Talking with local people?

[Laurie Sanantone]

Something I haven't found in the Camino books and accounts I've read: Conversations with local people in the Camino towns and villages. Nothing about how folks earn a living, what they do for fun, how they feel about life in general. Seems like most of the conversations I read about are between pilgrims. Maybe it's the language barrier? Not enough time/energy/opportunities? Or perhaps these exchanges take place but don't make it into the literature? Just wondering what other pilgrims' experiences might be.

 

[GreatDane]

My best experience last time was talking to a local woman and her dog in Granon. She spoke no English, I can barely speak any Spanish but we had the best time ever talking (and giggling) for 45 minutes about us, dogs, and life in general. No I am not one of the thousands that have written a camino book otherwise you would have read about it!!

 

[peregrina2000]

Something I haven't found in the Camino books and accounts I've read: Conversations with local people in the Camino towns and villages. Nothing about how folks earn a living, what they do for fun, how they feel about life in general. Seems like most of the conversations I read about are between pilgrims. Maybe it's the language barrier? Not enough time/energy/opportunities? Or perhaps these exchanges take place but don't make it into the literature? Just wondering what other pilgrims' experiences might be.

Hi, Laurie,

Welcome to the forum.

For me, the opportunity to talk with people living along the camino is one of its real pleasures. I think that for many, it's the language barrier that makes this hard, but if you speak good Spanish you will find that especially out in the fields or in the small towns, many people will be happy to talk with you. If you're from a part of the world like mine, it never ceases to amaze me how many people are genuinely interested in conversations with strangers.

Here's a picture of last summer's favorite -- a Gallego couple working in the fields, in the hot sun. They were happy to have an excuse to sit in the shade and drink some water for a break. We had a long conversation about the drought, their failed potato crop, the heat, our lives. They took the opportunity to tell me how she had married a "foreigner" (a man from a town more than 25 km away), how they had raised a large family by working several small plots scattered around, and how even her husband's serious illness was not going to keep him down. Conversations like these are pretty humbling, makes you realize how much decency there is in this world. (The picture was their idea, btw, they wanted me to remember them and hug the apostle for them).

Long way of saying that there are plenty of opportunities to connect with real people if you are so inclined. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[basquelady]

Something I haven't found in the Camino books and accounts I've read: Conversations with local people in the Camino towns and villages. Nothing about how folks earn a living, what they do for fun, how they feel about life in general. Seems like most of the conversations I read about are between pilgrims. Maybe it's the language barrier? Not enough time/energy/opportunities? Or perhaps these exchanges take place but don't make it into the literature? Just wondering what other pilgrims' experiences might be.

The key is to be willing to risk yourself in Spanish. I'm fortunate in that my husband is fluent but I find that he tends to let me do a lot of the transactions and then the conversations come out of that; fluency and confidence come with finding your efforts are appreciated. As long as your message is getting across, mistakes are irrelevant in these situations. It's good to be able to have conversations that don't keep to the "usual" pilgrim topics. We find that Spaniards are not interested in background, occupations etc but are eager to exchange ideas and philosophies of life. Great talkers!!!

 

[Tia Valeria]

We have had many great conversations with locals, many of them the older people in small villages. Some have signed our credenciales when there has been no-where for a sello.
The old gentleman going to feed his hens....; the lady who insisted on taking our rubbish home after our picnic so that I did not have to go back up the hill to the local bin....; conversations with café owners and people at their own front doors. Also the lovely Gallego lady delighted (last year) that we were walking to San Martiño de Mondoñedo, her local place of pilgrimage. That was a challenge but we managed to communicate with each other.
As we have walked the more isolated routes we have actually had few English conversations, except between the two of us. . That is part of what we enjoy about the Camino, but maybe don't write about much.

 

[ELHS220]

Something I haven't found in the Camino books and accounts I've read: Conversations with local people in the Camino towns and villages. Nothing about how folks earn a living, what they do for fun, how they feel about life in general. Seems like most of the conversations I read about are between pilgrims. Maybe it's the language barrier? Not enough time/energy/opportunities? Or perhaps these exchanges take place but don't make it into the literature? Just wondering what other pilgrims' experiences might be.

