Traveling the Camino

July 27 Emma woke me up at 340 to say good bye before she left which was sad. I'm gonna miss her. we've been together everyday for almost 7 weeks so it's gonna be strange not seeing her but I know we'll text and hang out once we get back to cnu. I woke up for breakfast at 8 again and then went back to bed and watched netflix until I woke up at 1245 to Steven waking me up to go to the mall. I knew I'd have better odds buying clothes that had the sentiment of being bought in Spain rather than a Camino keychain. So will Christiana Sibel Steven and I walked to the mall which was about 25 minutes away.  My feet hurt s lot but we stopped about 1/3 of the way there for burgers which allowed my feet to rest. Then we split up and I found a lot of clothes for myself and when we met back up Sibel said her and will wanted to go see a movie. Me and Steven decided 8 euros was too much to see cars 3 in Spanish so we got milkshakes at Burger King and then shopped for anoth...

Yesterday afternoon hit me pretty tough. I've been asking marnix for pictures he took of Spain for the past month and he keeps blowing me off and then sending them to emma and I've complained about it to emma and she said she would ask him because hell do anything for her. So he texted me about 10 pictures today but I already had them so I told him I appreciated it but i already had those and then he came back with a super aggressive text saying that I should ask him for the pictures not emma and he knows I don't like him but to not try to make him upset. So I told him to take joke and then he texted emma saying how mad he was at me. And emma is on my side because he blew up for no reason but I hate having people not like me or be mad at me so my chest tightened up and I got nervous it would affect my relationship with emma since I know me and marnix are both close with her. But I still don't think he's a good person in my life and I know I'll never see him aga...

July 24 My feet still felt like garbage so once again I spent most of my day in bed. Emma will and I went to the grocery store and I got chocolate covered Oreos and of course the tomato and garlic lays chips which was basically my only meal of the day. I laid in bed watching Netflix. Corbyn slept for 30 hours straight basically is slowly starting to get better. I'm frustrated my feet feel so awful. Emma went on a hike up to the top of a mountain and had beautiful pics and I didn't go because I knew my feet would be so miserable. It's hard trying to balance with pushing myself and not injuring myself beyond repair. The albergue made us dinner again. Tonight was salad and then rice and lentils which was really simple but filling and pretty good considering the class budget covered it. Given, the class budget is money I paid a couple months ago so it's not really free but it makes me feel better about myself so I'll take it. After that we walked 2.5 kilometers up...

July 22 Today was a rest day so this will be very short and boring. My feet are killing me since I pushed myself yesterday so I haven't really left the albergue today besides getting food. Emma is tired too so we've just been laying in bed and napping on and off. Everyone else went to the beach but it's a 2km hike there and I really don't think I could do it. It sucks that when I'm proud of pushing myself my body hates me and so the next day I spent all day in bed and don't get to explore. It's not horrible though. I know my body needs it I just wish I got to experience Muxia more. Me emma Christian and anna went out and got mojitos and fries for dinner and then bought ice cream at the super market and just hung out and ate. I really like Anna and Christian so it's gonna be hard when they leave in a couple days. July 23 Emma and I woke up around 6am to hike the last 30km. She fried us some eggs we had left over from our egg sandwiches yesterday a...

July 21 Emma and I walked the whole 33 km to Muxia today. It was definitely difficult at the end but felt good to be able to walk the full day especially  since it was a long day for everyone. When we saw the ocean from the top of a hill we both got so excited and motivated but we didn't know it was another 8km hike from that point because we had to walk all the way around the peninsula and the Camino kept winding so it was really frustrating and I was getting super cranky by the end of it. But eventually we got to the white sand beach and stripped and put my feet in the ocean with Steven and kip and Lucas and will. Most of them went fully in the water but it was way too cold so I just stood with my feet in the sand and cold water and then laid down and just enjoyed the feeling. I was so much happier reaching Muxia than I was when I got to Santiago. It felt like a real accomplishment. We had started in France and walked across the entire country of Spain. That sounds crazy to s...

