<DIV>Bring on the flamethrowers!! </DIV>
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<DIV>Ive been reading a copy of a new book on pilgrimages, reviewed this week in NYT. The author did several trips in different parts of the world, including the Camino. </DIV>
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<DIV>She singled it out for the fatuous bourgeouis trendy flavor it's taken, the Yuppies with their cell phones and New Agers with their mystical crystal ley-line dogmas. It seems, to her, the scruffy old pilgrimage has been sold out to high-maintenance people worried about availability of sanitary pillows and co-ed, hot-water bathrooms and vegan menus. </DIV>
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<DIV>I believe if it's a pilgrimage to you, a spiritual trip, you should go simply, and don't rely on the refugios to meet your needs. Often, when you arrive, the refugios are already filled with Polar-fleece-clad suburbanites with great haircuts, chatting away on their satellite phones, "roughing it" in the charming, low-cost wilds of Spain. (My parents called it "slumming.") </DIV>
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<DIV>These are nice, friendly people. Just don't get in their way. </DIV>
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<DIV>If it's just a charming, cultural hike to you, take enough money to stay in pensions or hotels; there are lots of those. You can meet your refugio-dwelling Pilgrim buds for dinner in town. Or if you're the Rough and Ready type and can't/won't stay in pensions, bring a sleeping bag heavy enough to withstand a few nights in hay barns or church porches or the floor of the medical clinic. </DIV>
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<DIV>It's easy to over-plan before you go. I did it myself. But over time, you find your pace, how much weight you want to carry, and just how easy it becomes to just trust there will be a warm, dry place to sleep once you arrive. The first thing you have to lose is your expectations. </DIV>
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<DIV>Stepping down from the pulpit --</DIV>
<DIV>Rebekah </DIV><BR><BR>Rebekah Scott, journalista<br>'The more I learn, the less I know.'<p><hr SIZE=1>
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