Hospitalero Training to be offered in March

We are pleased to be able to offer another training session for hospitaleros the weekend of March 23-25, in Victoria BC. If you are interested in giving back to the Camino and traveling to Spain (or France) again, please consider this training. The training that we offer is based on that which is offered in Spain and it is the Federacíon there that organizes the assignments to their albergues....about 20.  The training also qualifies you to serve in Miraz or Rabanal, the two albergues that are owned by the Confraternity of Saint James in London.
If you would like to know more about what it's like to be a hospitalero/a, please click on the links to the right. You will also find links to a typical training schedule (Friday dinner to Sunday afternoon) and the registration form for this training in Victoria.
And further down on this blog (November 7) you can read the emails from three of our hospitaleros who were posted in Nájera, Santo Domingo de la Calzada and Grañon during the same two weeks in October. From these emails, you will get a real flavour for what it is like to be back on the hosting side of the camino.

Hospitalero training in Victoria in Spring 2012, TBA

Dates for hospitalero training in Victoria have not yet been set. Please see below for training offered by the America Company of Pilgrims and watch this space for further information.

Hospitalero training in sunny California!

Hospitalero Training Registration Available!
January 13-15, 2012
Menlo Park, CA

Do you remember your favorite albergue?  Chances are there was a friendly hospitalero who greeted you and made you feel at home.  Maybe you got a foot massage, or someone helped with your blisters.  Would you like to be that hospitalero in someone elses Camino?


American Pilgrims is offering a weekend training course for those who would like to volunteer this coming year.  Our arrangement with the Spanish Federation of Friends of the Camino opens almost two dozen albergues for volunteer opportunities.  If you have traveled the Camino, the basic requirements are a short hospitalero course, a willingness to serve, and a love of the Camino.


This course will be offered January 13-15, 2012 in Menlo Park, California.  Cost includes food, housing, and a very enjoyable training experience. Registration is available online at Hospitalero Training on our website www.americanpilgrims.com.   Forms are also available online if you prefer to mail in your registration.

Please contact us at hospitalerotraining@americanpilgrims.com if you have questions or have any difficulty accessing the forms.

Buen camino

News from the camino

We had three recently trained hospitaleras, all working from October 16-31. Because they had met at the training session in Victoria they made an effort to be in touch while they were serving.  Here are their reports from Nájera, Santo Domingo de la Calzada and Grañon where they saw many of the same pilgrims and if you scroll down to October 26-28, you can read about a group of students who stayed in all three albergues.

October 16^th from Nájera

I am now working at my volunteer posting in Najera where we greeted 30 pilgrims yesterday. It is sunny, clear, cold in the mornings and hot in the day. There are still a lot of people out walking for this time of the year. Many challenges with my lack of Spanish but fortunately my companion hospitalera is a really nice woman from Mexico City. The outgoing hospitaleros have been excellent in helping us get started. Our pilgrims so far were from Spain, Italy, Czech, France, Canada.....They are walking from here to see Heather in Santo Domingo de Calzada.

The bodies certainly get stressed from the heat, long distances, showing up in tendonitis, blisters, heat prostration.

Well, I will learn fast now. Great local people and support here for the albergue and the volunteers. Got to get to the bed bug check.....cannot wait.....!

Buen Camino

Maybeth

October 18^th from Grañon

hola todos...

I am here in Grañon and finally have some time for the internet. Learning the ropes and we are 3 here and so far it is going very well.  Fermin is Spanish and Monique is from France and between the 3 of us it is a mix of languages. Poor Monique has a little English and a little Spanish so she is the go between. It is a good test of mi poco de español!  So far most pilgrims going through here are Spanish, Mexican, Korean, Italian, Brazilian..not many speaking English.  I saw Heather in Santo Domingo de la Calzada ayer and she gave me the tour. Wow..so different from Grañon. I love it here even tho´is was a surprise. The cooking has been good so far and we take turns with the evening meal. Tonight I am making potatas Riojana...We are averaging about 14 pilgrims per night. Not as many as Najera o Santo Domingo.  but each group has its own personality! Must go for now but will try to keep in touch. I feel a little pang when we say goodbye to each pilgrim in the morning. I know that I will walk again in the future!  Hasta Pronto por ahora...

