Ha ha, pretty funny really. That’s what my Rebecca calls me when she has level two irritation. Level one is maybe, I’m guessing, is maybe just sort of irritation/amusement, sort of something I could get away with without a comment on her part. Anyway but yea, the Tapa Nazi.

Coming back from Spain and being the survivor of more tapa situations than I can remember. Maybe that is like what is said about “the sixties” here in the States. If you remember it you weren’t really there. No, I do remember most I think largely due to the Angels and Kelly and Rick’s massive supervision. But fond fond memories to have been socializing and being socialized by you my dear pilgrim buddies. I owe a lot to you.

But, what you see at that moment is only half of the story, right? What you don’t see at that late afternoon gathering is the long hours since way before light, the many miles, the sharp rocks, the slippery slopes, the quest for hydration and the pain. As you melt into your tapa chair you are hopefully remembering the great landscapes, the odd ruin, the beautiful little church with the smiling nun or the incredible Camino Conversation that you had with a fellow traveler that brought you an insight which is or will be very important to you after you have time to digest it properly. A extremely full day already and you have to make it through the fun part yet.

So tapa time is the time to start making sense of the day. Some of the folks now were with you earlier, some not, some you know and some are new to you. But you all have a story of how your day went. And it is important for everyone to get that in the mix. Your highs get awed over by the collective and your lows get analyzed, minimalized and worked on. And what about those awkward moments that you had like walking in on the Italian gal in the rest room or having someone step on your sandwich? How did we handle it and what did we learn. All in a day’s work for the circle of pilgrims at tapas.

And this is as vital as the other things that you have to get done in the evening there at the albergue. So here, me the Tapa Nazi has to bring this incredibly important ritual to the uninitiated. And I’ll have to admit that it hasn’t always been pretty but in the end after a few months of good, excellent and not so good the thing is in place. So,concidering all my hard work for something that is supposed to be not work (sitting, conversing, laughing, joking) I do except the nick name with a certain amount of pride. Just don’t put it on my tombstone, it would take to much to explain it and I’ll have better things to do by then.

It’s all happening, St James is Afoot, Love You Always, All Ways with All A’s, Felipe.