Zabaldica 2

I arrived in Zabaldica the day before I was supposed to start, or so I thought.  The two hospitaleras that preceded me apparently thought that since I was there on the 14th that meant that they were done.  Oh well, no matter.  The day started with a Spanish camino breakfast - toast, coffee, fruit and yogurt.  From experience, it was enough to get started on a 15 mile walk but also needed several coffee and snack stops.  My day began at 6:00 when a few of the more gung-ho pilgrims would be leaving the alburgue without breakfast.  By 8:00, everyone was gone and I could have my breakfast and then began cleaning.  Sweep everything, wash some sheets and pillow cases, clean two bathrooms and mop the kitchen floor.
Here is the dormitory with twelve beds.

Next on the agenda was shopping.  Assignment: buy enough food for anywhere from 2 to 18 people.  You have an hour and the sisters will give you money.  Sister Teresa's assignment was to take me shopping.  I had to make a very complete list because there would be no do-overs.  Sister usually had errands to do and was generous about giving me plenty of time to shop but I still felt pressured.  Everyone in the store was so helpful and patient with the tall gawky American that barely spoke Spanish.  I would buy two or three of everything that I needed because 18 people eat a lot of food.  Here is dinner:

So, people started arriving about 2:00 and usually by six everyone had found a place to stay.  The local parish priest did a mass at 6:30, dinner was at 7:30 and the
Sisters did a very nice blessing and sharing in the church at 8:30.  Then we loaded the dishwasher (yes, that's no typo) and went to bed.

This is the living room and the stairway to the dormitory.  More about this remarkable building and the church next.