October 21 from Grañon

I am ensconced in this small village and it is a wonderful experience so far. We work very hard...the 3 of us. Last night there were 26 pilgrims..the most so far. It was very full, but we added a little more to the pot of food we had prepared and it was like the loaves and the fishes...there was enough for everyone!  I´m going for a walk today to a small hermita/monestary near to here and then back to work! Fermin and I went off to Santo Domingo this morning in his caravan...a vehicle for camping..and bought some comistibles..supplies, since we ate more food than we thought last night. Today the sun is back out and the skies are clear...a little chill in the air, but mostly very nice. Every day we meet so many people and their stories of their countries are eye opening..esp. last night a couple from South Africa and telling me about what it it like there. I´ll tell you later, but I will also tell Michael and Colette...they may think twice before retiring in that country. People are so open and tell a lot..walking does that and sharing a meal like we do hear makes people relax and feel kind of like a family. I am loving it. Monique is a character and an extremely hard worker. We get our chores done in short order each day...I am writing as much as I have time for in my journal, but sometimes at night around 10 30 I only last a few minutes before my body and mind crave sleep!  Hasta luego

p.s. Tom and Mary...this is a great place for a first experience as a hospitalera. I highly recommend it!

October 23 from Grañon

Hola Tomas and Mary!  Here I sit in the Bar Teo in Grañon after Mass..and the bar is full of people enjoying the Sunday chat. I really love these villages and the fact that I am becoming recognizable because I go to church every day!!  My Spanish is a little better but last night there were absolutely no English speakers..only Spanish and a French family. It is certainly making my ear sharper. Tom, it is one week in for me and only one week to go. Wow it is going quickly and I am sure you are looking forward to being over in Spain! Today is warm but last week the temperature dipped a lot and there was some frost on the ground in the early morning. I find it difficult to say goodbye in the mornings..in one way...I feel like I should be going too! This will definitely give me another point of view when I walk the Camino again. Marina has been here a couple of times and again on Tuesday. We have to spray twice a week for chinches, but so far none apparent here. I have heard praises for MayBeth´s quick action when one peregrina came in covered in bites...also from another man who claims that she saved him when he was ill with stomach upset!  It is fun to be on a road where there are 3 of us (Heather, too) in a row. I did get to see Heather and meet her sister briefly when I went to Santo Domingo with my cousin, but will not be able to meet up with the 3 of them in Madrid as my schedule is quite tight. I have been able to walk during the midday out one way..turn around and come back..out the other way..turn around and come back.  I am totally enjoying the other 2 hospitaleros..Fermin is a delightful 73 year old who has done the Camino a dozen times..5 times cycling, and Monique, a rather cheeky French woman in her early 60´s. We have a good time dividing up the chores and each cooking our specialties despite our language limitations! The peregrinos have been so varied that it is hard to generalize. They all love the homey atmosphere and on the cool nights we light a fire in the fireplace. Lovely!  A local bodega donated 12 bottles of excellent wine, so we have glass at meals and that is such a treat. I appreciate good wine! Hasta luego!

October 23 from Nájera

So good to hear your experiences from Granon. I try to send some ¨nice¨pilgrims your way...the ones that can easily walk the extra 5 km past Sto Domingo. Our days are varied and a local man took me out walking in the hills around Najera yesterday with fall colours, vineyards, caves, almonds, olives and pines and spectacular views of the entire region. We have a very small group so far today although we hear that the Logrono albergue was totally full last night....not sure where they all went today. Quite an experience to welcome people from all over the world. I really enjoy seeing everyone safely and happily on their way in the mornings, sending them on to the other ¨Canadian¨ hospitaleras.

Buen Camino

Maybeth

October 23 from Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Well, since everyone else has been giving their reports, I figure I might as well too.  My sister and I have had the pleasure of visits from Maybeth and Brenda.  I highly doubt we will be given any time off to reciprocate.  Our days start at 5:30a where one of us takes a shower since the water tank isn't big enough for both of us to take even quick showers.  We try to be over in the albergue around 6a to open up, print out the weather report, get the book ready for the day, and send pilgrims off with a buen camino and let them know where the only place we know is open...the pasteleria!  After the pilgrims are gone, we empty the trash (we have a cleaning crew), wait for the luggage guy, then we get a couple of hours of rest before opening at Noon.  Somewhere around 1:30p, my sister goes off to cook lunch (that's why I brought her!) and then when she comes back, I go eat.  There is usually a member of the cofradia here from about 1p to 3:30p, then they leave for their lunch and come back around 7p.  They usually let us loose around 9p and close up the albergue.  We don't eat again, we are usually too tired and go to bed.

