Marajó Island, Brazil

Francisco J.S. de A. Correa Jr.

The earliest documents written by European colonizers narrating their navigations in the Amazon told of golden cities and fearless women warriors, giant anacondas and man-eating ants.  Throughout the centuries, they contributed to create and perpetuate the stereotypical image most of the world has of the largest region of Brazil.  Science was able to render some of these stories into what they really are, folk legends.  Nevertheless, research has turned the less believable ones into hard-core facts – the man-eating ants, surprisingly, do exist! – and whereas there is still no sign of the El Dorado, archeological evidence has suggested the existence of advanced, pre-historic civilizations.  The Marajoaras were one of them.
    The island of Marajó is located in the northernmost tip of Brazil, exactly where the three major rivers of the Amazonian basin find the Atlantic salty waters in a powerful phenomenon called by the natives the Pororoca.  With an area of over 40,000 km2 – bigger than Switzerland, for example – it is the largest island in the world to be completely surrounded by freshwater.  The first European to set foot on the island was a Spaniard from Palos de la Frontera, Murcia, called Vicente Yañes Pinzón, in 1498, two years before Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived with his fleet in Porto Seguro.  Up until the XVIII century, it was known as Ilha Grande de Joanes (Great Isle of Joanes), a name given by the Spaniards.  Before that, it was called Nheegaibas (different languages) Island, because of the number of different tribes that inhabited there.  The Marajoaras were believed to have inhabited the southern part of the isle and served as inspiration for its current name.  The Portuguese dictionary Aurélio defines Marajó as “the wind that blows in the afternoon”, but its origin may come from Mbara-yó, which in Tupí means “sea reef”.  In the eyes of the old world colonizers, it resembled a wall built by nature itself against the forces of the ocean.

Valladolid

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Elena Vaquera Pereira

     Why isn’t Valladolid the only name of this city? “Pucela” is a term of endearment that people have given to Valladolid. But the choice of one name or another  is a controversial topic, and there are several hypotheses about it.
      One of them is related to Juana de Arco. In the XVth century, some Valladolid`s gentlemen went to fight against the English on the side of Juana de Arco , called “Doncella de Orleans”. In ancient Spanish , “doncella” was named “pucela”, so when they came back,  their fame made them be called “pucelanos”. This hypothesis is not really reliable, because -- there are not any documents that prove the existence of those gentlemen, so perhaps it is just a legend told from generation to generation.
     The other hypothesis about it is related to Valladolid`s geography, because it lies between two rivers, so it was considered as a “poza” , a pool. That is why Valladolid started to be called “pozuela”, which led to “Pucela”.  This hypothesis makes sense because there are people who think that Valladolid means “ground water”.
    The last hypothesis about the other name of Valladolid is sustained by Joaquín Díaz, who thinks that the term comes from the cement trade with the Roman city of Pozzuoli, and people who handed over the cement were called “pucelanos”.
     These are the possible explanations for the other name of Valladolid, “Pucela”. So, which name do you think Valladolid must use? Do you think those hypotheses may be true?
     Sometimes the ancient name prevails on the actual name, not only the city name, but also the inhabitant`s name. In this case, the inhabitants are more commonly known as “pucelanos” instead of “vallisoletanos”.
     As I said, this is a controversial topic, because it is difficult to decide which the official name of Valladolid may be.

Cantabria

Rodrigo Antón Tomé  

Yes, of course I still remember that day. Yes, sure, even after all this time. The funny thing about that trip is that we would have never pictured the North like that before, would we? It actually seemed to be all prepared so we could discover this place, from which we had always been so close to, but never thought it to exist as you saw it, in the best way I could ever think of.
Everything seemed to be perfectly arranged… I remember the cloudy sky tainted in dark rainy blue making a perfect colour combination with the emerald landscape. And, certainly, I remember how the feeling of fresh, almost cold air mixed with the gentle humidity came into us with a touch of absolute lack of liabilities. The weather was just perfect. And it became much better when we had to drive by secondary roads after we got that puncture. Those roads took us to the most beautiful rural environments I can remember. They were full of amazing intense green lands, and everything was so quiet that I remember how you felt as if it was there only for your personal delight. And the mist that concealed it all completed an image we had always imagined as the place the most peaceful and worth being in, a place which we assumed to be out of the tedious Spain. How could we even imagine that it had been right before us all the time!
  In fact, as I can remember, all the beautiful nature we sighted and felt, we started seeing it only after we passed through that long tunnel that was a little after Aguilar.  But everything was very different before and after that tunnel, actually. I remember it as a clear frontier between the arid, yellow and light brown boring roads of Castilla from the magnificent sight of the highland rural Cantabria. I will never forget what you saw right in the moment we got out of the tunnel, don’t worry about it; that image it’s something I’ve never stopped looking back on since then. And I can still see it. We were high in a mountain; far up from the village that silently rested at the bottom of the immense valley we had before your insignificant eyes. Isn’t peculiar the fact that this was the first thing we saw of Cantabria? Why? Well, I remember that old man who told you that “Cantabria” actually means something about a village and mountains or something like that. I think he said “people from the village in the mountains”, but I can’t clearly remember it, I’m sorry. Anyway, it is quite appropriate, isn’t it?


