A LETTER FROM ANGELA

Angela is a Camino angel.  She served in the albergue in Castrojeriz for 9 years and when they started charging 4 years ago she moved to San Anton where she serves every September. 

 

From the first day she arrived we just clicked, like women sometimes do.  She thought my black solar shower bags were a hoot but was happy when she had her first lukewarm shower instead of a freezing cold shower.
She loved the pilgrims and they loved her.  She was always kind, cheerful and supporting.  She was fascinated as I assembled all the ingredients for a Durban curry, with a home-made Spanish style chutney made from apricot jam, finely diced onions and balsamic vinegar.  "Mermelade en currie?" 
She was always generous and when we went to mass at the convent of Santa Clara she introduced me to the sisters as the hospitalera who had introduced a prayer request box. 
I had been home two weeks when I received this email from her.




Querida Silvia
Me alegro mucho de haberte conocido,gracias por lo considerada y amable que fuiste conmigo.
Quiero que sepas que me encantaría volver a tenerte como compañera hospitalera porque eres la más trabajadora,entregada,amable y amorosa que he conocido en los 13 años que llevo de hospitalera.
Es verdad que en tu afan de hacerlo lo mejor posible, te escediste en lavar todos los días las sabanas, cuando realmente no hacia falta, ya que se podian llevar cada semana a la lavandería del hotel.pero bendita seas por el amor que pusiste en ello.
Nunca olvidare tu exquisita y amable atención a los peregrinos, las veladas de hermandad y unión que creabas cada noche despues de la cena, pidiendo a los peregrinos que cantaran una canción de su pais, que dijeran como se sentian en el camino y que leyeras cada petición que dejaban escrita.Fue precioso y lo conseguias tu cada día con la mayor sencillez.
Que dios te bendiga Silvia, espero verte en logroño cuando vengas, no te olvides de llamarme y mandame las fotos.
Un fuerte abrazo
Ángela

Google Translation:

Dear SilviaI'm glad to have met you, thanks for how considerate and kind you were with me.I want you to know that I would love to have you as hospitalera partner because you're the hardest-working, dedicated, kind and loving I have met in the 13 years I've been in hospitalera.It is true that in your eagerness to do your best, you exceeded, to wash the sheets every day, when it really was not necessary, as it could lead to the laundry each week hotel. But be blessed by the love you put into it.Exquisite and never forget your kind attention to the pilgrims, veiled brotherhood and unity you used to create each night after dinner, asking the pilgrims to sing a song of his country, to tell how they felt on the way and for them to read each request that left precious escrita. It was beautiful and conseguias your every day with great simplicity.Silvia God bless you, I hope to see you when you come Logroño not forget to call me and send me photos.A hugAngela

27 September - LAST DAY - SAN ANTON

I opened the gate extra early this morning because two pilgrims wanted to leave before 6am.  The moon was low in the sky and shone through the open circle with the TAU at the top of the gate. 
The walls glowed in the moonlight and I thought, 'How am I going to manage going back to cities and noise and closed spaces after living in a place with the sky for a roof, moonlight for illumination and only the sound of the wind or pilgrims singing?"    I was missing my family and wanted to get back to them, but I was torn between needing them and wanting to stay here longer.

After breakfast Angela, Kristine and some of our pilgrims went off to mass.  A young Italian pilgrim went with them but left his pack as he intended coming back later.  I did the usual housekeeping, and whilst I was shaking out the blankets a familiar figure on a bicycle came through the gates - it was Mau.  I was really pleased to see him and offered him a coffee.  He had brought tomatoes, onions and a the biggest zucchini I'd ever seen slung over his shoulder. 

Photo from:  http://jimfriedrich.com/2014/04/24/hospital-for-the-soul/

"You are happy to be going home to your family?" he asked.
"Yes and no," I said.  "I am missing them but I am also sad to be leaving this place."  I almost felt like weeping, something I don't do easily.   He just nodded in understanding, and we sat and had our drink.  He is a special human being, gentle and kind and he told me about a visit he's had from his father who he's been estranged from for many years because his father didn't approve of or understand his choice of a way of life that was so different from his own.

