Today was everything yesterday was not. It was still darkish when I left, but as the day wore on, I walked through sun-slanted forest groves glimpsing mist-tinted mountains in the distance and vibrant green knolls in between. Sometime during the night, I was transported to Middle Earth!
The others from the group I joined last night took an alternate route past Samos today in order to see an old monastery. My original plan had been to join them, but last night, while trying to pop what I assumed was a new, rain-induced blister, Fernando (Spain), a part-time medic, told me he thought it both looked and smelled unusual. Of course, everyone was asked to weigh in on this, and a huge discussion in Spanish took place while everyone inspected my disgusting foot, the end of which of was translated to me as, "Yes, it's infected." So, I had to forego Samos today to come straight to Sarria and locate the hospital.
It was actually nice to walk by myself, though it was hard to think of anything but my infected blister. I tried to distract myself with music and my memorization project, but worries about how to check myself into a Spanish hospital and what I would do if they told me I couldn't walk anymore and antibiotic pills crowded into my mind. The emotions of it all were getting to me; I had to stop, sit on a stone wall for a while, and cry it up to God before I could continue. (Actually, I'm pretty proud I got all the way to Day 19 for the first tears!)
Since Sarria is only 18 km from Triacastelo, I was there by 10:30 and quickly found the hospital. It could not have gone better, thanks to some helpful receptionists and nurses. The blister was reopened, cleaned, pronounced free from infection (woohoo!), and rebandaged. I cried again, this time thanking Jesus for his goodness to me, even though my feet are still so gross. It's going to take more than 10 pedicures to fix these bad boys.
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