Our time here started out kinda wobbly with the language barrier being a huge issue.  It still continues to be on some days with Spanish pilgrims who think we should speak the language if we are "working" here.  Once I started wearing my Canada (with an Oregon pin over the maple leaf...don't want to be a poser!) Voluntaria Hospitalera pañuelo (sp?), that attitude seemed to disappear though I do get the occasional crazy French pilgrim who yells at me because he has to take his boots off. That was a fun one last night.  He yelled "Viva la France!" when he left this morning...he even frustrated Julio, my cofradia amigo.

We get in free to the Cathedral, the Tower and the Pilgrim exhibit and have been to two of the three.  The tower is pretty cool.  We went up there the other day and could see 360 degrees around and it was about 6 stories up.  We have also been doing walks in the morning when it is not 3 degrees out and hope to do the "Monastery" walk this week before we leave.

We just said goodbye last night to Julio, our cofradia amigo, who has been with us for the past week.  He will be replaced by another cofradia, but will be missed.  He put up with our butchering of his language and even our feeble attempts to use Google Translate to communicate the important things.  He also took us out one by one every night, sometimes twice, for vino tinto and pinxtos!  The next guy has a lot to live up to. :)

The pilgrims have been great for the most part.  We have had pilgrims from all over...Croatia, Slovakia, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, England, Ireland, Scotland, US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, S. Korea, Japan and more...due to our language barrier, we do our best, but sometimes it seems that is not enough for some people.  There are lots of "weekend warriors" who do the Camino on the weekends, so that might be why the albergues have been so full.  We have been hovering around the 35-45 pilgrims the past few nights.  We like it when we stay under 34 because then we don't have to open the room that is particularly freezing.  They haven't turned on the heat yet and out of our two rooms in the old albergue, the smaller one is particularly brutal with its coldness. 

My only thoughts about Sto. Domingo de la Calzada for future hospìtaleros...you should have reasonable Spanish skills and you should not mind having people hovering over you watching you work...this albergue is not "yours", it is "theirs" and they have a way they like to do things.  They are very welcoming and warm and will bend over backwards to make sure you are doing well, but there is no food allowance, so you have to buy your own food (there was nothing about this in the information I received..).  They will also have your back, like Julio did last night with the French pilgrim who didn't want to take his boots off.  That being said, I think I would pick another place to serve in the future...like a place with no cleaning crew and maybe in a smaller town.

The weather report says it is going to rain today with a 90 percent chance...it's going to dip back down into the mid-teens during the day and single digits at night.  I expect more crummy weather is on it's way, but we all know the weather changes rapidly here, so it might be a balmy 26 if we wait long enough!

That's my report from Sto. Domingo...

Ciao,

Heather

October 26 from Nájera

We have been enjoying time with 21-28 pilgrims for several days. Last evening we had 49 here because there was a group of 30 11-12 year old French children with their adult walking leaders. Starting 5 years ago, the parish started taking their confirmation class for a 7 day Camino walk, moving forward each year on the camino from their last stopping point. The kids walk 10 kms each day. They were really delightful to have here, very well supervised, having dinner at a local restaurant and breakfast at my favourite bar before leaving on their walk to see Heather in Santo Domingo.

I am keeping a photo log of some of the ways we have been helping the pilgrims start their day happily. Today a woman had torture boots that were destroying her feet. With an extra pair of warm socks and a pair of sandals from our ¨left behind take what you need¨ shelf, she left with a big smile.

We are a well oiled team here, enjoying our second week when we actually have time to have coffee, make meals. Tonight the other hospitalera Yolande is hosting a birthday party to celebrate her birthday....it starts at 10:00 after we close the albergue and can leave here. The local amigos of the camino are all her friends so will all be there. We are really looking forward to it.