Once Mau left I tidied the prayer box, set out the register and the first pilgrim of the day arrived, my first South African!  Well, they are not born and bred South African's but moved to Cape Town from Argentina and call South Africa their home.  She asked if she and her husband, who was struggling along the path behind her, could stay the night.  We are not supposed to keep beds for people on the trail but I couldn't refuse an injured husband with the wife sitting in front of me.  He arrived soon after and they chose their bunk beds.  The Italian pilgrim returned from Mass for his pack and he soon carried on walking to Castrojeriz.

A tour bus arrived and the guide asked if we had seen a group of German pilgrims.  No, we hadn't seen them.  He told us that he had lost a group of pilgrims outside San Anton.  "Is there are bar anywhere here?" asked a German sitting outside the albergue.  "Only 4 km away, at Castrojeriz," I told him.  "That's where they will be, : he said.

Two American pilgrims arrived - a young woman and her older friend.  They asked if they could stay.  Rebecca was thinking of doing a hospitaleros course and I told her that she could also volunteer, arrive a couple of days early and be shown the ropes at the albergue she was assigned to. 

A car pulled up outside and Rebekah Scot and her husband Paddy walked in.  Reb and I had a chat about the albergue, the bed bugs, about Angela and me leaving tomorrow and leaving Kristine on her own.
I introduced her to Rebecca and after a long chat, Rebecca and Lois agreed to spend the next two days with Kristine, after which Reb would join her for the last two days.  The universe had a way of making things right and everyone was happy!

Angela and Kristine returned and Angela told me that we had an appointment with the sisters at 4:00pm.  When we arrived at the convent she rang the bell at the revolving hatch and they passed a key to her for the door on left.  We went upstairs and sat down in a room, separated from another smaller room behind bars.  Soon a few nuns arrived, including two from Kenya and one from Berundi.  We had a great conversation about Africa, our President Zuma, polygamy and politics.  They were interested in my heritage and were surprised to learn that on my mother's side, the Dutch had arrived at the Cape over 400 years ago.  They were happy to provide a prayer box for pilgrims.

We hoped to hitch a lift back to the albergue but all the traffic was going to Castrojeriz so we ended up having to walk the 4km back.  When we arrived back the place was full and we only had two beds left. 

Angela, the South African pilgrim and Kristine started preparing for dinner and as I was signing in a pilgrim I looked up and saw a familiar person walking through the door.  It was Dean, a Ramblers pilgrim from Durban who had come to nearly every Camino workshop of mine since 2002!  He had finally got his act together and was walking his first Camino.  He wasn't sure if I would still be at San Anton and because he was walking quite slowly he was a little behind his planned schedule.
I was delighted to see him and we sat together at dinner so that we could catch up on news. 
This was my last night on the Camino and at San Anton and as I looked around the table at the pilgrims who still had over 450 km to go, I wondered how the Camino would impact on their lives. 
After the last song was sung, the last thank you said to the Camino, and the last prayer request added to the box, I said good bye to Angela and Kristine.  Pedro the taxi guy was coming for me at about 5h45 and I preferred to say goodbye now than wake them up and get them out of bed in the morning.  I left my down jacket for Kristine to use on her Primitivo walk and wished her well.  Angela and I promised to keep in touch.

27 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

 

I got up at 5h15 and quietly carried my big case to the gates.  Then I packed my things into my backpack and whispered good bye to Angela and Kristine.  I closed the gates behind me and walked up to the road.  The walls of the monastery looked different from the outside, the moon shining through the arch that spanned the road.  How many pilgrims have walked through that arch, I wondered?  Millions.  I could almost hear the shuffling of feet and the click-click of walking poles on the road.  The taxi arrived and we were soon speeding along towards Burgos.

