Unbelievable

     I'm sitting in an albergue 20km from Santiago.  Let me repeat that.  I'm sitting in an albergue TWENTY KILOMETERS FROM SANTIAGO!  How did that happen?  I am half a day away from the destination I've been working towards for the last 65 days.  I have walked in the heat, in the rain, in the cold, in unreasonably strong wind.  I have walked over mountains, through muddy valleys, down stony paths, on the highways, on country roads (often littered with the signs of cattle), on cobblestone streets (the worst kind to walk on quite frankly).  I have walked through two countries without speaking the native language.  I have walked for twelve hours at a time, covering foolhardy distances while being jovially called insane by other pilgrims.  I have spent nights alone, feeling homesick.  I have spent nights with others, sharing meals and memories.  I have spent nights in huge dorms wishing the teenagers that just started walking would shut up and go to bed.  I have been opened to God through prayer, through loneliness, through community, through the healing waters of Lourdes.  I have been frustrated by closed churches, by museum churches, by masses that omitted rather important parts of the liturgy.  I have seen the beauty in simple churches, in churches that seek to minister to the people in the most basic and beautiful ways, in the Eucharist held for the faithful to adore.  I have been angry, sad, afraid, anxious, and overwhelmingly overjoyed.  I have walked a thousand miles to kneel at the tomb of St. James, to fall down at the feet of Christ my King, to thank Him for His abundant blessings and all the ways He has shown Himself to me this summer.  After 65 days of laughing and crying and everything in between...I'll walk into Santiago before noon tomorrow.  How will I react? I have no idea.  It almost doesn't seem real.  All the planning, all the prayers, all the support from everyone back home, all the walking, and walking, and walking... all for Santiago, all for tomorrow.  Unbelievable.