Portomarín, Lugo

I never pass up an opportunity to stop at the old churches to light a candle or attend a pilgrim blessing — I don’t think one can light too many candles or receive too many blessings.

At one of these blessings the old Spanish priest said this:

“Try to learn a few words of your fellow peregrinos’ languages. To greet people in their own language is a sign of respect” he said. “And respect is the cornerstone of love”.

I like this and I now have a new goal. (way easier than trying to learn Castilian Spanish.) Thankfully, many of the European peregrinos speak English so I’m able to ask about their special words and phrases.

My Dutch amigos, two former fútbol players, explained the concept of “gezellig” which doesn’t have an exact translation in English. It means something like relaxing with friends in a convivial atmosphere.

Apparently when Obama visited the Nederlands last year he used the word in one of his speeches. This made the news in Holland and my Dutch amigos were a little disappointed that I had not heard this on the American news as well. It mattered to them.

When they asked me about particularly American words, I started thinking about all that had happened to me on the Camino. And the only word that came to mind was “dork”.