I had time to think on the way to Burgos.  Besides the joy of serving pilgrims, very special pilgrims who had chosen to stay at San Anton because they wanted to experience the spirit of the Camino, what lessons had a I learned this time?  I have learned patience, tolerance and endurance, and not to give in to a bossy person, for the sake of peace, on issues that I feel are important or right.  I learned to stand my ground with a smile and not get into any disagreements or arguments. 
I have served with 7 hospitaleros and have fortunately have had a special, happy relationship with all but one - Mrs Bossy.  Even this relationship wasn't doom and gloom, more like stoically enduring constant fault finding and control.  Would I serve with her again?  Probably yes - if we could sit down on day one and agree that there will be no fault finding or bossiness.  They say an apple doesn't fall far from the tree and she has displayed the very qualities that she disliked in her mother.  The fact that she has been on her own for 27 years, raised her children on her own, is an occupational health nurse also contributes to her controlling nature.  She can't help it - in her world she is the boss-lady and she brought that with her to the Camino, and to San Anton. 

26 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

I suggested to Angela last night that she take Kristine with her to mass from now on.  After we leave, Kristine will be on her own and won't be able to leave the albergue again.  She agreed but said that we would visit the sisters in the afternoon to discuss the idea for the prayer box so they went off after breakfast and I started the daily cleaning routine.

A tiny, elderly Mexican pilgrim hobbled in at around 8am and asked if she could please stay.  Her legs were painful and she didn't think she could walk any further today.  I offered her the last of the coffee from the pot and some breakfast and chose a lower bunk bed for her, taking her backpack into the dormitory. 
I told her to sit and take it easy, but the next thing she had taken a cleaning cloth and was wiping down the table and sweeping up the breakfast crumbs!  When I started wringing the sheets she came to help but she was too short to help me hang them on the wash line.

Pilgrims come and go all morning.  Some stop and rest, others have a cursory look and move on.  Most get a 'sello' and have a drink of water, dropping a few coins into the pottery cup.  We have two 'sellos'.  One is the TAU and is the stamp for the albergue. The other is left on the table for anyone to use and represents the Tau, sign of Malta, and the logos of Castile y Leon.
I have come to realise that only special pilgrims want to stay here, really want to stay.  Some run to get here in order to secure a bed.  They have marked San Anton on their 'must stay' list and we have had to turn bitterly disappointed pilgrims away when we are full.
 Others express an interest in staying but no electricity, no Wi-Fi and no hot water is too much for them and they move on to Castrojeriz.  I can understand this.  That was me, 13 years ago when I first walked the Camino and shunned all places that were described as 'basic' i.e. mattresses on the floor, no hot water or no electricity.  "Pass!" we said - and moved on to a more upmarket, modern albergue.  After a long, hot day of walking the least we wanted was a hot shower and a comfortable bed.

By choosing only the modern albergues we didn't stay in any albergues that offered meals, no candlelight dinners, sing-alongs or pilgrim blessings.  I didn't realise what I had missed until I returned home and started hearing other pilgrims' glowing accounts of communal meals, special 'oraciones' or blessings.  In 2004 I walked from Paris, a route that had no pilgrim shelters for at least 750km until we reached the south and then we started finding a few albergues close to Saint Jean Pied de Port. 

When I returned to walk the Camino Frances in 2007 I made a list of the most popular traditional pilgrim shelters and we religiously sought them out and stayed in every one of them - Eunate, Granon, Tosantos, San Bol, Bercianos, Manjarin, Ave Fenix, Vegetariano, Ruitelin, San Xulian - all chosen for atmosphere and tradition.  I reckoned I could have shiny new bathrooms, comfortable beds and bedside lamps when I got back home! 
I was just like the pilgrims that run to San Anton with a determination to stay here.

