Cold fingers and good hospitality

We had a shorter walk today, about 16 km, and tonight are staying in another beautiful albergue, this one operated by volunteers of the Spanish Confraternity of Santiago which has been offering hospitality to pilgrims in Santa Domingo de la Calzada ( in La Rioja - one of Spain´s famous wine regions) for more than 900 years. Imagine that kind of history, and enduring tradition of offering welcome and warmth!
The Albergue hosts 83 people each night, there are 20 in our room, and despite the close quarters, I am developing an ability to feel comfortable sharing my sleeping space with people with similar intentions and trust, from all over the world. There is a commonality we share in this trusting one another, with space, with belongings, and with our well-being. There is conversation over shared meals, and along the way, about how one another is doing, what ailments each might be enduring, and occasionally, when a deeper level of connection is created through attentive listening, a sharing of hopes and dreams for the Camino and sometimes for life. This happens more often than not, when there can be enough understanding of common language to have a conversation at that level.
At other times, it is more than enough to share a piece of chocolate, or sign language about the bracing cold which continued today, or to teach one another the expletives in our respective languages for it´s soooooooooo ***!!!&%$**%&=?? COLDDDDD. As we passed over a high plateau before coming down into Santa Domingo, wearing several layers and almost all of the clothes we brought with us, our fingers were numb. We were glad to see the city below as we crested the last hill.
Later this afternoon, we hope to find a store to buy gloves!
This is a good thing we are doing. As we say our prayer together to begin each morning we give thanks for the day and all that has led us here, and then do a high five tap tap tap on each others´walking poles, and sometimes a little dance step or two to help keep warm.
Cheers!