Buen Camino

Maybeth

October 27 from Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Well, we had the group of French kids last night...they were delayed yesterday because two of the boys were out exploring during lunch in Azofra and discovered a human skeleton in a vineyard!  So the police were called and it delayed the group a bit...crazy times!  There are 19 total including adults and they even have a priest with them so they had mass this morning in our chapel.  Pretty cool! 

And we got the woman who you outfitted with warm socks and sandals!  She was so appreciative of your help, Maybeth.

Last night I got a tour of the cofradía's space on the second floor.  No pictures were allowed, but it was pretty special.  One room was their meeting space where they have special events.  So much history in that one space. I could feel it oozing out of the wood in the walls!  Then there was another room with their memorabilia and awards.  Also, equally impressive.  I felt like it was a real treat to get to go up there.

This coming Sunday, I asked to go to hear a Gregorian chant performance at the Cathedral and am looking forward to getting out for a couple of hours in the evening.  Most pilgrims are done walking by 8p, although we had a woman who had walked the route from Irun and had gotten turned around a bit, so she arrived around 8:30p last night.  Her difficulty was switching to Spanish after having learned a lot of Basque over the past week of walking in Basque country!  She's australian and was super nice.  She overstayed a bit today.  Thank goodness the cleaning lady didn't arrive until 9:30a.  We've been letting the pilgrims stay a little later because it's so dark here in the morning.

Looking forward to the end, but also happy to have met so many neat people who have tolerated our inability to speak their language.  :)

Heather

October 27^th from Nájera

I cannot believe that we have only a few more days here. Last evening Sylvia and I were invited to the birthday party of our third team member, Yolande. The party started at  10:00 pm when we tucked all the pilgrims into their beds and locked the doors in the albergue. We felt like we were breaking out of the albergue and went off to have a wonderful meal of appetizers, wine, spaghetti and 3 desserts sneaking back at 12:30 to break back in to the albergue. We had so much fun with the local people during the meal, a true Camino experience. Tonight we have another party they are giving to honour our time here. We look forward to more wonderful food, laughter, life lived at full volume in true Spanish style.

October 28 from Nájera

It is so much fun that we share the same pilgrim group. The skeleton episode was explored here with a trip to find the guardia civil station and report the find.

Our party was a lot of fun last night with another late night of 12:30. they showered us with gifts including 3 bottles of wine from the local very large bodega, a full size umbrella that will be tough to take on the plane, a carry bag with their logo, and a wonderful clay pilgrim sculpture made of the local clay by artisans in the area.

We finally went to visit the monastery here, went to the pilgrim mass to ring the bell for God, Santiago, and ourselves, and I walked out into the colourful woods along the riverbank this afternoon.

How can it possibly be Oct 28 already.

Buen Camino

Maybeth

October 28 from Grañon

Thanks, Heather...we also had a group of French kids and adults traveling with their parish priest but no skeletons in Grañon! That will be the highlight of their trip! Last night was the most we have had..totalling 34 for dinner and to stay the night...this may seem like a small amount but when we prepare the cena...it makes a difference! Quite a different level of energy when the kids were there...lots of laughter and one of the leaders brought his guitar so the singing was great! Today we had to restock the larder and were told that there will probably be many more pilgrims this weekend who only walk for a few days for the holiday. Padre Jesus took us on a tour of some local monasteries on Wed. The fall colours are lovely. I have to leave on Sunday morning in order to catch my previously booked flight out of Madrid. Can´t believe the time has gone so quickly! Each day is unique in the way it unfolds...and at night now I don´t even hear the chiming church bells each hour...We had a new efficient stove installed yesterday that uses less wood and provides more heat. Now that the nights are colder it is a good renovation...enjoy the rest of your days in Spain and I look forward to a reunion!  Tom...Marina said she remembers you so you will probably see her at the Pilgrims meeting later this fall...I remember her from the first time I walked in 2008. She is quite a character and everyone here knows her when she sweeps into town on her weekly visits. Hasta luego, todos!

