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

Mochila Nueva!

Yesterday morning we kicked Carl out for a few hours to go to Astorga. We cannot leave anyone in the Albergue when we aren´t there. We went to the bank, the grocery store, and 3 ourdoor stores, and I bought a new backpack!! Dave helped me choose, as he said my old one is sh... It is a Trangoworld 40 litres, and it seems perfect. Everything wrong with the old Gregory is better on this one. I am now excited to leave, rather than apprehensive. It has a camera bag, a rain cover built in, a place to attach jackets, poles and shoes, narrower shoulders and an adjustable chest strap.

We came back and opened at 2, let in everyone who was waiting and locked the door. That made 26, so we opened the barn. So many people make Gaucelmo their destination for the day, and a lot of older people want to stay with us as our comfort level is high. But if they are slower walkers, we have to disappoint them. What a dilemma.

Last night we had
6 Irish, including Carl. They drank a lot of tea at teatime and breakfast.
6 Australians
5 English, including a couple who are interested in being hospitalero/as, and let me tell some stories
2 Germans - young women, one of whom translated the instructions on Carl´s prescription into German, then the other translated it into English
2 Belgians - a brother and sister. It was Luc´s 7th camino, and he usually walks with someone who is afraid to walk alone. This time it was his 79 year old sister, who has only 40% vision
2 Italians
1 South Korean
1 American
1 Canadian- an Italian-Canadian film maker

The film maker, Gian Ceccato, is making a documentary about the Camino. He is interviewing people. and letting them tell their own story in their own language. His pack is 18 kilograms - about 40 pounds! There is a young Korean film student who is following him and making a film about Gian´s journey. The Korean was staying at El Pilar, and though we called for permission, we didn´t hear back, so couldn´t let him film in the Refugio.

When everyone was signed in and had done their laundry, Dave and I went out and picked up garbage in the lane and swept the Plaza del Peregrino Julian Campo, which is bounded by Refugio Gaucelmo, Monasterio de San Salvador del Monte Irago, the guest house for the monastery, and the church, which may have another name. The compost of Father Pierce benefited from the sweeping of leaves and horse chestnuts. I took Father Pierce empty jam jars and some oatmeal fudgies to thank him for the elderberry  jam. It was very cold and rainy yesterday - about 8¨ when the pilgrims set out, and today, though a bit warmer, is still rainy.

We are having tortilla today with Isabelle at El Pilar. Then back to open the doors for 1:30.

Have a buenos dias.

Darlene

What have I done?

Saturday Sept 15 in Rabanal

So, dinner with David and a pilgrim was great - the food was fine, and the talk was great - the pilgrim was a psychologist, so who and why the Camino was an interesting topic.
I was in charge of the Albergue while my partner David Arthur went to dinner with Claire and Keith, who are leaving tomorrow, then they went to Compline. There are 3 services a day at the church across the plaza, run by the Benedictine monks, who have a monastery beside us. I didn´t get to bed until 11, but for now I am not a pilgrim.

However, the day begins at 6 am, as we prepare breakfast, which is coffee and tea, hot milk, bread and jam. It is served from 6:30 to  7:30, then we encourage the pilgrims to leave so that we can begin the breakfast cleanup, then the cleaning of 4 bathrooms, containing 8 showers and 8 toilets. Then we also wash all the stone and tile floors, in the bedrooms, the barn, which has 16 beds, and the stone floor in the garden. The mind boggles! It took 4 of us about 2.5 hours, and tomorrow just David and I will clean. We have already registered 32 pilgrims, and will take 8 more if they show up. It was hot today, and several walked 40 km, so I have seen some damaged feet (to put it delicately).

David and I went into Astorga from 11-1, to pick up supplies for the hostel and pilgrims, and lunch type food for he and I. We are aiming for salad for lunch each day, as our cost for the pilgrim menu is covered each day.

I served tea in the garden from 5 to 5:45 - we went through many pots, and most of the pilgrims made a point of showing up for some, and the biscuits, of course. It felt easy and familiar, as will breakfast, but I am not looking forward to the cleaning, to put it mildly.

It will happen, but just how I don´t know. Wish me luck, and good rubber gloves.

Darlene, the  hospitalera

All is well

Monday Sept 17 in Rabanal

It has gone very well over the past 24 hours. What a relief to have the day under my belt. We just had 14 pilgrims yesterday, so we didn´t need to use the barn, so only had one dorm and one bathroom with 2 showers, 2 toilets, and 3 sinks to clean, plus the floors. Everything has gone so well!

The comments from the pilgrims in the book were terrific. The donations averaged 7 euro, so that is fine. 5 euros per day is apparently our break even point. Some young people are travelling very cheaply, and so choose albergues like ours which are donativo ( by donation), so don´t put much in the box. One young woman arrived last night about 8 pm. She went to the kitchen, checked out the supplies which other pilgrims had left and made herself pasta with tomato paste, adding an onion and some wild rosemary which she had brought with her. We also gave her several compete (sp?) which are special bandaids for blisters. In contrast, another pilgrim made several donations, each time saying he hadn´t put enough in.

I am making lunch for Dave and I each day. Yesterday I found sorrel in our garden, so I added that to the salad. It has a very mild flavour, so was great in the salad. Dinner yesterday evening was sole and gazpacho and chocolate mousse - so good that I may stick with that dessert for the duration of my stay.

Because we only had 12 people by 3 pm, I decided to make scones for tea time. I encountered several challenges. The oven never got about 300¨, so the scones took longer. The flame stayed on, so they were too brown on top and very pale on the bottom. I had no butter or margerine, so I used olive oil. I didñ´t know how old the baking powder was. How fresh was the flour and the oats? What saved them was the chopped dark chocolate and almond bar that I had bought at the museum of chocolate in Astorga. I think they tasted fine, and the pilgrims agreed. We had tea in the garden, and everyone showed up and drank lots of tea, all the scones and some biscuits. I think I´ll do it again  as long as there are no more than 15 pilgrims
- and try some other goodies like oatmeal fudgies.

I slept right through the night for the first time since I left home - I think I am finally over the jet lag, and the next leg of my pilgrimage should go much better. I woke at 6, ready to serve breakfast and see the pilgrims off.

It is very quiet in town today , but who knows what the Camino will bring to us?

Buenos dias!

Darlene