5 posts tagged “hospitalero”
Sorry no pictures, I'm without my laptop for a couple of weeks while I am working in an albergue outside of Santiago.
Great hospitaleros own a private refugio in Castille y Leon, and are teaching me the ropes of hospitality to pilgrims. How do you serve 15-30 pilgrims a day, while balancing your own needs.
Seeing how their "house rules" enable them to take time for themselves, and take care of themselves, so they are fresh and able to create the atmosphere of a fiesta is good learning for me!
Helped clean about 20 beds today, on top of mopping, helping serve food and do dishes, and checking in pilgrims as a "hospitalero." I'm a little proud, too, of how well I could manage a small decimal of both German and Spanish, while also making the English speakers happy! My goal is to learn five new things each day.
One thing I appreciate about these guys is their attention to detail - small details. For example, when setting the table, they are exact in the placement of dishes, making sure that the plates are in line with the edge of the mesa - which reminds me of a t/v show I watched once. In it, they showed preparations for formal state dinners at Windsor Palace. We work with what we have, but having little is no reason to be careless.
Well, our last group of guests left yesterday morning, and we vacated our little apartment, R and me. The rent turned out to be a bit more expensive than I was originally quoted, but we also used it for more people than we originally estimated. The house could hold nine people , ten if there was a couple, and one night we had ten, which was more than I had planned for (and was delighted to welcome!). We have the same apartment reserved in late July to continue, giving me some time to reflect and adjust more, as well as learn from some others doing similar work.
The older I get, which really feels odd rolling off the tongue, the more I value the people who offer meaningful gestures that let you trust they believe in your dreams.
Here in Santa Barbara, sit I, drinking delicious Spanish wine and telling tales that are not unique, to people who also had the same memories, but are more than willing to listen anyway. That's a great thing.
In 2001, I walked 500 miles on the camino de Santiago de Compostela. I'm at a workshop with a bunch of folks who have done the same thing, and almost all of them have done it more than once (including myself). We are pilgrimage junkies - journey addicts.
I'm feeling more alive than I have felt in a long time - sharing my dream with folks who say, "Yeah, go for it".
Drinking a little rioja wine and nibbling some awesome fresh-baked bread, I am not only struck by the Eucharistic overtones, but eucharistic-ing that is happening. Isn't it wonderful, if you have had the luxury, to be in a place where your dreams can grow?
I am particularly excited that I have been bequeathed a very special holy relic: we made this morning a graph of our camino's: epiphanies, darknesses and highlights. Rather than throwing it away, it is going to be sent home with me to guard - this graph of holy moments - holy lingerings - along the way.