Angela and Kristine returned and we were able to sit and chat to the pilgrims that were staying the night.  I took wine left over from the night before and a few more plums to the niche under the arch and topped up a black shower bag so that I could have a lukewarm shower.  A couple of the pilgrims followed and also had a warm shower.
I checked the fridge and when I saw that we only had lettuce and tomatoes, I decided to fetch a large, red apple a pilgrim had given me from the ice-box.  As I started to dice it into the salad Mrs Bossy looked at me and said, "We could've shared that apple.  You didn't have to use it in the salad." 
"Id prefer to share it with all the pilgrims," I said with a smile.  After all it was my apple, given by a pilgrim and now many would share it.
We had a full house at dinner and half way through, we saw bicycle lights approaching the albergue through the gates.  I had set a place for San Anton and we had enough food so when the cyclist asked if we had a bed we said yes, and offered him some dinner. 
"Where are you from?" I asked the stock question as I prepared to sign him in and stamp his credencial. "I'm from the Netherlands, " he answered. 
"And what is your name?" I asked.
"My name is Anton," he said.
We all started laughing and had to share with him our tradition of keeping a place for San Anton!
Kristine was going to be walking the Primitivo when she left here but she was concerned that she didn't have enough warm clothing.  It had turned chilly and the temperatures at night and in the early mornings were very low.  I offered her my down, padded jacket and said I would give it to before I left.

24 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

"Don't you think you've cut too much bread?" said Mrs Bossy this morning at breakfast.  "No problem," said I, smiling, "we can toast and left-overs tomorrow or have it for lunch."  There was none left over.  After breakfast, a small group of pilgrims were ready to accompany Angela and Kristine to the Convent for mass before continuing to Castrojeriz. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnupacFEPIs

"No lavar los platos!" said Angela (do not wash the dishes).  I wasn't supposed to get the dressing on my finger wet but I pulled on a silicone glove and a plastic glove and was able to wash the dishes, stew the sheets and hang them, wash down the shower walls and floor and mop the two rooms without getting it wet.

Any water left over from the black shower bags or final rinse water went on the herbs and plants.  The herb pots contained rosemary, basil, Italian parsley, oregano and there were tomatoes on the vine, a couple of peppers, a large pumpkin almost ready to pick and zucchinis.  I also watered the Cyprus trees that had been planted in honour of Julian and Jose. 

I had to listen out for the bread van.  He gave a long hoot like a train whistle and if you didn't hustle he could drive off and there would be no bread for the pilgrims. 
" Con pan y vino se anda el Camino"  (with bread and wine we walk the Camino).
No bread would be unthinkable!  I had decided to treat the pilgrims and had ordered two large tuna empanadas (baked pies) for dinner.  

Angela and Kristine returned at around 1:30 pm and shortly after a car arrived with a special visitor for me.  I had never met Maria Alvarez but had heard about the angel who lived in Burgos and spent days standing at a crossroads directing pilgrims around a construction site.  Tom from Jenny's group had met her and when she met Moyra, she told her that she knew a South African called Sylvia from Facebook.  There are many unsung heroes on the Camino who serve pilgrims in their own way.  A cyclist pushed his bike through the gate and up the hill to the albergue.  He looked dehydrated.  "I've cycled too far with no water" he said. "But I have to go on and meet my sister in Castrojeriz."  I poured a glass of water for him and filled his bottle. "Its only 4km to the village" I told him.
"You shouldn't have given him our water" said Mrs Bossy. "The water is meant for us and our pilgrims." 
"All pilgrims are our pilgrims," I replied.  There was always water in the two carafes on the tables outside so giving the cyclist water wouldn't leave us short.  How could we refuse a thirsty pilgrim some water?  If we ever ran out we could boil tap water and fill the bottles for drinking.

The empanadas were golden in their boxes and we were able to heat them by placing them on upturned lids over pots of boiling water.   We decided on a tapa starter with bread, olive oil and balsamic mix to dip bread into, slices of pickled peppers and olives.  Empanada and salad would be our main and we were able to make a fruit salad from a large melon donated by Mau, plums donated by the sisters at the convent, apples and bananas, served with Convent cookies.

The pilgrims told us that this was the best meal they'd had on the Camino!  We told them that a meal like this was only possible through the generosity of the pilgrims who had stayed before them.  If they had been given lentil soup and bread, that might have been because the donations received the day before could not buy anything else! 
The great thing was that we had not had to dip into the donations once since I'd been there and all the shopping was paid for by the donation in the 'sello' cup on the table at the entrance, and from tourists' purchases of trinkets and cards. 

