A day without pilgrims

The albergue was fumigated when I got back from blogging yesterday. Then the plumber/gas guy arrived. Dave has been waiting since we arrived for him to show up. He will send an estimate to fix the instant gas hot water heater manana. Then the builders who want to erect a scaffold in our huerta (garden) to facilitate the building next door showed up with the priest, so that everyone was clear. Then the roofer showed up - they had been waiting for him since the spring rain. He said he would check and fix the roof in the winter. So by the time we got away to Astorga it was 5 pm, and we met Dick and Liz on the road and we pulled over to chat. They are taking over for us as hoapitalero/as, and we planned to go to dinner once we returned from Astorga. But as they pulled away we realized that we hadn´t told them not to go into the fumigated dorms, so we reluctantly turned around, and returned to Rabanal. We went to vespers together, then the 4 of us had dinner together. That was a novelty, as Dave and I have been going in shifts.

I slept until 6.30 am - what a treat! Shower, laundry, breakfast, then Astorga. I shipped my excess to Santiago for 4 euros, got cash and more dark chocolate with almonds, and more oats. I am going through a lot of them since both tea items use oats. Then the hardware stores. Since there is no Canadian Tire, with everything you might need, we were in 5 different stores getting keys cut, squeegies, pens, and vaccuum bags.

We had lunch, set up the dorms, and I ran off to blog. There are already about 10 people outside, and we will let in everyone who arrives by 2 pm. Dick is the chair of the Rabanal committee, so we discussed this very subject last night at dinner. There seems to be no rule that is fair to everyone. Dave and Dick are rewriting the Handbook, and will call it guidelines rather than rules, as we must use our discretion so many times. I pray there are no cinchas (bedbugs) today hitchhiking in with the new arrivals.

More challenges

I am not so happy to share the news with you - we have had to close for 24hours to fumigate for bedbugs.
We had 2 people yesterday with symptoms, and one had fresh bites. So, isolate them in the entranceway washrooms, bring towels and fresh clothes, though the clothing was not too beautiful or warm, they shower and change clothes, and we wash all the clothes and the towels in 60' then in the dryer.  I brought them tea and coffee on a tray to their room, as the victims tend to be shell-shocked. It took about 4 hours to wash and dry all their clothes, and we left their backpacks in a plastic bag with fumigation spray for even longer.
Then we heard from another pilgrim who had stayed the day before who now has bites. They kindly called to tell us where they were sleeping. So Dave consulted with Christina at El Refugio Hotel. She helps to deal with the contractors and plumbers and electricians for us when Gaucelmo is closed. She recommended closing for 24 hours to fumigate, so that is what we have done.

We did a very thorough cleaning, including vaccuuming, as  there is part of the albergue, including the isolation room that has original floorboards, and sometimes half inch spaces between the boards, so we thought the fumigation might be more effective with a deeper cleaning.

Also, the refrigerator has died, so we moved the one for the pilgrims into our office. Seems like St James is challenging us, as Dave has put it.  On the happier side, the sun is shining and the sky is blue, for the first time in 4 days. I took off my long underwear and my socks, and am happy in my sandals again.

We´ll go into Astorga after the fumigation, and when the stores reopen, and I will mail a box to Santiago, the pilgrims office. That will give me a lighter backpack and better odds to cross the miles - 244km, actually, to Santiago. I will leave midday on Sunday, or early on Monday morning, and then I will once again be

Darlene la peregrina

Tea, harmonicas and guitar

My fingers are freezing, as the computer is in an open entrance to El Pilar! Dave and I had tortilla and salad and cafe con leche here yesterday, with Isabelle. I gave her a pin of  the Toronto city hall, and she gave me one of hers. She is great fun - wish I spoke more Spanish!

Yesterday´s tea  was held in the salon for 33  people ( actually only 28 showed up - the rest were eating or sleeping).  In addition to  tea and oatmeal fudgies, it included duets on  harmonicas from a Korean couple, and hours of guitar by Jonathan, and American singer and actor. My favourite was Hotel California, but the pilgrims like the fire in the fireplace best. It is about 8´outside and maybe 10  inside, except in the salon when the fire is on, and the kitchen when there is cooking. About 12 pilgrims cooked yesterday - too cold to even leave the albergue.

We had a pilgrim with bedbugs yesterday - we washed all her clothes, and her bedding after she left, in 60' and hours in the dryer - it is still at work. We sprayed her backpack and hard stuff and left it in a bag. And we sprayed the ísolation room when she left this morning. She was incredibly grateful, and left a huge donation. She said she cried in the shower at our kindness, and from relief that she was receiving help, and she teared up  when she left this morning.

It tell the pilgrims we have bottomless pots of tea and coffee, and they take us at our word. It is unusal to find coffee when you leave in the morning, and doubly unusual to find tea, so they are very grateful.

The highlight  of the day for me was receiving a card from my daughter Aislinn, all the way from Kelowna, BC. What a treat to get mail, and such a special card. Phoning  from  here is very hard, because of the time difference, and people´s busy lives, not to mention our schedules, so contact by mail and through this blog is  so sustaining  for me.  Thanks for reading and commenting. 


Aislinn asked for a picture of the priests, and so far I haven´t found one, but the first link is to this stretch of the Camino, and the second is  to the Monasterio. 


http://www.galiciaguide.com/Stage-24.html

http://en.monteirago.org/camino/rabanal--a-spiritual-centre-on-the-camino-de-santiago

There were 25 wet pilgrims waiting when we opened before 2 yesterday, so today´s notice says we will open at 1 pm. Who knows what or who today will bring.

Dalene la hospitalera