Dear Classmates
I am into my 3rd and a half days on the job in Samos. It has been interesting and educational, to say the least. I chose to arrive the evening of the 30th, instead of spending a night in Sarria and catching the bus in the morning. I am so glad that I did so.
When my taxi pulled up to the albergue, one of my predecessors, Manuel, was sitting in a chair by the door. He greeted me with, 'Welcome, you're in charge now!' After a while his partner, Miguel, showed up. They began my education, showing me around the albergue, etc. That night we had dinner with a Jesuit priest. My impression from the Google translation of the introductory letter from the Monesterio was that we would dine with the monks. Turns out that we are given the same meals as the monks, and mostly at the same time, but we dine separately. Breakfast is at 9:15, lunch at 2, and dinner at 9. The food has been excellent. Yesterday we had delicious pork chops, french fries, noodle soup, and a tasty salad, for lunch. That is typical of our meals here, except for breakfast which is a typical Spanish breakfast of bread, jam, cheese, coffee, Etc.
The next day, my companion hospitalero, Michael, arrived about midday, after we had done the morning clean up chores. Those chores are what you might expect. Sweep everywhere, empty trash, mop everywhere, clean all the bathroom fixtures, etc. After chores, we have breakfast and then our “free time,” until we open the doors at 1. Usually there is someone waiting to register when we open the doors. So far we have had a variable load of peregrinos each day. Most days we have had from 10 to 14 Peregrinos but on Saturday, we had 39. That was the first work day for Michael and me, and we were very busy trying to get everyone registered, assigned a bed, etc, etc, etc. At 2 we break for lunch, and then back to the albergue for our afternoon and evening.
I will link to a couple of photos, showing the front door of the albergue, including my 2 predecessors, Manuel and Miguel, and the door to my room which is on the second floor of the monastery.
After only two days on the job here, it seems we are settling into a routine. So I would guess that my updates will become less frequent, since there will be nothing out of the ordinary to report. We'll see how that develops. I send my greetings to all of you back in Canada and wish you all the best.