The table is laid out with a carafe of fresh water, a few pottery cups, bowl of fruit or biscuits and a 'sello' (stamp) and a pen to write the date in their credenciales.  Every night when I cleared the donations from the cup, there was always enough to buy at least 8 loaves of bread and eggs for the next day's breakfast.

Breakfast on the Camino usually consists of bread and jam and coffee.  When I did the hospitaleros course with Rebekah Scot, she suggested that we included eggs which were easy to buy and cook, cheap and always appreciated by the pilgrims.  Each morning we boiled eggs which they could either eat or take with them on the trail. 

23 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

After breakfast Angela and I walked down the path towards the Santa Clara convent.  The convent, which is run by a closed order, the poor sisters of Saint Clara, is the one Marion and I had visited in 2007.  They sell cookies and preserves via a wooden revolving serving hatch.  When Marion and I visited, we put our money on the hatch and it turned, but when the nun behind the hatch tried to turn it again to deliver our order, the hatch became stuck.  We got such a fright when a side door opened and a smiling nun stood there with our cookies in her hands! She explained that she was a community nun and that was why we could see her.

http://www.castrojeriz.com/lugares-para-visitar/convento-de-santa-clara

 

 

The mass was beautiful - a singing mass with the nuns in a room behind the altar cut off from the main church behind grills and the priest, a young Berundian, on our side of the grill.  After mass we walked to Castrojeriz. 

 

The sunrise was amazing and the approach to the village gave us a different view to that of the one from the road,

 

 

 

 

 
 


 We walked to the square and visited Angela's friend at the little shop in the square.  She showed us where the Medico was.  The Doctor could be visited from 11am and a nurse from 1pm.  We sat in the waiting room for over an hour waiting for the doctor but he told us I needed a nurse so we had to leave and come back at 1pm. 
Back in the square we bumped into Mau Mariani (who Kevin had introduced to me on my first day at the albergue) and had a coffee with him before Angela showed me his beautiful place, Hospital del Alma (Hospital of the Soul) where he and Nia Peiro had set up home which included a gorgeous photographic exhibition. 

When I had first seen Mau walking into the ruins of San Anton I had immediately recognized an old soul, one of these people who, although you've never met, you know who they are and what they stand for.  Hospital del Alma is a place of refuge, a silent retreat available to anyone for a donation.  One can stay for a day or a month, or longer.  That is why Mau doesn't spend too much time at home!  He says that if he is there people want to engage him in conversation, so he spends little time there, preferring to cultivate his special vegetable garden outside the village.

We visited the hotel Jacobus and then did some shopping.  At 1pm we went back to the Medico and I saw the nurse.  I didn't have the Tetanus injection.  She cleaned the wound and redressed the finger and told me not to get it wet and to come back in two days time.

Angela's friend, a hospitalero from the albergue San Esteban, offered to take us back to the albergue and on the way we stopped at a café-bar for a drink, arriving at the albergue after 2 pm.  The place was full and Angela and I started to prepare dinner while Kristine had some time off to do her training walk.

There were three Spanish pilgrims, including a father and his beautiful daughter, in the albergue tonight, which was unusual; we have only had a handful of Spanish pilgrims staying with us.  After dinner the Spanish girl told us that she couldn't sing very well and would prefer to do a dance for us.  She clapped out a rhythm on the table which we followed, rolled up her top to under her boobs and her skirt down to below her naval and started to belly dance!  She was fantastic and was awarded with the greatest round of applause we have ever had at San Anton!

21 - 22 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

Angela and Kristine left for the convent of Santa Clara at 7h30 with a few of the pilgrims who also wanted to attend mass.  It is still dark and day breaks around 8am. I blew out all the candles in the bathroom and mopped and scrubbed in there first, barricading the door with broom and mop as I walked out.

