Hospitalero training offered in Victoria in March

Tom and Mary are offering another hospitalero training in Victoria in March, the weekend of 8-10. If you are interested, please see the registration form. If you are wondering what the experience might be like, below is Loretta's report from her 15 days in El Burgo Ranero. 

Latest bedbug info

If you have been posted to serve as a hospitalero or going to walk the camino again this year, please see the latest info on bedbugs

El Burgo Ranero 2012

Hospitalera Report from Loretta

I served at the municipal albergue “Domenico Laffi” in El Burgo Ranero (between Sahagun and Leon) the last two weeks of Oct 2012. I arrived by train from Madrid Chamartin Station to Palencia and then a regional train to the village. It was a short walk from the station on a gravel bumpy road where I immediately fell on top of my suitcase when the wheels got stuck. We had many comical experiences here, like the electricity going out, the roof leaking, the water stopped running, a bedbug incident, nearly running out of fire wood when it was ever so cold .... lots of troubleshooting to do and looking for solutions to problems. El Burgo Ranero village has a population around 800 people. There is a church, a school, a town hall (very helpful municipal staff for problems and supplies), a tienda, farmacia, medico, 2 bars/restaurants/hostals and two other privado albergues (which were closed at this time of year). The local folk were very friendly and interested in the comings and goings at the albergue. Many stopped by to say hola. Our albergue was a donativo albergue and it had 28 beds and we were full nearly every night and the overflow had to go to the private hostals, often grudgingly.  It is unusual but at this albergue the hospitaleros sleep in a room at the back of the building next door in an add-on room.  So every night at 10 pm we would close and head to our room. Over there we had all the supplies for the albergue, like firewood, toilet paper, cleaning products etc. Our albergue had a wonderful well equipped kitchen with many dishes and pots and pans, a washer and dryer and free internet. There was also free wifi at one of the bars and the school.  Our wonderful fireplace kept our pilgrims happy and warm. Often we had communal meals in our lounge where people contributed what they had to the meal or pilgrims took a collection to buy food to cook for the group. The atmosphere was always welcoming and friendly. There was a lot of fun and fellowship. 

Sometimes we went to the restaurant and bar with the pilgrims to eat, watch soccer and socialize, extending our closing a wee bit. The church had Mass nearly daily at 11 am or 12:15 pm on Sundays. The village not only had a regional train station but an Alsa bus stop, so sometimes our pilgrims who had to move on with transit were able to get on their way when tired or injured. Many interesting things happen while serving. One day we had a Korean choir arrive for the night (we were told of this group in advance by the Amigos del Camino de Santiago) and they, with costumes and musical instruments, put on a concert at the albergue for the pilgrims and some of the villagers. 

 

Another time, some members of the Amigos del Camino de Santiago arrived to say hello. They were the group that cleans up the litter on the camino and were in our area to do their work. A Spanish hospitalero serving in Calzadilla de los Hermanillos came by and took us for outings on our time off, once to Sahagun on market day and another time to Bericanos to visit hospitaleras from Italy and Canada serving there.

Overall, with the daily routines of cleaning, registering and problem solving ... it was a very pleasant but tiring experience. This was my second hospitalero experience and I am thinking about number 3 in two years time again.... Loretta

More Canadians ready to serve!

We had a wonderful time in both Fredericton and London, training a total of 24 hospitaleros.  The east coast hospitality was tremendous and we would like to thank Carmelita, Mary and Kevin for providing a home for the Friday night reception, bed and breakfast for the trainers (that would be us!) and the facility arrangements.  We have already had someone posted: Kathleen is now serving in Zamora with Tom, from our west coast training, Val has just received her assignment to serve in Sorges, in the Dordogne, from 15-30 April, 2013 and Doug and Carol will serve in La Coquille in the spring of 2013.  For an up to date list of those serving (and who have served) check it out

The Friday reception in Fredericton. Tapas, paella, bread, wine and tarta de Santiago. 

The conferral on Sunday afternoon in Fredericton, witnessed by the local pilgrim group. The new hospitaleros hail from PEI, and all parts of New Brunswick.

Tom pinning on the hospitalera scarf













The London trained hospitaleros, from London, Waterloo, Toronto, St. Catherines.







For those interested in improving their Spanish before going to Spain, there are many course here in Canada at colleges, recreation centres, online and also one offered by the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.  Course description is here.

More training offered!