I am a retired Spanish teacher and I actively sought out interaction with the locals. This is one of my favorites, a guided tour of the chicken house.

 

[Icacos]

It was somewhere close to Santiago and, after a few weeks on the Camino, I was feeling the paucity of fresh vegetables. A woman emerged from the vegetable patch adjacent to her home carrying a bunch of freshly harvested carrots. I was sorely tempted to ask if I could come to her house for dinner - even with my limited Spanish I'm confident I could have made myself understood. But, alas, I chickened out....and have been kicking myself ever since. I'm sure it would have been a fun exchange.

 

[Satírico]

I remember a dawn conversation with a local man in Rioja who walked a ways with me and talked about England and life on a country estate. He was on the lookout for English speakers. That was an unexpected bonus.

 

[BeatriceKarjalainen]

Oh the conversations with the locals is one of the best parts of the camino even if you don't speak their language. I have so many great moments with locals. Sometimes it has been longer conversations sometimes just a few words. You will come a long way with a few basic words in Spanish and body language.

 

[lbpierce]

It was somewhere close to Santiago and, after a few weeks on the Camino, I was feeling the paucity of fresh vegetables. ..

By the end of my Caminos, I'm always craving vegetables in a bad way. You can only eat so many ensaladas mixtas. I have a fantasy for my next Camino (Burgos to Santiago), which I will walk with a sister and two nieces. We will be in Santiago for two days and I'm thinking the second day, the four of us should go the market (asbastos?), buy a bunch of vegies to serve on some sort of skewer with maybe a bit of cheese, then go to the entrance of the city (forget the name of the puerta) with big signs saying "Bravo, You Made It" in English and Spanish and handing peregrinos a vegie fix as they enter Santiago. What do you think? P.S. forgive me for going off-topic.

 

[Icacos]

By the end of my Caminos, I'm always craving vegetables in a bad way. You can only eat so many ensaladas mixtas. I have a fantasy for my next Camino (Burgos to Santiago), which I will walk with a sister and two nieces. We will be in Santiago for two days and I'm thinking the second day, the four of us should go the market (asbastos?), buy a bunch of vegies to serve on some sort of skewer with maybe a bit of cheese, then go to the entrance of the city (forget the name of the puerta) with big signs saying "Bravo, You Made It" in English and Spanish and handing peregrinos a vegie fix as they enter Santiago. What do you think? P.S. forgive me for going off-topic.

Sounds like a great idea - as long as they're fresh and crunchy! It's a very generous thought, however, I wonder how that would go over with the health authorities; there are so many rules and regulations when it comes to providing food to the public. Perhaps others have some suggestions

..... and maybe the mods can move this to a new thread .....?

 

[Devon Mike]

By the end of my Caminos, I'm always craving vegetables in a bad way. You can only eat so many ensaladas mixtas. I have a fantasy for my next Camino (Burgos to Santiago), which I will walk with a sister and two nieces. We will be in Santiago for two days and I'm thinking the second day, the four of us should go the market (asbastos?), buy a bunch of vegies to serve on some sort of skewer with maybe a bit of cheese, then go to the entrance of the city (forget the name of the puerta) with big signs saying "Bravo, You Made It" in English and Spanish and handing peregrinos a vegie fix as they enter Santiago. What do you think? P.S. forgive me for going off-topic.

I too eat lots of ensalada mixta, but also in Galicia I love the traditional Caldo Gallego soup which usually has potato, cabbage and white beans.

 

[Pelegrin]

I too eat lots of ensalada mixta, but also in Galicia I love the traditional Caldo Gallego soup which usually has potato, cabbage and white beans.

Yes Mike but Caldo Galego it is not easy for people who don´t like vegatables because both berza and grelo are rather bitter. But is worth it to try it because it is said that those vegetables have anticancer properties.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I am a retired Spanish teacher and I actively sought out interaction with the locals. This is one of my favorites, a guided tour of the chicken house.