And one final note:

from Nájera

I cannot believe we are in our second week. My colleague Sylvia and I have the hang of things now and we have our place sparkling. Pilgrims have been arriving with very negative experiences as well as bed bugs from Logrono. We give them a good clean up and a warm stay and they leave happy and grateful. I love gently waking them up in the morning with a small light at first and more lights later. When they are all fed, watered, geared up, I love sending them on their way for a positive day or whatever awaits. Daily there are challenges with blisters, tendonitis, flagging spirits and I enjoy the personal contact here. We try to make the albergue like a family experience.

There was a big town party in the square last night and a wonderful massive pan of bull and potato.

Buen Camino

Maybeth

Spanish Language Courses for Hospitaleros

A new course has been developed by the University of Santiago de Compostela for hospitaleros who would like to better prepare themselves for their service by improving their Spanish.  This year the course will run from the 2-7 of October and includes 20 hours of Spanish language instruction and 10 hours of Jacobean cultural activities.  All this, including room and half board for €350.

If you are at all interested in attending a course like this, please contact the university. They hope to run these courses each spring and fall if the deman is there.

Report from Nájera

I will be posting reports from Canadian Hospitaleros as they send emails to me.  Karen and Dayton have recorded their experience on the blog: http://hypingthecamino.blogspot.com/ and below there are reports from Gib Clark who served at Nájera from May 1-15.  The first report is after the first 4 days and followed 5 days later and then after the two weeks were completed.

May 4, 2011
Hi there-

For the benefit of those of you who have not been a "Peregrina" ( a
hiker or pilgrim) on the Camino de Compostela, let me explain that
this is my first report of my experiences as a Hospitalero in the
Albergue located in Najera, in northern Spain, The Camino is an
ancient pilgrim's way that has been in continuous use for at least
1000 years. The particular route that I walked is known as the Camino
de France and is about 800 kms. in length.

There is a very strong historical tradition that pilgrims will be
granted food and lodging for free. This continues to this day (as to
shelter) in a number of Albergues. I was fortunate enough to have the
oppportunity (after going to a short preparation course) to volunteer
in the Albergue in Najera, in northern Spain.

So, here I am. This Albergue has about 80 beds (2 high bunk style),
all in the same room. My room (private thankful-about 10 by 12) is
in one corner and is very far from soundproof, so I hear sounds in the
night that are not really all that cool. I am told that one of our
guests who is here tonight is an infamous snorer. There are always a
few.

I arrived here on Thusday, April 28 to start my 2 week stay that
officially started on May 1. My predecessors were 2 young ladies who
spoke absolutely no English! (In Spain-who knew?) They gave me the
short course on what to do as to cleaning, etc. On Saturday, at about
5:00 P.M., my partner arrived. At about 5:01 P.M., the girls left. My
partner is a great guy and is English skills are a very small bit
better.

So, on Saturday evening we made sure everyone was registered, assigned
bunks and stamped their credencials (this is record of where they have
stopped during their Camino) and must be presented to earn a
certificate of completion. By the way, when you ask for your certifcate
at the end of the walk, if you have done it for religious reasons, you
get a beautiful document in Latin that uses a Latin form of your
names. On mine, it is a letter sized document that in effect says "Gib
did it for secular reasons"-it looks somewhat like an enlarged dry
cleaning receipt.

Anyhow, my first night was somewhat exciting. We sell bottles of wine
produced by a guy who lives down the street-literally-for 1.5 Euros
(C$1.40, US$.98-Ha!)

We obviously were not paying attention to a rather small gentleman who
is either Indian or Pakistani. To cut to the chase, he apparently
tried to grope a few ladies So, after lengthy discussions, during
which we had to restrain this guy from falling on someone, I finally
prevailed and we called the cops. Within about 3 minutes 2 "Policia
Locale" and 2 "Guardia Civile" arrived. After a conference, and some
discussion to the effect that we would throw him out on the street,
they said "We won´t do anything." (An obviously very Latinate (word?)
Spanish approach.)

After a few more hours, during which the guy literally fell down in
front of the building onto a concrete sidewalk, we got him into bed.
Shortly after, he got up and fell on top of a German lady who had just
fallen asleep. She was not amused-at least I think that is what she
said.

I of course said the police thing again, but the do gooders again won
out. He tried on about 3 occasions to get out of bed again, but
finally passed out.

The next morning he, displayed no indication that he recalled anything
about what he had done. However, I was gratified by the young guy who
said that he guessed I was right as a result of my experiences. I
don´t know whether this was an insult or a compliment.