July 20 Today me and emma woke up around 5am to start hiking early since it was a 32km day and we had to try to all get to the municipal albergue since we didn't have a reservation and there were only 40 beds. After about 3km we made a wrong turn since we followed the scallop shell on a building and it was too dark to see the yellow arrows painted on the ground going the opposite direction. So we walked an extra 5km through some dark farm roads trying to navigate around and eventually we just turned around and found the yellow arrows. So then everyone got ahead of us and we ended up an hour behind our planned schedule. It was a painful walk for the both of us and although I had sent my pack ahead my feet were killing me with every step and my tendonitis in my right foot started sending shooting pains. So after 17.5 km of us walking we got to the first cafe and decided to taxi. Anna and Christian were there and seemed defeated so then anna said she would also taxi with us and th...

July 19 Emma and I agreed last night we would bus today since we were in so much pain yesterday so we slept in until about 8 and then went to a wonderful little pastry shop and got coffee and a chocolate croissant and a fruit tart. After that we went to a grocery store and bought some fruit and got to the bus about 10 minutes before we left. The bus ride was pretty and it was drizzling so the forests seemed extra magical. When we got to town we tried to find the public albergue and then gave up and just went to a cafe-bar where I had my first beer at 1030am. Then we just wandered around town looking for the albergue and eventually I looked up directions and we found will and the 3 of us walked out of town up a giant mountain to get to this albergue. I didn't know which private albergue kip had made my reservation for so I couldn't check in so I just hung out with Will Lucas Christian Anna and emma until their albergue opened up and they checked in and then me and emma went ...

July 18 Honestly yesterday I couldn't write because I was too exhausted and disappointed and angry. We finally arrived in Santiago today and today was the second worst day of the trip. Only slightly better than the very first day through the pyranees. My feet were killing me all day and it's tradition for the whole group to walk together with the slowest people leading the group. Which plot twist, was me and emma today which sucked. The problem was that we didn't even even walk together. The first 2km most people left ahead of us since we were still packing our bags and then we got to a cafe and me and emma left early since we hate waiting around and we knew we'd be slow walking up the hill. So then we waited at the top of the hill for people and when they got up there they just breezed past us so me and emma walked in the back while Christina lead the pack about .5km ahead of us. And then eventually we caught up when they stopped at a church and again kip told us t...

July 17 Today is the last day before we hike into Santiago tomorrow. I walked the full 23 kilometers again today this time completely with emma. Again I sent my pack ahead so that I could take the weight off my foot and we weren't in a huge rush to get into town since we are camping out tonight so we don't have to check into an albergue. So we stopped at 3 cafes and ate a little and rested our feet since Emma's knee and feet are still bothering her and she's developed blisters between her toes that are really bothering her. It was a pretty easy hike and tomorrow should be a little tougher but nothing impossible. Although I can't slack pack tomorrow since I can't leave my bag somewhere in town since I'm bringing it out to camp out so having the full weight will hurt my feet more. The other thing about tomorrow is we walk as a group. So the slowest person ( in our case probably Christina) walks in front to set the pace and we all follow so we walk in as a ...

July 16 I hiked the full 27 kilometers today which was difficult but not unbearable and it felt good being able to walk the full thing. I overslept a little bit in the morning so emma woke me up at 6 and said she was leaving so I left about 15 minutes after her and sent my pack ahead so i just slack packed with my daily necessities which kept s lot of weight off my feet which helped a lot. The hike also wasn't too bad so after a first couple kilometers of limping while my feet warmed up I had a good pace. We ended up walking up this mountain in the fog and at the top the fog created a rainbow so that it looked like we were hiking through a rainbow. After about 15 kilometers I ran into emma leaving a cafe so we sat down and had breakfast together and then walked the last 12 kilometers together. It went by pretty fast st first and then the last 4 kilometers seemed to drag on forever but eventually we crossed the river into ribadiso. When we got there Christian Anna and Sybel we...