           

Balboa

María Álvarez Brasa

Balboa is a village that belongs to the region of El Bierzo, in Leon.
Its population has decreased because of rural exodus, but, nevertheless, is one of the few villages in the area that continues having life.


Name:
This ancient village is near the mountain massif of Cervantes, a valley which was called for its beauty: "bona Vallis", and whose name became corrupted over time. The name was evolving over the years in "Vall-bona" and "Vall-boa". Finally, the village was called “Balboa”.

Landscape and monuments:
Balboa stands out because of its nature and its green mountain landscapes, but also is known for its monuments:

The Castle of Balboa:
It dates from the thirteenth century. It belonged to the noble lineage of the Rodriguez de Valcarcel and, in the fifteenth century, it became the property of Count Lemos. Later, the castle belonged to the Catholic Kings and then, it was the Marquess of Villafranca. Nowadays it is only survived the keep (“torre del homenaje”), but not all sides. 
                                                                      
“Pallozas”:
They are circular constructions with low stone walls and covered by a conical roof made of stalks of rye. The “pallozas”, in the mountains of Ancares, is a place where people, animals and things lived together. Nowadays there are two “pallozas” which are the most visited: “La palloza de Balboa” and “La palloza de Chis”. These buildings are now used as restaurants and cafes.


The Magical Night:
Balboa is a tourist place because of its Magical Night, in which we celebrate the shortest night of the year, the night of Saint John. There are Celtic music concerts and a huge bonfire, where you can pull your wishes written on paper waiting to be fulfilled.
                                                                                                                         

Cáceres

 

By Manuel Martín

    Have you ever thought of living in a place where the average temperature is 16º C or that it is full of history? If you are seriously considering moving out, Cáceres is your city, no doubt.
Not only is a zone whose old part of town is one of the biggest in Spain, in fact it was declared world heritage by the Unesco for being one of the most complete ones in the world.
No sooner will you get there you will feel as if you were at home already. Even though people know you are some sort of visitor you will be thrilled by their warmth.
    It is thought that the name of the city comes from the Romans, others claim that its origin is Arabic and there are also some historians that argue it is a Latinism. They haven’t come to an agreement yet. Supporters of the Roman theory claim that the term comes from the colony of Norba Caesarina, which was founded around 25 b. C. On the other side, the ones who think it has a Latin origin say that Cáceres derives from ‘castris’ which means ‘in the camp’.
    It is time to talk a little bit about the much history that surrounds Cáceres. It was back in the Prehistory that the actual area of Cáceres was already inhabited. There are several caves were the fingerprints of our ancestors were found, the most important one is Santa Ana’s cave. It holds traces of human beings for about a million years ago. These caves are obviously far from the city center but some pottery and cuttlery have been found.                                                                                        
    The Visigoths came over in the Middle Earth near the 5th century and expelled the Romans but it wasn’t until the 7th century that we heard again about Cáceres. In the 12th century the citadel fortified itself due to Christians’ siege. In spite of the fact that the city counted on a wall as a protection, Alfonso IX took over the territory snatching it from the Moors. This procedure lasted a couple of years and finally on April 23, 1229 he gained freedom. Ever since that date –St. George’s day- the people takes the day off and makes a feast. The locals celebrate the day with the march and the fight of Moors and Christians and after that the burning of the dragon, which is astonishing event for people who have never witnessed such day. They also stage the reconquest made by Alfonso IX.