My favorite interaction with the locals was also on a farm. Peg was resting at the albergue and I wandered around the rural roads just before dusk. I saw a bunch of cows up on the hillside and then a couple walking down a pista to a gate. I asked them (in Spanish) "Are those cows yours?" and when they said yes I just came out and asked "Can I go with you?" That led to an hour or two of herding some of the cows back to the barn and watching the feeding of the various animals.

Give it a try. I seemed to get by well on the camino with only partially remembered 50 year old high school Spanish and patient listeners. During one conversation I apologized for my poor Spanish but I was encouraged when I was told "We're talking, aren't we?" Peg had done about a year of an hour a day free online Spanish. She choked up trying to speak but I was surprised at how well she understood.

 

[Devon Mike]

Yes Mike but Caldo Galego it is not easy for people who don´t like vegatables because both berza and grelo are rather bitter. But is worth it to try it because it is said that those vegetables have anticancer properties.

This was my reply to the post by lbpierce who was CRAVING vegetables, so not of interest to folk who don't like vegetables.

Another favourite of mine in Galicia is the Pimientos de Padron. Small mild green peppers char-grilled with a little olive oil and served warm sprinkled with sea salt. A lovely snack to go with a glass of red wine or a beer.

 

[Pelegrin]

My favorite interaction with the locals was also on a farm. Peg was resting at the albergue and I wandered around the rural roads just before dusk. I saw a bunch of cows up on the hillside and then a couple walking down a pista to a gate. I asked them (in Spanish) "Are those cows yours?" and when they said yes I just came out and asked "Can I go with you?" That led to an hour or two of herding some of the cows back to the barn and watching the feeding of the various animals.

Give it a try. I seemed to get by well on the camino with only partially remembered 50 year old high school Spanish and patient listeners. During one conversation I apologized for my poor Spanish but I was encouraged when I was told "We're talking, aren't we?" Peg had done about a year of an hour a day free online Spanish. She choked up trying to speak but I was surprised at how well she understood.

When I was a child I spent the whole day taking care of cows (Galician blonde race) at home in Galicia.
It was much more interesting than now (IMO), because nowadays with the modern instalations for cows and the type of cows (milky) the thing is let say more "industrial" and "boring", but nevertheless I agree that it still should be a interesting thing for most urban people.

 

[oursonpolaire]

My Québec friends long ago let me know that they preferred to let me make my linguistic mistakes rather than have me left out of a conversation, so I followed that principle in Spain. I have had some astonishing conversations with locals (astonishing both because I have dreadful Castilian, and because of the topics). I remember on the Cami de San Jaume near La Panadella being dragged into a birthday party when they saw me through a window walking by -- the 13-year-old told me about her aunt's boyfriends and that the current one was stupido pero muy amable y guapo. Then there were the old ladies who had me join them to drink a toast to their friend whose 75th birthday it was-- they had all been friends from the first day of school 70 years ago. Or the gardener by Luquin who was so proud of his tomatoes and figs and would not let me leave until I had eaten my fill (by the way, this is a mistake with figs).

 

[Felipe]

I think that besides the obvious inconvenience, language is not the real obstacle. Spanish is my native language, and I can't say that I have had lots of talks with locals. Really, they are busy with their own issues and problems. Also, I think in the Frances we are so many that people start ignoring us -we become part of the landscape, in a way. In my experience, it is easier to engage in talks in lonelier routes, where a pilgrim is not a so frequent view.
Anyway, I have had some occasional good experiences. Some of the most remarkable:
A lady walking her little dog, near Oloron, who sat besides me in a dusty square. She seemed bitter about life, and asked me about why I was walking such a long distance, alone. She did not seem convinced, but she departed as if she were ruminating the merits of a new idea.
An enthusiast gentleman, just before Hôpital Saint Blaise, who stopped his car to tell me (in the middle of the road, just imagine) that he had done the Camino many years ago, and that he would like to do it again after retirement.
An old, very polite "señor" just before Pamplona, that walked with me some minutes, and before saying goodbye, told me with a smile "Please, pray for me when you arrive in Compostela". It was moving.
So, don' t expect to be received enthusiastically, but interesting experiences do occur.
Another thing is the unexpected gentleness of complete strangers that I have met in the Camino, but this is another issue.

