Reflections of the Camino: Part One

I have now returned home following my Epic Adventure. It really did feel epic as I encountered many new challenging experiences, as well as some highlights. Here are a few.

Refugio Gaucelmo, Rabanal del Camino

Volunteering on the Camino 

If you read my last post about a being in service, you know that I was a volunteer hospitalera in an albergue on the Camino de Santiago.  

The challenge with this experience is to be a part of the Camino from the other side of pilgrim life. Before volunteering I attended a training weekend in Canada, and when I arrived, we had a full day to work with the outgoing volunteers in order to learn about Refugio Gaucelmo specifically. Both Llew and I were first time volunteers, so we paid attention!  

Then once we were on our own, we worked together to make decisions and fine tune the role the way we felt it worked for us. Which was a bit different from the people we took over from, and quite different from those who took over from us. 

I believe that together, Llew and I created a very warm and accepting environment. Llew was a master at recalling names and nationalities of the pilgrims, I provided a warm smile and a bit of their own language (when possible) as I showed them around their home for the night. Both of us sent the pilgrims on their way with a hug whenever possible. 

Llew was amazing to work with, and we got along famously. Sadly, just three weeks later, Llew passed away peacefully at an albergue during the remainder of his Camino Walk. Though I was shocked and saddened, I am comforted to know that the Camino was what he loved best. 

Arlene with Llew Pointon

The Day that Spain Went Dark 

During our duty at Refugio Gaucelmo, we experienced an historic event, a nation-wide power outage. In fact, it affected all of Spain, most of Portugal, and some of France. Which seems odd knowing that Spain’s electricity sources include wind, water, and solar power. Yet everything crashed at the same time. Worse yet, the cell service was also disrupted. 

Surprisingly, this was one of my favourite days! People turned off their phones to conserve power, since they were useless anyway—and they talked with each other! Truly, pilgrims are pretty good about communicating anyway, but on this day, they had no alternative.

And it turns out that rural Spain is the best place to be when the power is out. It started at noon, so we still had plenty of daylight. Our albergue had gas power for the hot water heater and the stove, so we could still cook and have hot showers. 

The Camino is mostly a cash economy, so the restaurants and shops were open for business as long as you could pay in cash. The local restaurants stayed open until it was too dark in the kitchen to cook, and just had a slightly limited menu. 

Some of our pilgrims used the communal kitchen and ended up eating by candlelight. It was quite lovely. 

And my favourite moment was in the middle of the night. When I woke up to use the toilet, I noticed some lights in the distance. So I headed out onto the balcony and had a look. Seeing lights in the distance was encouraging, but then I looked up in the sky and saw millions of stars! That was amazing!

I will admit that I was quite happy to wake up the next morning to restored power, though. 

Moving On

Most mornings I was quite happy to hug the pilgrims and get on with the cleaning. But some days, I just wanted to walk away with them. Then came the day that I did! After eighteen days as a volunteer, the time came to walk on.

In the days before I left Rabanal, I went around to the shops and restaurants and said my goodbyes. I even sat in the little church for a few moments of silence. It was beautiful.

Then I was a pilgrim once again and walking was my life. I have a few stories from that experience but will wait until next time to share more.

Buen Camino!