[Gocamino] Starting, Walking, Stamps Etc
Joanie Hess
jethess777 at aol.com
Sat Apr 27 07:55:36 PDT 2013
Sil, Ditto for me, upon 5 arrivals to Santiago (Jul 2006, May 2008, Nov 2009, Oct 2010 and Jul 2011). Never had anything but respect shown to me. Yes, they did ask if I walked the last 100 km on foot. My "yes" was graciously accepted. I took it to mean that I was swearing I really did it, as opposed to riding a bus/taxi from town to town. I was also asked what motivations I had for walking the camino. When I had walked in during late autumn in 2009, the office was not at all busy, so I felt that I could talk about my draw to the camino. My brother, an 8th grade student at the time, vanished in 1966. Remains were never found, but law enforcement definitely knows that he is not alive, so we know that he met with foul play back when. My camino was en lieu of the Requiem Funeral Mass he never had. I have in my possession a compostela that states at the bottom that my walk was done in memory of my brother. This was before the movie "The Way" came out, with the scene towards the end when the main character requests that the certificate be made out in "Daniel Avery"s" name, the son who died.
In the pilgrim's office, I did not know who was from whichever organization. I was rather ignorant of the "Amigos" volunteer group and don't really remember specific T-shirts or whatever, but at all times I was treated kindly by everyone I encountered. The other 4 times I arrived in Santiago, I did not share my personal story-- I had just let it suffice that I had walked for religious reasons. The most memorable entry, I have to admit, was went I arrived and found some young men (all college students) that I spoke with during the last few days of my journey waiting at the top of the stairs at the old pilgrim's office. They saw that it was me and cheered and expressed worry that I would not make it in-- I am old enough to be their grandmother! Other walks I did-- also nice to meet up with "companeiros" I met along the way. I was a solo walker 4 of the 5 times. I am sorry that you had a bad experience, Howard-- I am taking that as quite apart from the usual, based on my own experience.
-Joanie
Anaheim, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: sillydoll <sillydoll at gmail.com>
To: Howard <HMe347 at aol.com>
Cc: gocamino <gocamino at oakapple.net>
Sent: Sat, Apr 27, 2013 4:31 am
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Starting, Walking, Stamps Etc
On the contrary - on my 7 arrivals in Santiago I have always had a warm welcome
in the Pilgrims Office. In 2010 the Amigos volunteers were established to meet,
greet, hug and welcome every pilgrim as the arrive. They need volunteers Howard.
Maybe you could offer your services and be a part of the warm welcome.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
-----Original Message-----
From: Howard <HMe347 at aol.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2013 07:11:22
To: Sil<sillydoll at gmail.com>
Cc: janehgoldstein at gmail.com<janehgoldstein at gmail.com>; jpcrim1974 at gmail.com<jpcrim1974 at gmail.com>;
gocamino at oakapple.net<gocamino at oakapple.net>
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Starting, Walking, Stamps Etc
Sil - they may not be Inquisitors, but they act like they were trained by the
folks at the Motor Vehicles Dept. in NYC. You do not get a warm, fuzzy welcome
from them. Take off your rosé colored glasses, Sil, and be honest with folks
seeking assistance here.
Be prepared, Jeff, for a humiliating, demeaning experience. As I indicated
previously, the compostela is just a piece of paper that will probably lose its
importance to you over time. Not worth getting a negative experience over being
denied to you for "non compliance" with the rules. Sil does you a disservice in
misleading you.
Howard Mendes NYC
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 27, 2013, at 1:06 AM, Sil <sillydoll at gmail.com> wrote:
> "they are slavishly bureacratic and inflexible about NOT gving you the
Compostela unless they are satisfied that you walked the last 100 km. to
Santiago. If you demonstrate that you have walked more than the proscribed 100
km. along other routes or previous segments of th same route, they will scoff at
you and be dismissive."
>
> Ha! Ha! Howard you are so funny! You make the good people in the Pilgrim's
Office sound like vengeful inquisitors! Jeff, the exact opposite is true.
While its true that they don't issue the certificate to pilgrims who take buses
or taxis on the last 100km, the people in the pilgrim's office are not there to
punish anyone and every pilgrim is assessed as an individual according to the
effort they put in to walking the last 100km. I know pilgrims who started in St
Jean but who were unable to walk every km of the last 100km (for various
reasons) who were given the Compostela.
>
>
> On 24 April 2013 19:30, Howard Mendes <hme347 at aol.com> wrote:
>> My experience with the Pilgrim Office in SdeC is that they are slavishly
bureacratic and inflexible about NOT gving you the Compostela unless they are
satisfied that you walked the last 100 km. to Santiago. If you demonstrate that
you have walked more than the proscribed 100 km. along other routes or previous
segments of th same route, they will scoff at you and be dismissive.
>>
>>
>> I have my original Compostela stored away somewhere; but, in truth, it is
just a piece of paper. It is like a high school diploma. No one ever asks to
see it, but you know you earned it. The real evidence of the Camino will be in
your heart and your mind.
>>
>>
>> Howard Mendes, NYC
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jane Goldstein <janehgoldstein at gmail.com>
>> To: Jeff P. Crim <jpcrim1974 at gmail.com>
>> Cc: gocamino <gocamino at oakapple.net>
>> Sent: Wed, Apr 24, 2013 12:16 pm
>> Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Starting, Walking, Stamps Etc
>>
>>
>> Stamps merely show you were there. They can be close or far apart. As long as
>> you walked , then the stamp is ok. But if you drove to each stamp location,
that
>> would not be "right". Stamps do not need to be near each other. So you can
skip
>> sections. I am on the Camino right now.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Apr 24, 2013, at 4:58 PM, "Jeff P. Crim" <jpcrim1974 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > My wife and I are newlyweds (3 months), and while we were dating we
>> > began walking. hiking, and biking. Next month we are going to do a short
>> > section hike of the Appalachian Trail, and since we realized that the
>> > route we drive to go visit her family in PA roughly parallels the AT, we
>> > are also planning to do some day hikes en route to and from this summer.
>> >
>> > We are also planning to take a vacation next year. She's been to Europe
>> > many times, and I never have. Tentatively we are talking about making
>> > the Camino part of that. We cannot plan our trip around the entire
>> > Camino Frances. But instead of walking only the last 100km from Sarria
>> > to Santiago, I was wondering about doing a hybrid thing like we are
>> > doing on the AT. If we were to do some short day hikes on the earlier
>> > sections and then take the bus or train to Sarria and walk to Santiago:
>> > That would certainly get us the Compostella as we would have walked
>> > 100km. My question is: would it be inappropriate to collect stamps in
>> > our credentials for those earlier sections since they will be separated
>> > from the last 100km by vehicle travel?
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> > Gocamino at oakapple.net
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Sil
> https://www.amazon.com/author/amawalker
> www.amawalkerscamino.com
> www.amawalker.blogspot.com
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