 

Then I stripped the beds.  Angela had suggested that there was no need to wash the sheets every day so today would be the first time we didn't 'stew' them in boiling water. 
I went from bed to bed, taking out the blankets and pillows, shaking the sheets on the beds.  There was a little black speck on one of the sheets that didn't move.
 I got my Waka Waka and shone it on the bed.  Eeeek!  Was it a bed bug?  I picked it off the bed with a white tissue and carried it outside.  Is this what a bedbug looked like?  I wasn't sure so I rolled it up in the tissue and put it in a zip-lock bag.  I'd check with Angela when she got back but just in case, I would stew the sheets after all and spray the beds and walls as usual.  It took ages to boil enough water on the stove as only three burners were working but by boiling water in smaller pots I eventually had sufficient water to cover the sheets and pillowcases in large plastic basing.

 

I sprayed the walls and all the blankets and put them in the plastic containers in the sun.  Then I swept the dormitory and checked the dustpan.  Two more of the critters in the pan!  I rolled them up in toilet paper and added them to the zip-lock bag.

Usually by mid-day our beds are all taken but by lunch time today we only have 7 pilgrims signed in including a young Spanish woman with Tourette Syndrome, who I adopted as my assistant hospitalero.  She helped sign in a couple of pilgrims, showed pilgrims where to do their washing and held the fort while I walked to the tip to get rid of the trash.  She also helped with the chopping of the vegetables for Angela's lentil stew and was thrilled when we rewarded her with an extra piece of chocolate at dinner time!

 

At about 1:30 Angela and Kristine arrived back with groceries but no candles.  We were now critically low.  I called them aside away from the pilgrims to show them the bugs I had found.  Bed bugs.  Angela told Kristine to burn them whilst she took the Waka Waka to search the back wall where Kevin had said they liked to hang out.  She found two more.  
Although this didn't represent an outbreak, it was obvious that pilgrims were carrying them here from other albergues and we had to be extra vigilant about searching and destroying them.  Kristine thought we should close the albergue.  Angela didn't agree - this wasn't infestation, just a handful of 'passengers' being transferred by pilgrims.  We would continue to inspect the bedding, walls and floors and spray every day.

One of our pilgrims today was an Indian doctor from Mumbai.  We had a long conversation about South Africa and cricket - Finn would have been proud of me!  After dinner I was trying to push down the rubbish in our bin when I sliced my little finger on a tuna tin lid.  It bled like buggery and I called out, "Is there a doctor in the house!"  Our Indian doctor and our nurse Kristine took charge and cleaned the wound then applied pressure and strapped it up tightly.  Still blood was oozing through the dressings.  "You must sleep with the hand raised tonight," he said, "and see a doctor tomorrow in case you need a Tetanus injection." 

I would accompany Angela to the 8h30 mass and then we would walk to the village to find the doctor. 

18, 19 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

Justi came to visit us this morning and we asked if he would take Kristine to the supermecado to buy provisions.   We were told that the hospitaleros could have a hot shower at the Hotel Jacobus so she could visit the hotel at the same time, have a shower and ask for more Tau crosses which were sold out at the albergue  We also asked him to try to find candles as we were now using the smaller candles in red plastic containers for the tables.

One of the pilgrims asked if he could stay awhile and help me clean so I put him to work sweeping the dining room and taking the rubbish to the junk tip around the corner outside the Farmer's house.  I also gave him a bottle of water and some bread to put in the niche under the archway that spans the road.  The French monks used to put wine and bread in the niche for pilgrims who arrived too late to be admitted to the monastery and we hospitaleros have continued the tradition.

We shook out the blankets and sprayed them before putting them into the plastic containers and he helped me pour boiling water on the sheets.  I hadn't seen a bug for three days so hopefully the one's we'd seen were just isolated hitch-hikers, carried in by pilgrims from other albergues.  There certainly weren't any breeding here and we'd only seen adults.