July 15 I slept in since I had a hotel room and I wasn't going to be kicked out at 8am. So I slept until 830 and then checked out and had reception call a taxi. Since we're now walking on the primativo, my guide book doesn't include these towns so I was basically lost. Marnix took a picture of kips maps but I didn't recognize any of the towns except for 1. We could either walk 31 and 26 or 24 and 33 kilometers. And I knew the 24 mark was Ferreira so I just told the taxi drive to take me there and after about 15km I saw emma sitting on the side of the road so I told the taxi driver to just let me out there. I didn't really walk with emma since she was going faster than me but it was nice to see her. My feet hurt but it was mostly my Achilles pain that was bothering me. And also my left knee hurt a lot going downhills. It was a lot of road walking and hilly so it wasn't difficult just felt to go on forever and the uphills left me out of breath while the downhi...

July 14 Today was the worst day in a while. It started out pretty good. The whole class took a bus to lugo which is a city north of sarria along the primitiva. Which is a different route to Santiago in hopes of avoiding some of the crowd since the last 100 km are very busy with people who want to walk the minimum to earn their certificate. So we woke up around 7 and then bussed to lugo and went to a nice cafe in town and had some breakfast. And as I was walking to the bathroom I found 50 euros on the ground. And usually I'd ask people if it was theirs but there was no one downstairs where the bathrooms were and I was a little upset because marnix had booked a room in an air B&B for him and emma and didn't invite me so I figured it was a sign from the Camino that I should also treat myself. At first I was gonna try to stay with them on the couch but that plan soon went south. So after breakfast we went to the cathedral which was pretty but not one of my favorites. And ...

July 13 Today was another fairly short day. Only 15 km and I did the whole thing. Emma is pretty injured after walking the full 32km yesterday so we walked together the whole day at my pace which was nice to have company. And we actually made really good time. Only Lucas and kip beat us to the albergue. Galacia is a beautiful area of Spain though. Much much better than the meseta and there's some big hills but most of the time it's just rolling hills. My Achilles was killing me on the uphills. It gets very sharp pain every few steps that I have to stop and catch my breath to breathe through the pain. And my right foot with tendonitis seemed to spread to my ankle which was really bothering me. And of course the blister on my big toe on my right foot. Caroline said it's probably a blood blister and emma said she thinks it's under my nail so it's just super sensitive and bothers me with each step. So tonight I soaked my feet in epsom salt and cool water whil...

July 12 Today was scheduled to be 32 kilometers with a steep downhill which I knew wouldn't be possible with my injured feet since my Achilles injury is clearly here to stay this time. So my goal was to walk to the town before the steep downhill which was about 15km. My tendonitis feels horrible when I go downhill and I didn't want to push myself too hard. So once I made it there I asked a cafe owner to call me a taxi. The guy who picked me up wasn't really a taxi. It was a guy delivering packs and I just rode with him as he made deliveries and then he dropped me off in Samos but it only cost about 20 euros which was pretty cheap for 15km. Once I got there I went to a bar across the street from the monestary and i looked at the book for albergues. I knew the monestary was donativo which would be cheaper but it wouldn't have opened until 1 and I was exhausted and it ended up that I was at a fairly cheap private albergue so I went inside and asked for a bed and about ...

July 11 Today was tough. It wasn't a long hiking day based on the number of kilometers. The first 5 kilometers were flat and along the road and then the last 8km were straight up a steep mountain which was very difficult. The major problem was that my Achilles injury came back. So the uphill was really painful and every few steps i had a super sharp pain in my left Achilles that took my breath away. But I made it up the hill for the full 13 km and the view was beautiful. We stayed at O Cebreiro which is on top of a mountain and looked out over rolling hills and little towns nestled in the valleys. It was also cool because you could see the strart of a mountain range where the meseta ended. So we all just sat outside the albergue waiting for it to open eating and talking. It's fun hanging out with Lucas and will and Christian and Anna and of course emma and marnix.  There weren't shower curtains which was definitely interesting to just be naked with Corbyn and Kir...

