July 8, 2012
We notice that things are different this morning as soon as we come down for breakfast, none of the aunts or children are around. They are at Hasan's house preparing for the announcement party. Hicham's (sorry folks I've been misspelling his name as Hasam or Hasham) parents are coming to the house today also to attend the festivities and spend a few days in the country.
After we have some breakfast, Hicham asks us if we would like to go see his grandfather's house where he spent holidays as a boy. We say yes, of course. I'm a little surprised were going out when there is a party and the parents are arriving. So we get dressed. I wear my cheap $2.50 flops from Target because, after all, we're just going to look at a house. Hasan's son, Ishmael, comes along as our guide today because Hasan is busy with the marriage announcement stuff.
We drive a short way through the village which Hicham describes as looking like a set for an old American western. He's right. Anyway, he points to his grandfather's house , parks the car and we get out. I don't even take my bottle of water because I believe we are just going across the street. WRONG! Ishmael start up these steps which lead to the old mosque and an outside area set aside for something similar to a pot luck with a permanent seat for the head guy.
After this Ishmael takes off at a pretty good clip down this dirt trail and Hicham points out the community garden. Next thing I know we are going full barrel down what can only be described as a goat/donkey trail, because that's what it is for, and people too. It turns out to be about a six mile hike round trip according to Hicham's app on his phone to the "water source." Words are very descriptive in this part of the world, because that is what this is, a source of water which comes down off the mountain and through these two openings. You don't want to gather your water lower down because the water after the source is used for laundry, rinsing hands and face and a water hole to play in for the kids.
The people of this village actually hike up here with plastic bottles to fill with water and carry it back to their house. If they have a mule, they use the mule to carry the water and they can get more with each trip, but they still have to walk or ride the mule. Hicham noted that almost every house had a satellite dish and electricity to run it, but no water. It's a matter of priorities he thinks.
We enjoy the cool fresh water and then start back to the car and eventually back the the house. The parents have not arrived yet but we are served a lunch of roast chicken and french fries with a cold salad we've had several times. The salad is like Spanish gazpacho without the liquid. It's got tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and spices. So very good in the hot weather. Have I mentioned yet that every dish is presented as a work of art with decorative carved vegetables for decorations and vegetables draped in a pleasing manner, like in a very fancy restaurant. After lunch we take a siesta to get some energy for the party.
When we wake up we get ready to go to the party. We are told that Hicham's parents have arrived, but they dropped their bags and went to the party. Ismael is our escort to the party. Apparently we shouldn't walk by ourselves, so ok, but again he walks at a fast pace. We arrive at the party and step into the first room in Hasan's house which is all women and children. All the aunts and family members make a big fuss as thought they have been waiting for us to arrive. We are are introduced to Hicham's mother. She is sweet and we do the customary two cheek kiss. We sit down and try to be unobtrusive, a very funny joke. We stick out like a red spot on a white background.
The next thing I know the aunts and Asmara are pulling us into another room where music is playing and women are dancing. Other women are sitting around the wall drinking mint tea. We dance a bit, try to learn the moves and then elect the tea drinking activity. Everyone is staring and trying not to look like they are staring. We are rescued by the aunts again who motion to us to come back out into the other room and then lead us to seat next to the area where the bride and groom will be seated. We are like so uncomfortable, feeling like this is a place for family members to sit and we should be observing from the background. However, the mother of the bride told us to sit here and we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Asmara comes and sits with us and somehow that makes it better. We have a great time and were probably the most photographed people there other than the bride and groom. All the kids with cell phone cameras kept taking our picture. It was weird. We had a great time!
Later the one lesbian couple in attendance came up to talk to us. They spoke English and one of them was hitting on Leea. She tried to suss out Leea's preference by telling her she was beautiful and and should marry a nice Moroccan man we both thought this was a novel approach, but decided we should probably go back to the house before the girlfriend got upset. We didn't see Ishmael, so we started off by our selves, I mean seriously, it was about two blocks away. After we'd walked a little ways we heard someone behind us and there was Ishmael on his bike with some buddies looking at us and gesturing like, "What are you doing?" whoops, we're in trouble. So he escorted us the remainder of the way home. Hicham's mother came home shortly after that and we had yet another round of coffee, tea and food.
We sat around on the porch for a while and then it was dinner time! We had noodles and beef. It was very good. We had two salads, the tomato one and then another regular mixed salad with beets, corn, lettuce, etc. the beets were fresh, not canned or bottled. And then there was melon and fruit. Hicham's dad, Hicham, Leea and I ate in the sitting room. Hicham's mom and the aunts ate in the kitchen. I think they prefer it that way, there was way more laughter in the kitchen. Then with another full stomach, I went to bed.
I slept in this morning and was the last to leave the albergue. My knee felt better than it had the day before. Shortly after I began walking I ran into Miquel. I had not seen him for a couple of days. He spent two days at the Casa Magica, something I should have done. Oh well. My knee held up pretty well today, but was hurting by the time I got to Viana. It is fine on the uphills, but kills on the downhills. 
When I got to Viana and took my shower, I realized I had a blood blister on the side of the left heel that was totally exposed because a flap of skin had pulled away. So I poured some betadine on it and went to the farmácia to get some gauze bandages. Apparently in England they are called compresses and in Spain they are called compresas. My attempt to communicate gauze was a total failure. Later one of my new British friends offered to give me some of hers. She is a retired nursing teacher and so very concerned about my physical problems Rather than using them, I took one to the farmácia to show them what I wanted, and it worked! I also found a brace for my knee! If my blood blister allows me to walk, we'll see how the brace works. So far just walking around the alberque it seems like magic. So I'm a little hopeful tonight. I'm still going to have to rest for a day or two, either here or in Logroño. If I can't stay here I may have to take the bus six miles to Logroño, because I don't want to risk getting the blood blister infected. 
I walked 7.5 miles. Total I have walked 107.5 miles. 
