[Gocamino] 2010. Message from Paulo Coelho."

[blaroli@aol.com]

Hello you all,
I'm back from World Cup frenzy..... and what a ride it was!..... I'm exhauuuuuuusted!
The Brasilians seemed to have expected that their "Selecao" would lose.  (A "selection" is the group of 23 players selected to represent their country.  The players must be citizens of such country, but the coach need not be.  Most countries refer to their team as the "Selection").  At any rate, there was much talk in Rio about how their team's loss in 1998 had been pre-arranged after their win in 1994. The argument is that if the same country wins all the time the tournament would lose some of its enormous universal appeal. After winning the Cup in 2002 it would not do, politically speaking, to win it again in 1996. 
Needless to say, in Rio, while sipping caipirinhas by the beach on those gorgeous Southern Hemisphere winter evenings,  you could fan yourself with the shadenfreude over Zidane's ungrace under pressure.  Simply delicious.   
While the pre-planned-loss argument may seem far-fetched, it does make some sense, I suppose: the Brasilians, and their coaches, did seem strangely disengaged when they did play.  More curiously, the gentlemanly and super-nice Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, a/k/a "Ronaldinho", and another Brasilian super-star, Adriano, spend the night dancing at a disco the day when Brasil was eliminated! 
Well, here's looking at 2010, when the next Holy Xacobean Year and World Cup will converge!!!
(---- If a European country had to win the Cup and Spain did not do it, I'm glad that the Italians won.. Who doesn't love Italy?....On merit, though, I think that the Portuguese deserved it.)
 
The Camino Brasilian e-venues have been carrying a recent message from Paulo Coelho which, translated,  reads:
 
"After all I have lived and recorded about the Camino there was missing only one thing that I had thought about:  to sponsor an albergue in the Camino de Santiago.
But how to choose an albergue to sponsor among the more than 200 which today offer shelter to pilgrims? Which one? Where?
For a long time the Camino has given me much joy and lovely memories, among them, finding a friend who is always disposed to help other pilgrims:  Acacio da Paz.  I invited Acacio and Orietta (his wife) to be with me in Victoria for the awarding of the prize "Alava en el Corazon". After the ceremony we were invited to a dinner and right there I decided to sponsor, support and encourage their new project, a Pilgrims' Albergue in Viloria de Rioja, a place that deserves the presence of these two pilgrims and volunteers who have adopted the Camino as their personal legend.
It is a privilege for me to sponsor this project, more so because Acacio and Orietta are two pilgrims who welcome other pilgrims as I was received in my first Camino.  They are totally dedicated to the Camino and its pilgrims. They are persons who truly follow the yellow arrows engraved in their hearts.
PAULO COELHO."   
 
The new albergue is located at Calle Bajera 31, Viloria de Rioja, Burgos.  The telephone is 679-941-123.  e-mqio: acaciopaz at yahoo.com.br
 
Big hug!
Rosina
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