Title: Tour-a-grinos
General information about item:
- Verbal Folklore, Taunt
- Language: English
- Country: Spain
- Informant: Tommy Botch
- Date Collected: 11/05/19
Informant Data:
- Tommy Botch is a 24-year-old lab manager in the Robertson Lab in the Psychology and Brain Sciences Department at Dartmouth College, where he studies vision in virtual reality. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and completed his undergraduate education in psychobiology at UCLA. Tommy enjoys describing fine cheeses and baking sourdough bread in his spare time. He undertook his thru hiking journey when he was 20 years old.
Contextual Data:
- Historical Context: The Camino de Santiago is a 1,000 year-old pilgrimage route that begins at numerous points around Europe and ends at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. According to Christianity, the apostle Santiago (known in English as Saint James) spread the religion around the Iberian Peninsula (which includes Spain and Portugal). Theory says that his body was put on a boat and landed on the coast of Spain, right near present-day Santiago de Compostela. King Alfonso II wanted his body to be buried in a speciaal chapel, and ordered the building of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. Christians across Europe began taking this pilgrimage to worship at the Cathedral.
- Social Context: Recently, the route became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was featured in the 2010 movie The Way, which helped it grow in popularity (Source). Our informant took the most popular route, the Camino Frances, which begins in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, and over the Pyrenees. This trail spans 800 km (500 miles).
Item:
- Though the trails are considerable in length, hikers need only hike the final 100km to receive a certificate that says they completed the pilgrimage. Thus, some people who do not want to make the full 800km pilgrimage hike only the final 100km to receive the certificate. Thus, thru hikers who complete the total journey call those short-term hikers “Tour-A-Grinos” when they pass them on the last 100km of the trail.
Transcript:
- “Ha, you’d be considered a Tour-A-Grino,” said Tommy during his interview with interviewer Erica, upon realizing that she actually completed the final 100km of the Camino de Santiago during a Spanish high school exchange program at age 14.