 

[HeidiL]

My favourite discussion (thinking back today; I'm sure I'd choose another one tomorrow) was back in August, walking with a friend from Burgos to Sahagun, just to give her a taste of the Camino.

We were staying at a small hotel, my friend was tired and had gone up to sleep. I was sitting in the hotel lobby by myself, where there was a very comfy sofa and wifi, knitting and relaxing. The dueña of the hotel (a woman around my age) joined me, with two girlfriends, and we had almost two hours of chatting about knitting, adult children and their worries, why we odd foreigners would want to walk the Camino (though one of them HAD walked, almost 20 km, one day the year before, so she was on the verge of catching the bug), food in different countries, everyday aches and pains, my Spanish grammar and vocabulary, husbands and jobs. It was really nice!

 

[MarcelWals]

Friendly farmer CF

• MarcelWals
• Oct 24, 2016
• 1

I met this farmer during my Camino and he was so friendly to share his fresh fruit with me...

I learned a bit of Spanish and asked,spoke to locals. Even it was hard sometimes, at the end we understand each other. it felt great!

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

I think one reason the OP read so little about talking to locals might be--people are reading blogs of those who walked, and probably the bloggers either didn't speak any Spanish, or were too wrapped up in the blog to spend time exploring the town, or as someone said, it wasn't a big enough deal to put in their blog . Someone mentioned Spaniards are busy, and I found that to be true. Most of my conversations in the mornings were with the bartenders in the first open cafe (that could range from the problem with the world today to how to make tortilla to why in the world was I walking alone...and one extremely pleasant lesson in how to roll my r's), or if I chatted briefly with someone walking their dog (and the usual conversation there was praising the dog, asking directions, or both). Later in the day, at lunch or sight-seeing, or with the hospitalero, it was more likely to be how was I enjoying Spain/the camino, where they had been/wanted to go in the US, and pointing out what they consider to be the hidden jewel of their town (bonus points for me if I'd already visited), and why in the world was I walking alone. My Spanish has to be the worst any walker has ever exhibited on the Camino. Ever. For hundreds of years. But I have a thick skin, and would try just about every version of saying a word until the look of comprehension flashed across someone's face. Spaniards were very generous in speaking to me like a child, and some even tossed in some English...if anyone ever laughed, it was long after I was gone, and I was routinely encouraged if I made any attempt to use Spanish or Euskera. SO...anyone reading this---even if you think you don't speak Spanish well, it has to be better than mine...give it a try. sometimes, after I had tried about twenty different versions of saying something, they would say "ahhh...and then I swear would repeat my version number 17, and then answer me in English"

 

[Laurie Sanantone]

Thanks for your messages, MarcelWals and Smallest Sparrow! I walked from Burgos to Santiago in May/June. Though I'd hoped to brush up before my walk, that didn't really happen, and though my Spanish was sufficient for basic needs and simple conversations, I would have welcomed more thoughtful conversations. But I think what really limited me was simple tiredness. I'm not shy about using whatever language capabilities I have to jump into conversations -- had lots of great conversations in Chinese on my last trip to China, but then I wasn't walking 10-18 miles a day.
So my takeaway from this Camino, and my advice to others, would be to allow more time each day to make those connections when/if opportunities arise. I would plan my time differently and give myself more opportunities to mingle when I'm not exhausted; I wouldn't allow my forward momentum to overwhelm the pleasures of simple conversation.