Two bus loads of tourists came to visit this morning - first a Swedish group and then a German group.  They milled about, peering into the dormitory and dining room but I barricaded the door into the bathroom with crossed poles - a mop and a broom - and put a No Entry sign on the door.  They bought a few trinkets from the showcase in the albergue, mostly pins, bells, Tau crosses and post cards - and most left a generous donation. 
The TAU was mentioned in the bible in Ezekiel
9:4 - "Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a TAU on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."
St. Francis borrowed the TAU  from the Antonians who wore the TAU cross on their habits.  Whenever you see St. Anthony, "the Abbot or Hermit" in art, he is portrayed with the TAU.  The rose window in the ruins was decorated using the Tau crosses.

Kristine and Justi came back with the shopping but no Tau crosses or candles - and Kristine was unable to have a hot shower because the young woman in the reception said that she had to be there before 9am, which is not possible for us. 

At around 5pm a couple of peregrinas asked if they could help with anything. 'You can start setting the table" I said and put them to work.  Kristine showed us her cross face, "Not so early, "she said, "the flies will get on the plates." 
"No problem," I answer with a smile, "we'll cover the table with cloth."  She has said the same thing for three nights and every night I offer the same solution. She huffs and puffs, but I'm not giving in.  Tonight she cooked the meal using the same ingredients that our Italian chef had used.  We had a full house and everyone sang a song, we passed the candle saying thanks to the Camino, and I introduced another ritual at the table, borrowing a practise I first experienced in the albergue in Tosantos.
 There were so many hurting people on the Camino, many who were walking in honour or memory of a relative or friend, or who had personal grief.  A Polish lady told us about her sister who has been fighting bone cancer for 5 years.  Kristine had shared a story with me about her daughter and I decided to ask everyone if they would like to write out a prayer request and place it in a little box.  Tomorrow or the next day, we and the pilgrims spending the night would pray for those people.  We put paper and a pen in the box on the desk so that people could write out their requests tonight or before they leave tomorrow.  We also asked people to take a prayer request to Santiago with them and pray for that person when they got to the cathedral.

16,17 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

17 September 
Robert left yesterday.  "Watch out for that one" he whispered to me as he left.  He'd found Kristine a bit bossy and controlling but I wasn't concerned.  She'd told me that her mother was a bossy and controlling women and that they had never gotten on.  I am not afraid of bossy women and will kill her with patience and stoicism!. 
Kristine and I are on our own for a few days until the Spanish hospitalera arrives on Sunday  We don't know anything about her except that she has served at San Anton for a week in September every year for the past 4 years.

The weather has turned quite cool and last night was freezing in the 'ice box'.  In the middle of the night I woke with a start and wondered if the people who had done the washing up had switched off all the gas burners.
I lay in the bed and listened to the wind and didn't feel like getting up and going out.  Then I thought of the 2 year-old, and his grieving parents and thought, "What if there is gas leaking out and the child dies in his sleep?  Or, all the pilgrims are dead when I open up in the morning?"  OMG! 
I got up and put on my down jacket, took the Waka Waka torch and crept out of the box. There is no electricity at San Anton and with no moon it is pitch black at night.  I unlocked the doors to the albergue and, of course, the gas was switched off.  I sighed with relief. 
I know I've locked and bolted the big gate into the ruins but then I remember the baby and the parents and think, "....not on my watch," so I go down to the gates and check anyway.

The Waka Waka has been a fabulous asset. Not only do I have a solar powered power-bank to recharge my phone or tablet, but it provides a bright light for us to wash up dishes, look for things in the dark, light my way to the ice-box and to the toilet. 

This morning Kristine burnt her forearm when she accidentally poured some hot water over arm when stewing the sheets.  It is quite a deep burn but being a nurse she knew what to do and how to treat it.  But, it does mean that she doesn't have the strength to wring the sheets so we do it together and hang them together.

People start wandering in very early.  Some peep through the gate, hesitant to step into the grounds, not sure if they are allowed in.  Others march up to the albergue and ask if we sell coffee.  'No, I'm sorry we don't sell anything here" we say and they peer into the dining room just in case we are secretly a café-bar after all. 
"Can we use the toilet?" some ask.  "I'm afraid not," we say, "we have very little water here and we can't flush the toilets until the tank has been replenished.'"  If someone is dancing a jig with their legs crossed, we let them use the toilet, but otherwise we have to say no. 