As we approach the 25th July, Saint James Day in the Julian calendar, there are groups all over Canada planning day walks and pot lucks to celebrate. Many of those attending will have recently returned from their first, second, third......camino.  They have returned to meet with other pilgrims and to relive, in a way, that magic of the camino.
It is also at this time of year that we begin to receive requests about future hospitalero training sessions so that people can return to the camino and give back some of that magic to other pilgrims.  The training that we offer is a two day session, from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon and prepares you well for offering hospitality to pilgrims in both Spain and France.  The cost is $100, to offset the printing of handouts and all the food for the weekend. Just as the hospitalero is a volunteer position, the trainers volunteer their time to conduct this weekend.  And like many volunteer activities, we get so much out of it, and have the opportunity to relive the camino.
We have two trainings this year: October 19 - 21 in Fredericton, New Brunswick (for the first time) and October 26 - 28 in London Ontario (for the fourth time). We will likely have another training in Victoria B.C. in March of 2013. To register for the training, please fill out the form found here.

Tom Friesen spent two weeks serving as a hospitalero in Grañon in April and you can find his report here. You can also find links in the sidebar to the right of this page, other reports by hospitaleros over the years, and a typical schedule that we follow for the training weekend.

We hope you will join us. Many have found returning to the camino in the role of hospitalero, one of the most rewarding adventures of their lives!

Helping our Japanese pilgrims

I have received this from the Japanese Association of Friends of the Way of St. James.  I think their cause, sending students affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster of last year, to walk the Camino de Santiago, a worthy one.  Please take the time to read this and if you would like to donate, the details are below. This is not a scam, but a worthy project.

Project The First Step

We, Association of Friends of the Way of St. James in Japan, would like to introduce ourselves as an NPO dedicated to the publicity and promotional activities in Japan related to the said pilgrimage route in Northern Spain, and to the international exchange activities with the fellow associations in Spain and other countries. And this is to ask your cooperation with respect to our planned project intended to offer assistance to the students afflicted by the great earthquake disaster of 3.11. last year.

For your quick understanding, we would like to summarize the basic concept of the project as follows:

1)     In view of the fact that the long reconstruction effort of the disaster-stricken area will be put on the shoulder of the next generation, we planned a project which might encourage the young people in Tohoku area to take their first step ahead toward reconstruction of their native place. More specifically, we will invite a group of the high-school students in Tohoku, committed to the said effort, to walk along the Way of St. James.

2)     We named this project as 「○○の一歩」（maru-maru no ippo）, which means “The First Step of (           )”. Each student who applies for participation in this project should fill the blank with his/her own words which reflect his/her wish and commitment. We hope this statement would motivate him/her to make the first step toward his/her own objective.

3)     The Way of St. James is a pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain), which is one of the three Holy Lands in the Christian World along with Jerusalem and Rome. Since old times this road has been widely known as “the road of rebirth and reconstruction”, and many people, not withstanding their religion or race, have walked this road as a means of taking the first step of their new lives. The pilgrims on this road, sharing among them a common and simple purpose to get to the Holy Land, help and cheer on each other in order to overcome any hardship.

4)     We believe that the young people who walk this road, through encounter and mutual cooperation with these fellow pilgrims, they will realize that they are not alone, and will be able to observe objectively their homeland by seeing it from outside. We also believe that, from this hardship of walking, they will realize that accumulation of small but sure steps would finally lead to their destination, and that they will find out their own incentive to make a new step toward their objective.

5)     It is our strong wish to realize this project not only this year but also to continue at least for ten years.

If you wish to send your donation, please send to the following bank account.

Beneficiary Bank : Japan Post Bank

Branch : 018
Beneficiary Bank Address: 3-2, Kasumigaseki 1-chome, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 100-8798, Japan
Beneficiary Bank BIC (SWIFT Code): JPPSJPJ1
Beneficiary Bank CHIPS UID （*3）: 427593
Payee Account Number （*4）: To integrated account
Code number and account number : 10160-82914181
Payee Name: Nihon Camino de Santiago Tomonokai
Payee Address : 2-55-22 Sangenjaya, Setagaya, Tokyo、Japan
Payee Telephone Number：090-9823-3050

We will be very grateful if you would kindly make a contribution for us to   carry out this project. Your consideration will be highly appreciated.

Tomoko Morioka

President

Association of Friends of the Way of St. James in Japan.

Tokyo, Japan.

21 New Hospitaleros ready to serve in Spain and France!

We had a terrific weekend of training with 21 very enthusiastic people from British Columbia and Washington. The next training will be in October, 2012, in Fredericton, NB and  London, ON.  Click here for registration information and let us know in which training you are interested.