Day 4 - Cizur Menor to Puente la Reina
Distance walked today: 19 km (11.9 miles)
Total distance walked: 65.9 km (41.2 miles)
Adal made it to Puente La Reina! 24 km from Cizur, he reports that the hill that gave him trouble in 2005 was an easy climb this time around. Clearly due to his training after almost 3 years at the gym, it has been conquered.
His journey today included this terrain: http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/etapa-de-pamplona-a-puente-la-reina
Some blisters have formed, as is normal, but in much less quantity than in 2005. They have not been bothersome at all. Yesterday evening he noticed one of his big toes were swollen, apparently a blood blister formed under the nail. He was not bothered by it, since it didn't hurt. In fact, this journey so far has been characterized by him as feeling very little discomfort all around, and feeling quite up to the challenge. After his climb today, the descent apparently was a bit rough to his toe, probably due to the toe rubbing the front as you descend. It looked bad enough when he got to Puente La Reina that he decided to go to a small hospital, like an urgent care facility. As he described it, his toe looked like a ham!
After getting the general schpiel about how he's overweight (blah blah blah), they drained the toe of mostly blood and clear liquid. He will probably lose his nail. Of course I told him to take photos. : ) Maybe he can give it a proper nail burial along the path somewhere. He was told to rest until it got better. Not an option! he said. He will continue, he feels so good! So armed with Betadyne, gauze, and rolls of tape, he will conquer. One of the folks he's walking with, just met on the road, is a forensic doctor from the Canary Islands and has offered to help him through "The Nail Loss." Just the type of doctor I want working on him. At least none of his former patients have complained.
At the end of our conversation over the phone, he was called away by the forensic doctor who was going to help him pull off the nail. !!! Okaaay. But you should've heard him, in such great spirits!
Let's see how he does tomorrow. This should be interesting.
This morning as he was packing his stuff up, he came across a small stuffed animal N gave him for his trip, which made him miss N terribly. I know what it feels like, having been there several times myself. And she has this habit of giving us things when we travel so we can think of her, usually a dear stuffed animal or doll. So we "don't forget about her and have someone to take care of us." I told him he should take it out now and then and get photos of the little dog in interesting places, even if it's just in the hostel. It would be a good keepsake for her.
N knows he won't be back until June, so "he will be gone the whole month of May, Mami." Yes, N, and we will miss him. "But you're still married, right?" Yes, N, of course we are still married. He's just on a trip. She hasn't been missing him much because it's still recent. She has been pining away for her grandma Abu though. Crying at night, and telling me how she wants Grandma to tuck her in, and how far away June is.
Today was my first day telecommuting for 2 hours. I explained to N that because I left work early to be there when she got home from school on the bus, I had to work some time at home. "Okay, I have to work too, mami, I have to do my homework." Ah, I foresaw this, so I was armed with practice pages for her to practice her letters. I wasn't banking on her CONSTANT talking, and questions, and singing, and interrupting! Good thing I wasn't on the phone, or she probably would've taken it away and started talking to the other person. Yeah, yeah, payback is a bitch. I KNOW. So after her constant rattling, I told her I was done but I had to clean up and fold clothes a bit. "I want to help, what can I do?" I jumped on that, I mean, I never know how long that's going to last!! So I gave her about 20 of her tiny little miniature underwear to fold. She got to about 15, ended up kind of throwing them all in her drawer after her painstaking folding, and said, "I kind of put them in a little messy. Okay, I don't want to do anymore. You're not mad, right? Are you mad?" No, N, I'm not mad, I'm proud that you helped! Thanks for helping. I mean, what's a little mess when she has her heart in the right place?
And then, our guilty pleasure. Yes, we have a guilty pleasure now. I finally got TLC on our local cable box, and "our" show is Say Yes to the Dress. She either yeas or nays them. "We have to look at dresses so we can pick the most beautiful one of all for me." Yes, N, you see how the moms are there helping them pick it out? "You're going to help me, right? You have to help me pick the most beautiful one of all, mami." And then later, "When I get older, you'll probably be dead, right?" Well, I think I'll be around, until you get really old. "And THEN you will be dead, right?" Yeah, maybe. "People have to die to make space for all the people being born, mami." Hmm, yeah, in a way. "One of my grandmas is alive and the other is dead. Right mami?" Yes, daddy's mom is dead. "But he has another mommy now, right?" No, he doesn't. His mommy died before you were born. *Gasps* "Oh, that's so sad! Aw, poor daddy. But my other grandma is still alive. And grandma's mom is still alive." Yes, N. You're so lucky. You're so very lucky.
And we're so glad we're alive. Even if we have to lose a nail now and then.
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