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for your messages, MarcelWals and Smallest Sparrow! I walked from Burgos to Santiago in May/June. Though I'd hoped to brush up before my walk, that didn't really happen, and though my Spanish was sufficient for basic needs and simple conversations, I would have welcomed more thoughtful conversations. But I think what really limited me was simple tiredness. I'm not shy about using whatever language capabilities I have to jump into conversations -- had lots of great conversations in Chinese on my last trip to China, but then I wasn't walking 10-18 miles a day.
So my takeaway from this Camino, and my advice to others, would be to allow more time each day to make those connections when/if opportunities arise. I would plan my time differently and give myself more opportunities to mingle when I'm not exhausted; I wouldn't allow my forward momentum to overwhelm the pleasures of simple conversation.

Hi, Laurie,

I think you describe a phenomenon that happens all the time when people venture out into the unknown. We gravitate towards the familiar. So when I was a junior in college back in 1970 in Madrid, the 35 Americans on my program formed a little bubble that we had to really fight our way out of (but it was worth it!). Now that my university has thousands of Chinese students, we find pockets of campus where essentially English isn't spoken. The same happens on the camino, I think. It's not surprising, and I'm not being judgmental here, just saying that our natural tendency is to look for the path of least resistance. Most people would rather take a guidebook or website recommendation than muster up the effort after a long day's walk to ask a "local" for help with a restaurant. And given the pilgrim numbers on the camino Francés, I think it's becoming harder and harder to push your way out of the bubble. Kind of like taking a bus tour -- the pluses are that you won't get lost and won't struggle, but the down sides are that you will never have any real interactions with those who actually live in the places you are visiting/walking in.

One last note -- the absolutely easiest way to pop that bubble and find yourself immersed in Spain is to walk an untraveled Camino. Sure, it's more of a challenge and more frightening, but I think those of us who do it would say the rewards are great. I do speak good Spanish, though, and that makes a huge difference -- I know my experience would be very different if I couldn't communicate with people. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[don88]

I had several interactions with elderly Spaniards walking the path in their neighborhood. They were all amazed I had come from California to walk their path. While I was unable to have a deep conversation with any of them, I always received a heartfelt Gracias when I left them with Vaya con Dios. The Camino is an amazing place.

 

[VNwalking]

One last note -- the absolutely easiest way to pop that bubble and find yourself immersed in Spain is to walk an untraveled Camino. Sure, it's more of a challenge and more frightening, but I think those of us who do it would say the rewards are great. I do speak good Spanish, though, and that makes a huge difference

Scary? Yup.
Worth it? Oh, my, absolutely.
And I do not speak more than a few words of Spanish, but it's still a wonderful experience to wander off the beaten track.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I had some interesting conversations this time round-- two were in the context of getting my beard trimmed, as I had decided this time to avoid schlepping my beard trimmer; in Soria, in sidestreet pelluqueria for 6€ to the excitement of the trainee student who was set to work on me under her boss’ careful supervision, who did the final eyebrow trim herself- I heard all about the trainee's new boyfriend (who apparently has lovely hair-- he met her in a practice chair at her haircutting school), and in the barber's shop in Arzua. In churches after mass, getting the priest to affix a sello to my credencial; in several places with police (Spanish women are very attractive in uniform); twice with men walking their dogs on the outskirts of small towns. It was clear that they were sometimes astonished at my inventive ways with Spanish grammar and pretty well everybody corrected me at one point or the other, but on this route pilgrims were pretty rare and the busy season was over, so people had time to chat.

In any case, as an Australian pilgrim pointed out to me-- we're their entertainment.

 

[TerryB]

. . . . . . . . .In any case, as an Australian pilgrim pointed out to me-- we're their entertainment.

I am sure that is right . However I have always found the local folk to be kind and polite. Willing to help out with vocabulary, especially if I use an Argentine word or phrase. "Como estas vos?" always seems to raise a laugh.
In 2009 walking the Primitivo on my own, I used no English until after Melide. By that time I could understand most things, even if I still got the grammar wrong (as I still do!). Being of farming background, I had many short talks with folk I met. There seems to be very little sarcasm used on us walkers in Spain - not like many foreigners have to put up with in the U.K.
A little Castillano and a bit of courage to try it makes things so much more interesting.

Blessings
Tio Tel