People and stereotypes

Writing some notes yesterday afternoon I was sitting near three American women: New York "State not New York city; it takes me five hours to drive there", Oregon and Virginia. They'd met up along the way and were now travelling together. Virginia is working with her iPad. "Ooh, the boys are having their hair cut tomorrow!" And a bit later "ooh, that's my dog! Look, isn't he wonderful?" thrusting the iPad at the nearest person. Photos from home. But are the others really interested in her sons' haircuts or her dog? Then again I did see a couple walking the Camino with two dogs. And there was the (Spanish) woman with her bird "My mascot". People and their pets...

The following morning at breakfast the American women are comparing their various ailments and injuries. "I'll wait until you've finished eating, but you have to see my foot!" I make sure I'm finished eating before they are; I don't want to see the foot.

Riding along yesterday I saw a young couple walking up ahead. She had two pairs of socks neatly pegged on a little line on the back of her pack. He looked American, although if you asked me to explain what it was about him that made me think this I probably couldn't tell you. I pulled alongside; 'nice way to dry your socks' I ventured. They were from Arizona. We chatted a while, they talked easily and without pretence. Open.

Yesterday in the crowds starting their Camino 'day trip' I saw the first Chinese I had seen on the Camino. It had struck me that they had been an absent nationality. But there they were, a group of probably 20 or so. At least they were not all wearing matching yellow caps. I did half expect to see the tour leader holding a bright yellow flag up high to show the way.

The South Koreans, who seem to be largely representing Asia on the Camino, are quiet and keep largely to themselves. They seem to be here on a quest (makes sense) and stay focused on their task.

Then there's the Germans. A mix of solo travellers like Joseph and Jonasch and the groups who seem to speak nothing but German and expect all the bar and albergue staff to understand their, often complicated, requests. This morning Silke, who I had shared a room with, asked if they served cheese with the breakfast. You'd think that after three weeks of the Camino, with absolutely identical breakfasts of café con leche, tostados (yesterday's bread toasted), strawberry jam and butter, every single day, that you would know that breakfast doesn't come with cheese in Spain. Then again I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask.

At dinner last night I sat between the three Americans on one side and three Dutch (who we haven't stereotyped yet) on the other. Opposite me was Caesar, an Italian. "Caesar, like the emperor!" ejaculated the Dutch woman enthusiastically. It came out like that and while even the other Dutch couple cringed, Caesar, to his credit, took it in his stride. Not the first time he'd heard something like that I guessed. I spent dinner speaking English on one side and Dutch on the other.

The scene of the Sardinian Diatribe - Villafranca de Bierzo

Caesar, unlike every other Italian I've met so far on the Camino, spoke excellent English. In fact all the other Italians seem to speak only one language; Loud Italian. (If you are reading this Saverio, my apologies. As an English-speaking Italian, perhaps you should walk the Camino to balance things out.) The other night there was one particularly loud Italian (from Sardinia) who made even the other Italians cringe. He spent much of the evening loudly proclaiming how Sardinian food was superior to everything else (at least that was the translation I was later offered by Suzanne).

The next morning, Suzanne, a German who was travelling with two Italian sisters, came to me and said (in German, of course) "I like Italians, but sometimes..."

I met quite a few cyclists of course, but the Dutch were always easy to recognise - nobody else rides bikes like Dutch bikes, and very few cyclists are as tall as the Dutch either. And to generalise based on the sample I met, all Dutch people speak excellent English (after all, who else speaks Dutch?), and all the Dutch cyclists had ridden their bikes all the way from the Netherlands. They had essentially got on their bikes and ridden out their front gates like they did every other day, but kept riding on to Spain instead of coming back home that day.

Catching up with Joke and Maj, Dutch cyclists

Today I rode alternately on the Camino and on the road. On one excursion to the Camino I saw Claude, a French cyclist I'd met the day before. We stopped and chatted for a while. He remarked that he'd found the Australians 'discreet'. 'Compared to whom?' I asked. I hadn't generally considered Australians particularly discreet. "The Americans" was the immediate reply. Then followed a long discussion, initiated by Claude, about the various characteristics of different nationalities. Quite timely as I'd just been writing these notes. Clearly I am not the only one to notice national traits.

Which leads to the French. They seem to come in different flavours; those like Claude, who are well travelled and 'discreet' to use his word. They also acknowledge that not everyone speaks French. As opposed to the French I found travelling in groups. I came across one woman of a group transacting a purchase in a small supermarket entirely in French. There was absolutely no indication that the (logically Spanish) shopkeeper spoke a word of French - in a small village in Spain why would he - but the woman persisted.

And speaking of French, we need to mention the Swiss. You don't see many on the Camino. In fact I only met two, hardly a representative sample I will admit. They were an older couple. I'd stopped for a photo and the man approached me to offer to take one of me. I detected a French accent so asked 'French?' He looked at me like I'd just told him his fly was undone (which it was, but I didn't tell him that). "Swiss!" he huffed. "Absolutely not French, never!" A bit like accusing a Canadian of being an American I suppose.

The Spanish have the home ground advantage here of course. But they do, as a group, seem to excel at speaking loudly (but not at the level of the Italians), rapidly, and constantly. The women (to add a little sexism to this discussion on stereotypes) are especially proficient. This is particularly obvious in the bathrooms; the men tend to go and do what they have to do there. While the women seem to discuss what they are doing, and probably discuss much more besides.

Well there you go. I've probably insulted half my audience now: but you can't seem to escape the fact that different countries have different ideas of what is normal or reasonable behaviour and how people should be raised. That shouldn't be a surprise; and wouldn't life be dull if we were all the same?

Portrait of a Pilgrim and the road ahead