Practicalities

[bill deutschman]

Juel;

I asked the same question two years ago as I'm old and starting to have
prostrate problems.  I got lots of replies.

Here are 10 weeks of experience.  I usually found a toilet at museums and many
cities had public facilities but expect to pay between 25 and 50 cents to use
them.  Many of the larger grocery stores have toilets and most of the tourist
offices as well.

Along the trail I just went behind a bush to urinate.  Remember this is the
Camino and lots of it passes through trees, bushes and farmland.  You can
always stop at the many bars, every town has at least one, or coffee shops and
ask to use their facilities.  They are free if you buy a drink, the hard cider
is really good and doesn't have much alcohol.  They also serve a drink which is
half beer and half lemonade (lemonada or something like that).  I always
offered to pay if I didn't buy something but don't remember any that accepted.

In general, the Europeans don't worry about urinating in public.  It is not
uncommon to see a guy facing the wall.  I couldn't do it but it didn't seem to
bother them.  Last year we cycled in the Netherlands and they had three sided
pyramids with small basins on each face for the big day of parades.  The guys
just stepped up to a basin and urinated in plain sight of everyone.  Sometimes
there were 5 or 6 in a row.

Have fun and don't worry.

Bill

bill deutschman
455 hillside avenue
klamath falls, or 97601
olcbillafireserve.net


-----Original Message-----
From:   Juel M. Dagenais [SMTP:juelaVIRGINIA.EDU]
Sent:   Saturday, February 23, 2002 9:54 AM
To:     GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
Subject:        Practicalities

Hi,

I have a few questions to ask my path-mates here.  I am
wondering about laundry, or is it easy to rinse out a
shirt, hang it and have it dry by morning?  I really want
to alternate between two pairs of pants, a couple of tanks,
a couple long sleeves, three pair of underwear, and perhaps
a windbreaker in case of rain.  i also will be taking a
journal and a camera and a little first aid kit so i enjoy
hearing all the blister tips. I will be travelling from
June 15th-july 10th. I also plan to walk about 15-20 miles
a day, but will need to take the bus a couple times in
order to complete the route, so I have appreciated the
suggestions on this.  Speaking of which can be lead againto
how one accesses the archive?

My other delicate question has to do with whether there are
facilities along the way to goto the bathroom.  Walking and
drinking a lot of water and being rather small...you know.
i have also heard of a walk three days past santiago to the
water.  i think someone may have mentioned this.  is this
where pilgrims use to get there shells?

i still feel a little nervous about how to get
creditentials, how to get sponsored and where to get sticks
and shells and the like, so again, if you could lead me to
the archives i would be grateful.

Thanks again,

Juel
Graduate Student
Instructional Technology
Curry School of Education