July 10 Today I woke up ready to hike and was so exhausted and my foot was killing me I just texted emma and marnix and said I was gonna take a taxi. So I went back to bed for a couple more hours and when I woke up Sibel was still there and said she was gonna bus since it was her birthday. Which was kind of frustrating since I walked up 26km into the fucking pyranees on my birthday and she seems to just bus because she doesn't feel like walking. And I think that's giving me a bad name and making it look like im not really injured. And will was also still there so the 3 of us bussed to villafranca and then hung out there because Will needed to get money from the post office since an ATM swallowed his card on the first day in st Jean. Which btw if ur doing the Camino make sure you use an ATM attached to an open bank and never withdraw money on sundays. That's the best advice I got. Anyways his mom sends him money orders basically and he had to wait to pick it up while the...

July 9 Today I tried to push myself and walk. I made it about 10km to ponferrada and then decided to bus the other 15 km to cacabelos. I probably could've pushed myself more but I didn't want to injure myself and there was a bus station since it was a big city which is way cheaper than getting a taxi although it would've been a shorter ride. When I bought my ticket at 8:12 am I had 3 minutes to rush to the bus since it left at 8:15 or else I would have to wait until 11 which I didn't want to do. So I made it on the bus and when I got to town I just sat in a park and sat on my phone and people watched. There was a really cute street market going on so I wandered through that and went to the church in town and then went to a cafe and got beer and pasta and waited for everyone else to get to town. While I was sitting outside emma and marnix walked past and then went to the albergue to be first in line. I accidentally left my poles outside the church and when I went bac...

July 8 It's my first day hiking in a while. We're in foncebadon which is a really run down little town in the mountains. Me and emma taxied here to rest a little more and there's a wild herd of sheep that runs around the town you can pet. The albergue is really cool. The people here are really spiritual and kind. I also found some donkeys and pet them and when I was trying to leave their pen, the 2 boxed me in and one of them bit me on my arm which scared me more than hurt. The Cruz de ferra is only 2km from the town so me and emma agreed to walk to that and after that she wanted to keep going and another couple we met Christian and Anna were also planning on taxing so we agreed we'd go to the next town and talk there about how far we wanted to go. So we walked another 3km to a little albergue in the middle of nowhere that is owned by a Templar night and has lots of wild animals. I found a dog that was chained up and when I started walking over to it he started wagg...

July 7 Today has been much better than the past 2 days but I can tell I am still struggling. Emma and I took a taxi to foncebadon and marnix hiked the 30km by himself. Most of today was spent just laying around with emma talking about her relationship with nico and marnix and the inevitable decision she has to make between the two of them. So we got lemon beer and sat behind a bar at a table overlooking the mountains and talked about pros and cons of the both of them so she could talk it through. I can tell by the way she talks about marnix he is who she wants. She smiles when she says his name and she can name more things she likes about him. Her reasoning for having problems with nico is understandable. She wants someone spontaneous and she asked nico what he wanted to do after college and he said get his masters and then get a job and when she asked marnix what he wanted to do in 2 years after his contract ended he said he wanted to travel the world with her. And I think that he...

July 6 Honestly today has been a tough day. Emma can't walk for 3 days so me and her decided to stay another night in astorga and then marnix decided to stay since the next 2 days of hiking are short he said he could just do the full 30km tomorrow and hang out with us for today. Which is kind of shitty because neither of them chose to stay with me when I had tendonitis for basically the entirety of this trip. So this morning we got coffee and they sat on one side of the table and watched videos together and laughed about a bunch of stuff I couldn't see while I just sat refreshing Facebook to find something to take up time. Emma's feet are really bothering her so marnix has been carrying her everywhere and offering to do everything for her which again, never happened with me. And I know he likes her more but it's just so frustrating suffering for so much longer than her and no one has taken an interest in making sure I'm okay. I think originally the 3 of us were ...

