[Gocamino] [saintjames] Re: Security in Santiago

[Rosina]

Gee,
My intention was exactly the opposite. Going  that day was enormously worthwhile.  
The particularly overwhelming crunch only happens when thousand and thousands and thousands go to Obradoiro to see the Burning of the Cathedral.  As it happened, we got there kind of late and had to squeeze, literally, in not the best of places.  Too late I learned that had I gone earlier and placed myself by the government building across the square, as some friends did,  I would have been quite comfortable and better able to view the entire fantastic spectacle. (Also, at 5 feet tall, weighing 100 pounds, and in my sixth decade I was pretty disadvantaged amidst the huge rush of late-comers).
Really, the pageantry, the music, the processions, the ancient instruments, and the collective resulting exaltation are something that cannot be seen, or heard, or felt, anywhere else, and they do transport one's emotions back hundreds of years, to the days that defined the spiritual and cultural structure of the devotion to Santiago which created the Camino and which has maintained and nurtured it ever since.
A group of Mexican pilgrims who were there at the time went around shouting a "porra" (A collective, rhymed, repeated,  enthusiastic short chant typical of Mexico) that said:  "Se vive, se siente, el Camino esta presente" (You live it, you feel it, the Camino is present here), when I heard them I thought to myself "how very, very right they are!". 
As I said, I am absolutely delighted that I went, and while we don't miss those things about which we know nothing, I think I would have missed a heck of a lot, life-wise,  had I not gone.
Hugs!
Rosina     






-----Original Message-----
From: Rebekah S <rebrites at yahoo.com>
To: saintjames at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, Jul 10, 2010 5:52 am
Subject: [saintjames] Re: Security in Santiago


 

I was going to go to Santiago de Compostela for the Big Day this year, but I am no great lover of racket and crowds. 

Reading this post has convinced me to stay home. Your description of not being able to raise your hands to take a photo is right in line with my personal vision of Hell.

Thanks for the warning, Rosina! 

Rebekah



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