Gocamino

[Angus mac Lir]

Hello, Michael,

I'm going to walk the Camino this September with my sweetheart. I am looking
for all sorts of information, both practical logistical info, and also the
richer information such as what you mention.

Because of my dual information interests, I like to have the parallel paths.
Yes, having lots of messages takes a little time to sort, but that really
isn't an issue to me. I work as a project manager for a large tech
corporation and I field about 100 messages each day. If I have a good
subject line, I sort this stuff very rapidly. If I have any doubt, I delete
immediately. No skin off my nose, as I don't take it personally. Managing
email on a listserver is like mining. I know that there's a lot of gravel
and a little bit of gold. To find the gold, I pan and discard the gravel. No
big deal, and the time for sorting is minimal, even for me. Therefore, I
vote against arbitrary message limits for subscribers. Also, I request that
subscribers do NOT resort to putting their replies to technical or "mundane"
questions into PEM. I subscribe explicitly to get that info.

I do ask that the posters of the richer, cultural subjects speak up. I am
quite interested in reading about Celtic sites, pre-Celtic sites, ley lines
and similar esoteric subjects, megalithic sites; what's this about "game of
the goose" and "Black Virgin" sites? I know absolutely nothing of these, and
I'd greatly desire reading anything that you'd care to share about them.

One possible way to handle the wealth of information re practicalia might be
to create a FAQ section somewhere. That would, however, require someone or
some group to build and maintain it, and that might well be beyond the
desire or capability of the list-owners.

So, to summarise my position: fellow subscribers, please continue posting
here re pragmatic as well as cultural subjects! If anyone has any info re
the subject areas that I listed above, please reply to the list, or if you
would rather move the conversation off-list, send PEM. (Though I think that
we all can benefit from the free posting about all this stuff.)

Here is MY personal, peculiar query: my companion is an addicted runner. She
proposes to run ~6 miles each day, probably at the end of the day. (Yes,
she's strong enough to do so.) Judging by your experience of the Way, how
feasible is this idea? Is the path good enough to run on? How's the
topography? How's the weather in September for this? (Temperatures?
Precipitation?) We're thinking of trying to make ~25 miles each day. Does
this seem do-able? (We're time-constrained to about 3-3 1/2 weeks.) Are we
nuts to think we can do this?

Yes, I am asking for your opinions. Also, I am asking for your stories and
information about the subjects I listed above. Finally, I ask that you write
of the incidents, information, and subjects that were important to you along
the Way. I am so ignorant that I have no idea of what I do not know, and I
depend upon you experienced Pilgrims to enlighten me regarding subjects that
moved you in some way.

I humbly ask you all, experienced and naïve pilgrims: please share with us
your knowledge, your wisdom, and your ignorance. These conversations are as
much a part of the Pilgrimage as the walking.

Angus
-----Original Message-----
From: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage [mailto:GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu]On Behalf Of
Michael Wyatt
Sent: Saturday, 24 February 2001 10 18
To: GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu
Subject: Re: Gocamino

Hello all

I would like to weigh in on this too.  I walked last year.  I know it was
extremely important for me to have a place to ask the personal and practical
questions.  The fact is, many of those were answered more than adequately at
websites (ones that have already been mentioned on this listserv).

But I have to agree that I am beginning to think I want off this
listserve--it is a bit exasperating to find (today) 46 messages, after I
took off 39 yesterday, some of which simply say "no, I got mine at Basic
Outfitters."  I want to agree that some way of limiting responses, or even
finding another way to handle the "what kind of shoes" question, is a good
idea.  Maybe we should say one response per day is the limit.

At a deeper level, though: What I find missing is some reflection on the
meaning of the Camino, its history and culture, what people are discovering
along the way.  I know Preston Pittman mentioned both the Game of the Goose
and the Black Virgin shrines along the way; those are rich topics.  But I
see that no one picked up on them.

I would love to talk about the square outside the Iglesia de Santiago in
Logrono where the Game of the Goose and the Camino are fused.  But I did not
receive any takers when I mentioned that topic several weeks ago.

Maybe that is all I need to say: this could be so much more than a flood of
emails about water and bathrooms, of which I delete nearly all.  I guess I
want to continue to LEARN about the Camino--I would be happy to participate
in another listserve, if that is set up, where that could happen.

I hope I don't sound like a jerk.  Email is a tricky medium--but I guess
that's the point.

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage [mailto:GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu]On
Behalf Of linda davidson
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2001 5:55 PM
To: GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu
Subject: Gocamino


We're a large group now on Gocamino (ole' ! ) and I'm counting about 30 -
50 messages a day now.

Obviously Gocamino serves those who communicate on it. I've noticed that
several topics get recycled quite often. Some of the topics, such as how
and where to use the bathroom might best be answered privately to the
individuals making the query. And I think a quick scan of our archives may
answer some questions that seem to reappear weekly.

As Chris Hewitt is fleshing out a new page for our(Friends of the Road to
Santiago) website on "Frequently Asked Questions," I hope that you've been
offering answers to him about the basic issues about actually trekking to
Santiago.

Thanks for keeping the list lively and interesting. I encourage other kinds
of issues besides the day to day. Issues that deal with the history and the
imagery found along the road, say, or how medieval "hospitalitas" is being
reinvented as the pilgrimage grows.

Linda D