The narrative of the journey is interwoven with a series of ten exercises (on, among other things, breathing, listening, speed and shadows) and a ritual which PC's guide shares with him along the route.
This post is for a lady called Adriana from Brazil. She was one of the first students I taught in my first job as a language teacher in '98 (after nine years in the Civil Service) at this school:
http://www.eurocentres.com/en/language-school-cambridge
In response to my usual questions: "What is/are your favourite book(s), film(s), singer(s)/band(s)?" she told me her favourite book was Coelho's The Alchemist. And following that recommendation lead to this...
The two-way nature of the teaching-learning process is referred to by PC's guide towards the end of the book:
"You can learn only through teaching. We have been together here on the Road to Santiago, but while you were learning the practices, I learned the meaning of them. In teaching you, I truly learned. By taking on the role of guide, I was able to find my own true path."
Another quote from the guide, a couple of pages further on reveals PC's motivation in writing the book:
"When I completed my pilgrimage, I painted a beautiful, immense picture that depicted everything that had happened to me here. This is the Road of the common people, and you can do the same thing, if you like. If you don't know how to paint, write something or create a ballet. Then, regardless of where they are, people will be able to walk the Jacobean route, the Milky Way, the Strange Road to Santiago".
I heard PC speak once at the Prague Book Fair in ?2003?. I searched on Google for some reference to this event but couldn't find any. Instead I found another Prague story on PC's blog:
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2011/01/27/prague-1981/
His reflections on the 'the world of language without words' are maybe food for thought for both language learners and teachers....
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