Beni wanted to know if I made it to Pamplona, so I told him I was not even close, since the bus was late.
He told me what albergue to look for and approximately where ( that didn’t mean much to me at that time) then we hung the phone.
After a couple of minutes he called me back, told me he asked the hospitalier in the albergue to wait for the crazy Hungarian chick.
After many more hours – or so it seemed – we arrived at Pamplona.
For me the first challenge was finding my way out from the parking garage.
God knows how, but all of the other passengers suddenly disappeared from my sight all at once, I didn’t have anyone to follow.
Finally, after I got out somehow, I had to realize this is exactly the scenario when a map comes handy- and I had none.
I was naive thinking that from the bus station there would be obvious, gigantic signs of yellow arrows and scallops showing the way, but I obviously was wrong.
Or just cannot see anything in the dark.
I even tried with all my Spanish knowledge – that was converging to zero – to ask for guidance, but we mutually didn’t understand each other with the Spanish people, and honestly, most of them didn’t seem to be very helpful.
Eventually I ran into a bigger group of people that I “attacked” with my last resort question: Do you speak ENGLISH???
And finally, some of them did.
So they could tell me that they didn’t know where the albergue was but they were thinking in the direction of where I came from.
I turned back, walked a decent bit again, nothing, nada, walked twice around a big block of building that was under renovation and when I turned around the corner again I finally saw a scallop beneath my feet carved and blending in the walkway.
Right in front of me there was an opened gate where some young people were talking under the streetlight.
On the gate was hanging a sign with a scallop and a pilgrim’s staff on it
Thank Heavens and the eponymous Jesus and Maria, I finally found it!
I entered and politely greeted everyone, in that very instant they closed the gate behind me.
It seemed like they were waiting just for me.
I explained- with the help of a dictionary and non-verbal gestures – that I want a bed and a pilgrim’s passport.
That was all the speech I prepared.
They really tried to ask me something else though, I tried my best to understand, but I couldn’t.
Finally I put a sentence together: Is there anyone here who speaks both Spanish AND English???
That’s how I met Mauricio.
Turned out they wanted to know where I wanted to start my pilgrimage from, because some people wanted to start from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and were looking for more people to share a car with.
And my newly acquired interpreter, Mauricio, was the leader of them.
I was very happy to have this opportunity because that was my well-prepared plan all along to attract travel companions to share a taxi with- with the help of the universe and the good grace of God.
Nothing but pure gambling with faith but it worked out eventually.
I dragged my deadly exhausted body to the bathroom, then fell face down in my bed.
I was tired, but very satisfied with my life.
In Munay,
Emese