Anyhow, this morning, after our guests had all gone, my partner and I
went to get a coffee and muffin. On returning, we found a young girl
working away at cleaning the place. I guess the girls trold me that we
did not have to do this because they paid people to do it, but I just
didn.t understand. What a great surprise!

A few miscellaneous thoughts-other occurrences so far:

-a uni lingual trying to speak to you (and this includes us in that
circumstance) will speak louder and slower which does not help at all

-the pillows get sprayed by Agent Orange or something like it

- in the morning, we wake up everyone starting at 6:00 A.M. and all
have to be out by 8. We then close until 2:00 when we reopen and start
registering guests

-it is an absolute rule that if asked what is the price, the answer is
that it is free-and that is an absolute. Donations, however, will be
accepted. It is also an absolute that nobody will be turned away. This
may mean sleeping on the floor or in the barn or wherever.

-stays of more than one night are not allowed unless in the case of
injury or illness

-there is a really neat Medieval Festival this weekend


May 9, 2011
Hello to all-

Greetings from Najera-pronounced Nakura or something it. The  rate of speaking is such that it is difficult to catch even pronunciation.

Things have quietened down-not yet!

Here is what has happened since my last letter:

-the night after the difficult drunk, we had happy drunk-I believe a Scotsman. However, this guy happily went to bed and was  no problem. I mention this only to point out that all the news is not necessarily bad.

-the next day, after all had left,at about 8:30, I went out the front door and a young guy was consoling his girl friend who was lying on a bench. All she wanted to do was sleep. As she was obviously ill, we got her inside on a proper bed. She in fact was unconscious, so I suggested we call an ambulance. For some reason, my partner wanted to call a taxi. As the girl showed no signs of any change, I  insisted and we called.

Within about 2 minutes, a police car arrived with 1 cop. He got out and looked at the girl, went to his car, and placed a call. Shortly thereafter, a police car, now with 2 cops in it, arrived. They got out and looked at the girl. They then called the ambulance. About 7-8 minutes had now elapsed. I kept a record of the time out of curiosity.

The ambulance arrived about 21 minutes after the call was placed and she was taken to the hospital. The good news is that by about 4:00 o´clock they returned and we, of course, allowed them to stay a second night.

-Plumbing 1-

The next afternoon, sewer pipes  plugged up and flowed into the shower stalls. We called Luiz (sp.?), who is the go to guy for anything about the albergue, and he and another came over. They are quite familiar with plumbing stuff. They spent at least 1 hour trying to unclog one of the main drain pipes. They couldn't get it clear, so a very large "sucker truck"  was brought in.  After a further hour or so, voila! ,job complete.

Plumbing 2

The next day, the flow was into the ladies stalls resumed. So, a repeat performance. (see para above)

-we had an issue with bikes. In error, we allowed about 6-8 bikers to stay. I hasten to add that, even counting these guys, we were  not full.

The issue, however, was bike storage.Our area for this type of thing is quite small and using it as bike storage would impede access  by others. I insisted on outside storage and it was done. The next A.M., guess where the bikes were? I did not make an issue of it as it was now history.

-lat night, some non resident people arrived and my partner allowed them to come and cook and eat their dinner. In the final result, there was  no real problem, but I didn't think this was a wise thing to do.

So, I now eagerly (or anxiously) await the next issue(s) that are on the way!

I will try to keep all informed.

All the best-I would  love to hear your comments.

Gib
So, another eventful time.

June 19, 2011

Hello to all-

I have now been home for about 5 weeks and I think I have some perspective about my experiences.

First, if you ever get the opportunity to be a Hospitalero-DO IT!

This was a great experience. It was a daily exposure to the best and the not so best in people. It was the pleasure of seeing total strangers become close to others very quickly. It was the routine of the unexpected-each day we wondered-really wondered-what might occur.

I have mentioned some of these occurrences in my earlier notes to you. Suffice to say, there were many other incidents. Some were quite funny, but you "had to be there" to appreciate them. Some were pleasant and others not. They all combined to result in a truly memorable experience.

