Day 6 - Estella to Los Arcos
Distance walked today: 21.2 km (13.3 miles)
Total distance walked: 87.1 km (54.4 miles)
Total distance left: 636.9 km (398.1 miles)
Imagine my surprise last night when I saw the news of a 5.2 Earthquake in Southeastern Spain! Even though I know Adal is not in southeastern Spain and is actually all the way north, I worried. I immediately called him to find out if he was okay or had even heard of it. Nope, those that travel the Camino de Santiago did not even hear about it. Not even at the hostel. So far 8 people are dead, but Adal did not know or feel a tremor.
News Here.
So with that worry gone, I asked about his toe. He said it didn't bother him at all, and in fact he had someone cleaning it at that moment to keep the bandages fresh and the toe clean. He took it easy, not making it to Torres del Rio but actually almost there to Los Arcos. So he still walked 21.2 km yesterday! He said he saw so much beautiful landscape and the views were breathtaking. At the end there was no shade, so the last several km were walked in the hot sun. He feels the adrenaline pumping that keeps him going. As the body kicks into a pushing surge, his appetite diminishes, and he is eating very little. Although he did "force" himself to have a hearty meal of ribs, fries, and garbanzos with sausage, so I don't think he's wasting away.
So here's the Stage he almost finished yesterday.
Today he plans to finish the stage he had pending yesterday to Torres del Rio to at least Viana, traversing this stage to about halfway, about 18 km. Depending on how he feels he may make it on to Logroño. The stage talks about descents and ascents to Viana, which I worry for him. Ascents are no problem, he says, it's the descents that are difficult, on his knee and toe. He's popping Motrin almost daily, to keep all general swelling down.
N and I are adapting well. The bright sunlight until late in the night (for us) is giving her problems at bedtime. Even though I have the black out shades in my room, you can still see the sun peeping from behind the corners. How do you tell a kid to go to bed when the sun is still shining? She came home with a gold star on her shirt, "for being quiet in music class" is what she told me. She came home with two new reading books, at stage two! She read both of them to me pretty well, navigating the "qu" sound quite well, as well as the "th"s. And she helped me pick out some snack items from our local grocery store, some yogurt and fancy bread, and some Port Salut cheese. She's been very helpful, but very hungry all of a sudden. I think she's on a growth spurt, she's always hungry! She enjoys hard-boiled eggs now for dinner, something I didn't know she liked.
Every night I must say to her the same words Papá tells her, which he's phrased the same way in Spanish since she can remember. This helps her remind her that Papá still loves her from far away. She's counting the days till June, when Papá comes back and Grandma comes to visit. She's missing her PR family quite a bit, and wanted to talk to Titi Ile yesterday.
I volunteered for the fourth of July celebration here, which we are celebrating May 27. Yes, fourth of July will arrive BEFORE memorial day here in order to bid farewell to our Ambassador, who is going on to bigger things as Obama's Chief Financial advisor of fundraising. Or something like that. So about two weeks to go for this accelerated celebration and lots to do!
So we are slipping into a temporary schedule, as much as a temporary schedule can allow. I think about Adal several times a day, wishing to see photos of what he's seen, eat dinner with him, give him a hug, squeeze his hand. Yet I am calm, destressed, because I am taking one day at a time. And every day is a treasure.
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