Silence is golden
... though I know some of you have been anxious to hear from me (especially my parents!).
Things here in Spain are going well. I´ve been with limited computer access, and do not have my labtop, so have not been able to load up pictures or blog too often. So, once I get back to Compostela and can load up pics, I will inundate you all.
For the time being, I will share a little of what my days have been like. The apartment I rented in Santiago was available for a brief window in June and then again in July, so between, I have used the opportunity to explore the nature of the experience of pilgrims and hospitality by volunteering at a privately owned refugio (not being offered an opportunity through public albergues, though I applied). The guys who run this particular refugio are well respected among many, as they provide a delightful experience to most pilgrims.
One of them rises about 5:30 each morning to prepare breakfast (simple, bread, jam, coffee, cola coa - my favorite drink - and juice). Music starts at 6:00 am. It used to be the Valkeries, but now is Ave Maria, followed by opera, including one of my favorite choruses, Nessum Dorma. I usually rise with the music, or wait to the pilgrims footsteps are over. My job has been to brush up about twenty beds, sweep the upstairs, and mop the downstairs. I´ve tried to increase the amount that I do. C & L, the owners, usually go to bed after the pilgrims leave, but as I am just rising, I have tried to get ahead on the chores. Today, I was able to do almost everything before they got up: brush thirty beds, sweep and mop the house, clean the kitchen and do the dishes from breakfast - last night we had about fourteen pilgrims stay. I also gave a thorough cleaning to some of the corners that hadn´t been touched in awhile.
The daily office has sustained me - I´ve been delighted to get back into the rythm of the office, especially noon prayer and compline, which during seminar was more difficult for me - something we did not do in community. I do miss, however, regular Eucharist.
Things calm down around noon. At 12:45pm, I light the incense, and at 1:00, the doors open to any pilgrims wandering in. They arrive increasingly around 4:00, when they´ve had a long day. Many more pass by earlier in the day. At 6:00, we start preparing dinner, and I find it somewhat cathartic to set the table, and do the dishes between courses. They cook the same meal each day, which is fine for pilgrims, because it is a new crowd each night, and easier for them - they have a rythm down pat. Great recipes. I have lots of food pictures.
Afterwards, we get things ready for the morning.
Between all this, there is down time, and I have taken to soaking my feet in the ice cold stream during evening prayer. It´s helping my bruised heel. It´s my own lingering time, and normally, the cows are coming home from pasture at that time.
Staying in this small pubelo, I have enjoyed the learning of lingering - meeting people, learning about a place I previously walked through or spent only one night. The people and place are no longer just a "buen camino," they are more real, more holy, because we have shared bread and wine, consecrated by our fellowship if not by a priest. And the glow of candles has melted our conversations together into delicious sense of community, even if only for a night.
