Dr. Corsino, the doctor I am working with, knows a woman who is from the US and she has a daughter that is 27 who has dual citizenship in the US and here in Spain. She speaks English, Spanish, Italian, and something else I think but who cares because the important thing is she speaks ENGLISH! Corsino gave me her number and told me to call her last week. So, later in the afternoon that day I used the payphone right outside the dorm to call her and we set up a place and time to meet in Pontevedra, the place being somewhere I had never heard of and the time being 10pm.
I went to the place, a beautiful round church ( I took pictures), and spotted Iria (her name). I went up to her and said “Iria?”, and the girl shakes her head, "No." Haha. Okay, next…. I waited beside this woman for a minute and another girl walked by us, in this fairly lively plaza, looking as if she was looking for someone too. I caught eyes with the previous lady I had mistaken as Iria and she nodded at me as if to say she thought that was the person I was looking for. So, I approached her aaaaaand…….wrong again! However, as I turn around from my second mistaken identification, Iria is walking up to me laughing. Of course I stick out a little bit from the rest of the Spaniards.
So we went to a couple nice bars and cafes to grab a few drinks and wait for her friend to arrive. My plans were to hang out for a bit with them and then head back to the dorm so I could A) get into the dorm before it closed at 1:30am, and B) be able to make it to the 9am train for Santiago in the morning.....I'm sure you already have a pretty good general idea of where this story is headed.
Iria's friend did not end up coming until 1:30 or so and I felt bad leaving Iria alone because she did come into town to meet with me per her mother's request (per Dr. Corsino's request). So we ended up hopping from bar to bar, chatting, ripping shots, partaking in much libation, and having a lot of fun. We ended up staying out until 5:30 in the morning (because Spaniards stay out until 9 am when they party apparently - Ballers). I got to the dorm AAAAAAAAAAAnnnnd of course it was locked at 5:30 in the morning. So my first night as a homeless bumb began! It was a chilly night (pretty cold actually) and all I had was a long sleeve collared shirt and a t-shirt and jeans. AAAAAAAaaannnnd of course it started to rain....of course.....of freakin’ course…
Touche Spain.... The score now is Spain 2, Ronnie 0. Actually, Spain 2.5, Ronnie 0 because of the rain.
Luckily I did ONE smart thing the whole night....I snatched an umbrella -ella -ella from the dorm before I left. So, I proceeded to seek shelter under the hangover right in front of the door to the dorm and I made a sweet lean-to tent with the umbrella -ella -ella and a nearby decorative bush. I would say it was very Bear Grills-esque, but that would be highly insulting to the great Ronnie Milam. This knocks it back down to Spain 2, Ronnie 0. I used my long sleeve shirt as a blanket and attempted to pass out on the freezing stone steps. A girl came to open the door at 9:30 in the morning (the door I was laying in front of) and she proceeded to laugh at me - in Spanish of course. Hey, I thought I looked pretty damn good with my set up. Haha. A scout is "thrifty"! Needless to say I did not catch my train and I was in no mood to try to pack for Santiago and leave anytime soon, as I was still quite tipsy. So I went to bed until 2 pm (which is lunchtime here).
Awesome. So, I traveled to Santiago de Compostela (this year is especially important there because it is the “Anho Santo,” which only happens every 7 years) the next day, Sunday.
You will all be glad to know that I have since managed to sleep indoors each night.....however, I do have a month left here.....
So shouldn't the score be Spain 2 Ronnie 1 due to the Bear Grills fiasco?
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