July 6 I finally caught up with the group again in Astorga so it's good to be back. My foot felt better today until I walked emma to the hospital in town which ended up being really far away. She was hurting really bad today and the doctor ssid she has tendonitis in the tops of both her feet so she's not supposed to walk for 3 days or she'll permanently damage her feet. She was sobbing because she's so frustrated she can't walk. She had a lot of injuries with lax last year that were really liked with her depression so since she's injured again her depression is getting really bad again. I can understand that. My depression got really bad today. I forgot to take my antidepressant this morning and I gueee my body immediately felt it. I just laid in bed and cried and told Nate we should break up because im not good enough and I thought he deserved better than me because I'm always depressed and miserable and I'll never be satisfied. And it sucked feelin...

July 4 Happy 4th of July. Today was probably the least festive holiday I've had in my life. Me and will slept in and then got breakfast at a cafe and then went to a grocery store and loaded up on food so we wouldn't have to go anywhere the rest of the day. And that's exactly what I did. Laid in bed and watched Netflix and napped and ate. Originally I was planning on catching up with the group but my foot hurt more than the past couple days so I decided against it. Plus it's expensive to keep taking buses and taxis between each town. I also picked up my meds which should start helping after a couple days and then I'll be able to walk by at least Friday. It's nice not walking but I miss being with the group a lot. I really don't have much to talk about since I didn't do much of anything. But it was nice to rest my foot and catch up on sleep. One fun fact I've been meaning to share is I think I wrote it in one of my blogs but the mountains here re...

July 3 Well I finally went to the hospital and I have tendonitis in my right foot so I have a prescription for pain killer and muscle relaxer. I also have to rest for another 3 days so I'm going a little stir crazy. Luckily, my schools insurance will reimburse me once I get back to the states so that's nice to not have to pay 70 euros out of pocket. Although 70 euros for a doctors appointment isn't too bad. I was just hoping it would be free since I am a pilgrim. I had marnix and emma come with me since marnix speaks Spanish really well and it was such a good thing I had him because the receptionist spoke no English and I speak no Spanish besides "muy mal"  and pointing to explain my injury. It was so much fun being with emma and marnix again. It wasn't awkward at all. We went to the super market and bought sandwhich stuff for lunch and then went back to the hotel to eat and hang out and it was so much fun just laying around with them in bed and eating. I ...

Happy 3 week anniversary of me being in espana! Today was kind of a strange day in a way. I didn't expect it to be. Me and will got breakfast at a cafe and then came back to the albergue and just laid around and I watched Netflix and he took a short nap and then he went out wandering by himself. It felt so good to sleep in and just relax for a day without having to worry about catching a bus or going to class or walking 30 km. I wanted to go to the hospital yesterday for my foot since doctors visits are usually free for pilgrims here and I'm curious if I should take more time off from the Camino. Will is going to stay in Leon another couple days and then catch up with us in a later town because of his blister. I bought some anti inflammatory cream for my foot so hopefully that helps some. Will got a prescription yesterday but today he realized it was the wrong one. They just have him prescription ibuprofen so we went back to a pharmacy and got him the real antibacterial drug ...

July 1 Today was an eventful day although I didn't plan for it to be. I woke up and my foot was still killing me even worse than yesterday but we had plans to meet a woman we had met last week at her house for coffee in the next town 3km away so I decided I would walk there and then taxi to town with Kira since the bus doesn't go there and Kira has lots of stress fractures and shin splints. So I walked very slowly since I can barely bend my foot and it's very swollen so it took me a little over an hour to get there and then since Kira doesn't have a lot of money we decided to hitch hike. I've never hitch hiked before and honestly I'm kind of terrified of it but it's been on my bucket list. So me and Kira walked along the highway and stuck our thumbs out to cars who drove past going the right direction. It was a very untraveled highway so about 3 cars passed us in 30 minutes and finally a man stopped and so we got in. Being extra cautious, I texted nate w...