If you look carefully you see the water pipe running under the stones behind the bench this couple are sitting on.  The farmer next door pipes water to the albergue from his reservoir. 

 

Whilst Kevin was here, the tank ran dry and they had no water for a day.  They had to collect water in 5L bottles from the pipe at the canal in order to fill the cistern and boil some for drinking water.  If the water pressure drops we can't flush the toilets anyway so we have to restrict the use of the toilets to pilgrims staying at the albergue only.

 

There is a beautiful shower here but no hot water.  "That's OK, " I said to Kevin on my first night.  "I'll have a cold shower."  The men looked at me in admiration.  I stood naked and ignorant under the shower and thought, "I'll just have a quick one."  OMG!!  As the icicles hit me I thought I was having an asthma attack!  For 5 minutes I couldn't breathe, the water was pure ice!  There is a sign on the door asking people to save water by having a quick shower.  Really!  There is absolutely no risk of anyone wasting water under that shower of icicles!

I brought three black solar shower bags to the albergue from South Africa.  If they work in the African bush, they should work in this smart shower. They worked, sort of.  They would've worked better if we could've hung them up but we didn't want to put hooks into the owner's wooden beams without their permission so we balanced one bag on top of the shower wall and tied the ropes to the upright shelving unit behind the wall.  (You can just see the bags lying on the green table, water spouts hanging over the edge.)
 Each day I emptied the left over water from the bag into basins to use to water the plants. There are herbs and some vegetables as well as flowers that were planted here in memory of  Julian and Jose.  The crocus are just starting to flower - big beautiful yellow stars pushing through the scrubby grass behind the wash lines.

 Tonight we had an Italian pilgrim who asked if he could cook for us.  We accepted his offer gladly and he made pasta with a really delicious sauce which included some of the vegetable we'd bought the other day.  I asked him if he could sing as well (can't all Italians sing?) but he said no, definitely not.  After dinner I suggested that each person sing us a song from their country, whether it is a lullaby or their National anthem.    We had a beautiful Polish song, Hungarian, two Italian songs (even one from Ernesto after we plied him with red wine), a couple of English songs and Kristine sang Waltzing Matilda while I sang Inkosi Sikele iAfrica. 

Before I sand I explained how a decision had to be made after the 1990 political changes in South Africa on which anthem to keep and what a miracle it was that both the African song and the Afrikaans song were accepted, and how the words combine five of our 11 official languages  with Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English verses. Of course I don't know all the words so I had to wing it until I got to Die Stem but nobody would've known unless they could understand Sesotho!

 

SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

 

A basic pilgrim shelter was first established in the ruins of San Antonin in 2002 but due to lack of volunteers was often closed.  In 2006 Julian Campo and Jose Santiago, hospitaleros and well known personalities in Castrojeriz, were killed in a train accident on their way home from walking the Camino Portuguese.  Julian's brother, Ovidio Campo who owns a hotel in Castrojeriz, restored and improved the old shelter in their honour.


The monastery hospital of San Anton was run by French Antoine monks who had similar monastery hospitals in France and Italy.  They were places of healing where people suffering from the medieval disease known as San Anthony's Fire, were sent to be cured.

San Anthony's Fire was a disease caused mainly by eating mouldy rye.  In times of famine, poor people would eat the mouldy cereals and develop ergotism which led to the sufferers going berserk and caused gangrene of the hands and feet due to constriction of blood supply to the extremities. Many were healed at San Anton and miracles were attributed to the Saint.  Good food, lots of sunshine and care might also have had something to do with their recovery!

In Spain San Anton is always seen with a piglet.  He was a lover of animals and once a year, San Anton's day celebrates animals, much like Saint Francis in Italy. 
At San Anton the donations are placed in a Piggy Bank. 

The medieval Gothic builders must have had a sense of humour because the added a piglet in stone to one of the high arches on the inside of the cathedral.  When we show people they are delighted when they manage to spot the little stone pig high up near the top of the ruin.