes a little bit!” The conversation goes for a couple of hours and she tells me that her friend is coming to pick her up and that she can take me straight to central park. I begin waving busses passed me. I don’t care to learn how to use the bus system and I surely don’t want to get lost.The conversation is more of a game of charades for her as she struggles to remember any English she knows. It’s nice to be on the other side of the conversation for once. I am too use to playing cherades myself and I sit back with amusement as she acts out things. “I am pig” she says. This 18 year old girl weighs no more than 100 lbs so I reply in a sarcastic, “si’ tu estamous muy gordo!” and begin laughing. “no no… I am pig because I am dirty” yes… yes you are a wreck young one! “Muchas fiesta” I reply and she begins laughing. Her friend finally shows up and they take me to central park. I later come to understand that this idea of hitching a ride is pretty common in Europe.
When I make it to central park I learn that the park is pretty big. Where am I suppose to meet luis? In central park but where in central park?? Even if I called him I don’t know enough Spanish to explain to him exactly where I am so I head to the easiest place to describe… McDonalds!
“Hola! Donde Estas?”
“Central park… Donde estas tu?!”
“McDonalds!”
“Ahh ok I bring car!”
Luis at the top of the trail!
Luis buzzes up in his car and I hop in. We are going to the mountains! This is a little funny because all of Andorra is the mountains so technically we are already IN the mountains BUT he is taking me to a few lakes at the top of some mountains. It’s about an hours drive and we don’t speak much. We are both exhausted from last night. Luis himself went to bed around two and had work at seven. I slept in!
We later reach the top of the mountain, or as far as you can drive anyway, and begin hiking. We are well above the tree line and breathing isn’t the easiest thing for me. Actually, the easiest thing for me to do would just kill over on the ground and that’s what I feel like right now. He tells me this hike is for children but I am sucking wind and moving slowly behind him. These better be the best lakes in the world and they better be lined with gold!
We get to the top and look down into the short valley below. Ok… I’m glad I did the hike! Below us lie thee beautiful, tucked away, lakes! My pictures can’t possibly do them justice. We hike around them and stand and admire them for what seems like all of eternity.
Luis and I near one of the lakes!
Luis loves to talk when he hikes. “Rishard… what do you do if Marine die?” I look at him a little puzzled. “I guess I die then.” He looks at me a little puzzled. “no no no… if all soldier die but one.” Ahh gotta love intellectual conversations in languages you don’t speak. “You just leave and run?” he asks. I so badly want to explain to him that you NEVER leave Marines behind so I say “nunca!” He looks back at me with wide opened eyes, “Then what do you do”… very directly I say, “I fight… I either die too… or I kill everybody else!” He’s a little taken back by my answer and isn’t quiet sure he understood me. “no no no… all die except for one.” Ya I don’t think he’s quiet grasping what I am saying. “If a Marine dies or gets shot (I say playing the game of charades) then I ether stay and fight… or carry him!” His eyes are even wider now. “Even if you are to die?! You carry him out… even if he is dead?” I tighten my lips and open my eyes wider… “Yep”… “You American boy is crazy!” I laugh and think internally… yes… yes we are!