[Gocamino] Starting, Walking, Stamps Etc
blaroli at aol.com
blaroli at aol.com
Sat Apr 27 17:00:27 PDT 2013
Now I understand Faffner's grumbles about being woken up.
But some perspective might help:
Unlike Motor Vehicle and other government employees who have fairly good salaries, pension, sick-days and health benefits, those who tend to the Pilgrims Office in Santiago are mostly volunteers; the few who get paid are paid a pittance, and yet they are expected to speak more than one language, be as patient as Job (with tired, or sick, or achy, or over-excited pilgrims, who are often frustrated and irascible by an inability to express the overflowing sentiments in their hart in a language understood by all ), and must be knowledgeable about practical needs, as to how to help[ a pilgrim that can't walk because of blisters, or where to direct a pilgrim who lost his/her money/passport/ cell-phone or whatever.
Further, you would think that those who put their sentiments and emotions on the line by meeting such an array of pilgrim souls would at least have a modicum of practical comfort.......
Well, they do not.
I have been in their "offices" untold times and have been saddened by the fact that in their "staff" room they only have a rickety card table, a few broken down chairs and a hand-me-down refrigerator that contains only sodas, or milk, or some fruits, which one or another of the Pilgrims' Office "workers" bought out of his or her own pocket for the others.
What they do have is the desire to be part of the Camino some way, and to do so they forgo other career or professional pursuits.
(A talented and notable organist from the UK presently devoting a lot of his time to the paper-pushing and asking-questions of Pilgrims' Office duties comes to mind.)
In my long life the living people that I continue to admire barely number one of my hand's fingers. But one of them is a woman as talented, beautiful, educated, charming and intelligent as anyone can ever be. Yet, she forewent offers and opportunities for wealth, renown and success that most of us can only dream of to go back to Santiago and work, for next-to-nothing, handling the administrative needs of the Pilgrims 'Office with the pitiful supplies at their disposal.
When, once, I asked her the reasons for her astonishing, and, to me, in comprehensible , life-defining decision, she answer with one word: The Camino.
Not possessing her spiritual qualities I do not fully comprehend what she meant, but I profoundly admire and, indeed, envy, her reasons.
While for now she has vanished into motherhood (together with another equally admirable and Santiago-devoted friend), I am sure that the seeds of concern and understanding that she nurtured at the Pilgrims 'office go on bearing fruit.
And, for sure she is still there somehow.
And so, my dear present and future fellow pilgrims..... take heart. The whole Camino is about it.......all the way up- to the Pilgrims; Office.
Hugs!
Rosina
ps. If someone wants me to elaborate on the Faffner's mention I should be soooooooo delighted that you asked.
aol.com
-----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 7:31 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
>>
>>
>>
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