Italians cooking

Yesterday was a difficult day to find wifi, so today I might be a post behind. 

Last night at the San Miguel albergue in Estrella  proved to be a most interesting evening and part of this Camino experience in a way I might not have imagined. There was a group of five Italians staying at the albergue. I had met them along the way before Estrella in a small town where many pilgrims made a stop for breakfast and for purchasing food to carry. I was pleased to find a group of Italians that I could try to converse with and brush up on the little Italian that I know. They were all some of the warmest and most friendly people I have met on the Comino so far - especially patient with me as I stumbled with a few Italian phrases and sentences. That afternoon as I reached the albergue in Estella, I was pleased to see this group staying there too (also with a group of Korean college students of about the same number). They seemed to get along with each other so well that I thought the Italians had come to the Comino together, but they only had just met at the beginning at Saint John Pied de Port.

They offered to cook a pasta dinner at the albergue for all who wanted to chip in. It proved to be not only economically good, but socially as well. The Italians, Koreans, Americans and Spaniards ( later joined by people from Ireland and Germany) saw a splendid table set with (plastic dishes and settings, wine, beer and an ante pasta that was prepared impromptu from myself and another American who both had cheese and sausage/salami purchased earlier that day. It was a wonderful meal with a camaraderie that could only be found in a setting like the Camino. I even got a "Happy Birthday" sung to me when  I mentioned  that the next day was my birthday - I tried to say it in Italian. I think we toasted everything from the Camino to the color of the table cloth. For some strange reason the dinner  and celebration even led to one of the Italian women convincing one of the Korean guys to lead everybody in a Gangam style dance:

The holy pilgrims of El Camino ... Gamgnam style!