[Gocamino] Starting, Walking, Stamps Etc

Sat Apr 27 17:15:08 PDT 2013

I had a great experience at the Pilgrim's Office. I was able to stash my
pack for a small amount of money to free me to go to mass and explore the
city. I was surprised to see that they wrote my name in Latin. It is just a
piece of paper, true. The real treasure is the walk. Buen Camino.

On 4/27/13 8:00 PM, "blaroli at aol.com" <blaroli at aol.com> wrote:

> 
> 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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