It was not all exciting. In fact, a routine quickly developed. We would get up at 6, say goodby to all until 8 when we made sure all were gone. I would then go for breakfast at a bar about 300 metres away. This was followed by clean up time. We split  the job., I did the dormitory room. This meant tidying the bunks, changing bedding and sweeping and mopping the floor.  I also usually did the toilets. This is not as bad as you may think-all of the tools had very long handles!

At 2 we would open the doors. Most days, there was a significant line up. In fact, on a couple of days, we were full before all who were waiting could be accommodated. Lights out occurred at 10 PM and usually were out on the button.

My partner for the 2 weeks, Ignatio, and I ended up spelling each other off. On most days, we had a routine for when each of us would go to dinner, or have a nap, or simply go for a walk.

In my earlier letters, I mentioned some of the problems with the building. Jean Luis, who is the volunteer head of the local committee running the albergue, is a wonderful person. He and his wife were a great support to us. Somehow we managed some degree of communication in spite of the language barrier. He was always available when needed. Simply put, he is a very fine person.

So, at the end of the 2 weeks, it was nice to be finished, but also sad. One of the most significant events of the whole visit occurred at its conclusion. Luis and his wife presented us with very unique small (and funny) statues of a Pergrino-complete with staff and shell. I will treasure this-and will be reminded of  fond memories by its presence for a very long time.

As always,
Buen Camino!

Gib

Four new Hosptialeros ready to go!

We enjoyed a wonderful training session in Thornhill (north of Toronto) over the weekend of May 6-8.  So now there are four newly trained hospitaleros ready to return to Spain or France to serve in the albergues and help the pilgrims in any way they can.

As usual, we enjoyed paella, wine, tapas and below, we had enough warm weather to enjoy our Caldo Gallego and Sopa de Ajo al fresco.

We update the information of Canadians who are serving in France, so please, when you have made your arrangements to volunteer, please let us know and we will update the files. 

Hospitaleros now being posted!

We now have 13 hospitaleros that have been posted to 8 different albergues in Spain and France for the 2011 season.  Please see the link on the right to see where they will be.  And if you are on the camino, stop and say hi!
We have another training session planned for Toronto for the weekend of May 6-8, so we will be able to provide even more hospitaleros to serve the pilgrims.  If you are interested in joining us for this weekend, please check the links on the right for an outline of the schedule and for the registration form.

Training coming up in Toronto in May

We will be offering another training session in Toronto, the weekend of May 6-8 2011. There has been some demand from the area of Kitchener, Toronto and environs, so we hope that people will be able to take advantage of this session, to prepare themselves to return to Spain to work as a hospitalero/a.  Gib, who attended the training session in Victoria earlier this month has already received his posting to Nájera for the first two weeks of May. If you are interested in seeing some of the albergues where Canadians are posted, click here.
Click here for the registration information.

7 Hospitaleros ready to serve!

We had a terrific weekend at Mary's house, training 7 past pilgrims to return to Spain or France to serve as hospitaleros. The weekend followed the same format as other training sessions, with a reception and dinner on Friday evening, featuring tapas and paella and of course, lots of Spanish wine.  Saturday and Sunday started early (especially Sunday due to the change of clocks) and were filled with sharing, discussions and exercises to prepare the new hospitaleros for every possible scenario that they may meet at their albergue. By 3pm on Sunday, everyone was heading home to Powell River, Comox, Courtney, Seattle, Portland, Calgary and Oak Bay.  We do hope that they will all have the opportunity to serve in this or next year.

After the commissioning ceremony, we took time for a photo that included two Victoria hospitaleros, one who served in Grañon and the other in Corbigny. Their candid comments about their time spent serving the camino were much appreciated.

The next training session to be held in Canada will be in Ontario at the end of May.  Further details will be available in the next month.  If you are interested in returning to the camino to serve as a hospitalero/a, please email and we will notify you of further training sessions.

Hospitalero training offered in Victoria

For those who are interested in volunteering as a hospitalero sometime in the future, we are offering training on the weekend of March 11-13 in Victoria, BC.  Reports from those who have recently served can be found on the right, along with registration forms and a sample of the training schedule.  The cost is $100, and includes meals from Friday night to Sunday afternoon (except Saturday dinner). Billeting can easily be arranged.  We hope you will join us!