[Gocamino] Yellow Arrow "Dumped"

[James Eyskens]

Reasons for pilgrimage are as varied as the pilgrims themselves.  I
started out as a 'tourist' but ended up walking for spiritual reasons.
It was the same in the middle ages.  Many looked on the pilgrimage as an
excuse for a vacation.  You might be interested in 'Jonathan
Sumption-Pilgrimage' which goes into the medieval experience at length.

Buen Camino

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net
[mailto:gocamino-bounces at oakapple.net] On Behalf Of Hathor821 at aol.com
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 10:27 PM
To: PatRush1 at verizon.net; Guha2005 at hotmail.com; skip at thebrasscannon.com
Cc: saintjames at yahoogroups.com; jdufour at videotron.ca;
marthacamino at yahoo.com; Santiagobis at yahoogroups.com;
GoCamino at oakapple.net; Blaroli at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Yellow Arrow "Dumped"

The system of housing and feeding pilgrims will collapse; it's
getting  close to that  now.
------------------------------------------------------
 My first part of my camino ended about l0 days ago and my  impression
of the 
same is totally different to what I had anticipated.   My personal
opinion 
is that el camino, for the majority of  people from  those countries
east of 
Spain  that I  encountered  take el camino without the spirit that it is
meant 
to  be or has meant for many or still means to me.  It has become a  way
for 
the cheapest form of tourist in the 21st century.  Albergues 'by
donation' 
shouldn't exist anymore.  From my own personal experience and  because I
became a 
'hospitalera' at different albergues and only for   personal curiosity
and 
only  for a day or two,  I can tell  all of you that it was pitiful the
donations 
most people put inside the little  box. It is my opinion that the
majority of 
those I met are running their  little marathons to reach Compostela so
they 
can brag at home about all  those kilometers they walked....other than
buying 
food in the local stores  to prepare in those places where food can be
prepared 
or enjoying the 'peregrino  menu' at 8 Euro including dessert I fail to 
understand how this 'camino' could  ever become profitable from the
tourism point 
of view.
 
Without injuring the feelings of those reading this message, a nice goat

sheppart said to me that if the camino was all along France, the French
would 
charge a fee for walking it.  Fortunately, we did it our way, I
understand, we 
had the time but we also had the generosity and contributed in  many
other 
ways than by donations.  In one instance of many, a  peregrino not only
enjoyed 
the meal I had bought for 50 of them and prepared all  afternoon for the
8 PM 
dinner, he even had the audacity to take bottles of  wine and get drunk
during 
the evening; his donation in the box made the sound of  a single coin
and I am 
being optimistic if it was 1 Euro., breakfast  was included.
 
I am not generalizing my thoughts, but the main thought for me after my

first camino is that it has become the cheapest way to travel, at least
for  those 
which have no boundaries and can move easily throughout the  ECC. 
 
We did it our way...we learned our own lessons and we appreciated the
beauty 
and the generosity of the Spanish people.  We will not take anything
for 
granted again, not even a stale piece of bread.
 
Patricia
Coconut Grove,  Florida

  
_______________________________________________
Gocamino mailing list
Gocamino at oakapple.net
http://mailman.oakapple.net/mailman/listinfo/gocamino