LIVE from the Camino Welcoming pilgrims at Arrés

[JiminVa]

That is when I was there.

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Was there that day as well. Good group. Enjoyable evening. Beautiful sunset. Arrived at Santiago Friday.

 

[AZperegrino]

the mítico Álvaro Lazaga should be with you tonight, having made it from Borce over Somport on Friday.

He certainly is, and he has a lot to say! Great guy.

 

[nycwalking]

He certainly is, and he has a lot to say! Great guy.

I am following him on YT.

Love his videos.

 

[AZperegrino]

I am following him on YT.

Love his videos.

And here is proof!

 

[Simsim]

I come behind him. With the help of his videos, I could take the same way over the Somport. But I'm very surprised, that the albergue in Canfanc is closed one month before the official date. No warning in Gronze, no information at the pilgrims office in Canfranc Estation. Fortunately I have my tent and the weather is fine today.
I will arrive in Arres Wednesday.

 

[AZperegrino]

That was it, DONE! Vidal dropped me off in Pamplona on his way home (Bilbao) and I treated myself to a hotel room, across the street from the Betania donativo that I stayed in before going to Arrés. I'm now in the Renfe train from Pamplona to Madrid, with 3:10 hrs to relax. Very comfortable ride.

The new hospis Juan and Montsi arrived yesterday late morning, in a pretty fancy RV. They're from Barcelona, and have stayed here as Peregrinos once, years ago. A very energetic and bubbly couple who I'm sure will have no problem with this gig. They speak only Spanish, but on this Camino that doesn't matter much. We gave them a detailed hand-off tour of the albergue, the church and the Tower, after which we prepared an nice lunch and went over some more details. I think, as it was all at a pace that GT was not able to keep up with most of the time. After a few days of (for me) rather cold weather it warmed up again, and it was an absolutely glorious day - a great start for the new folks.


As has now become clear, the Somport route is now essentially closed until further notice, so I expect the pilgrim traffic to remain below that of previous years. Some will continue to force it by using public transportation to go up as far as possible from the Spanish side, but Canfranc also closing reduces the options even more. The last few days most of our Peregrinos had started in or near Jaca, or came from the C. Catalan. I believe our illustrious guest on his 57th Camino came from Somport this time.

My original plan was to go back to walking the Camino after finishing this hospitalero gig. However, when my son, who lives in Amsterdam, suggested that he come down and spend a week with me, I decided that I was sufficiently Camino'd out for now. I also decided to leave thinking about doing another hospitalero gig for a later time, and give myself time to reflect on this one.

However, I can share a few things that may be useful to others who are considering doing it. In general, if you think you can and want to do it, do it. You will see a dimension of the Camino that you won't see any other way. The hospitalero training offered by the American Pilgrims on the Camino (or similar organizations in Europe or elsewhere) provides a good and necessary foundation. Of course you should enjoy helping people on the Camino, be flexible in various and unexpected situations, etc. But also be very careful selecting the albergue environment that is right for you. Do you prefer a big/busy one on a busy route (e.g. anywhere on the Frances), or a quieter one. One that offers meals, or just beds. In a town or isolated. The American hospitalero in Nagera told me "This is the easiest gig ever". He was an experienced one, but more importantly, they provide beds only. Providing meals as well probably doubles or triples the workload.

And the (for me) critical one: how is your Spanish, and what about your partner's language skills. I should have stated "none" (although I have a little), and requested that my partner must speak at least a little of a language I'm comfortable with. It's still amazing to me that many or most Spanish people, including well educated ones, speak NO other language. Zero. That was a MAJOR problem during this gig, and at times very isolating and difficult, for both of us. Google Translate solves a lot of problems but doesn't allow you to have a real conversation.

There is lots of opportunity to surprise yourself. I had not used my French since high school, well over 50 years ago, but was still able to make simple conversations. You can get away with a lot when you set expectations sufficiently low. And what about cleaning toilets, showers, doing laundry, mopping floors, etc.? No problem. My wife would have been shocked seeing me in action. But spending a night in a hotel, even a simple one, is kinda nice.

 

[J Willhaus]

Agree! I like to cook with pilgrims and the places we've been where we only made breakfast or just provided beds are less enjoyable for me. At a few, you also do a meditation service or are going with pilgrims to attend Mass. I also enjoy those places a lot, although I am not Catholic. There's something satisfying about supporting pilgrims and modeling for them the coming forward for a pilgrim blessing. So many have told me they would not have gone forward alone.

The language thing does get better or at least for me it has. I took some private formal courses and can read and communicate pretty well now. Phil has worked at 6 albergues with little or no Spanish (2 either alone or with a Spanish only teammate). We are almost always in small towns where no one speaks English and he still loves it. He did take 2 semesters of College Spanish last school year on campus with classmates 50+ years younger than him, so he is hoping it will help him in March 2025 at Grañón.