OUR TRIP IN PICTURES II:

OUR TRIP IN PICTURES I:

Santa Marta de los Barros.

As you know, David and me are working as a teacher in Santa Marta Secondary School, and that the reason because we have prepared an article about Santa Marta in English in order to put it in the wikipedia. The article is the following one:



Country: Spain.
Region: Extremadura.
Province: Badajoz.
Area: Tierra de Barros.
Altitude: 327 msnm.
Distance from Badajoz: 45 Km.
Area: 119.7 Km2.
Population: 4.310 inhabitants (INE 2007).
Density: 36.01 inhabitants/km2.
Zip code: 06150.
Mayor: Jorge Vázquez Mejías.

Santa Marta de los Barros is a municipality situated in the south west of Spain, in the province of Badajoz, in the autonomous community of Extremadura in a wonderful area called “Tierra de Barros”.
It has a good geographical situation because the main towns and cities are in a short distance (Badajoz 45 km, Mérida 55 Km, Almendralejo 25Km, Zafra 30 km). Apart from that, a main road crosses the municipality and it is near the regional motorway (E-90 Vía de la Plata and A-5 Madrid-Lisboa) in 20 minutes.
It is between 38º 36´ of latitude and 6º 37´ of longitude. It is 332 metres high. It has an extensión of 119,12 km2.
Natural Physical Enviroment.
Since it is situated in the “Tierra de Barros” area, it stands out for its plains.
To the South of Santa Marta we find the Calera mountain range. Theirs most important peaks are: Calera (548 m) and Valdelagrana (511 m).
We also frind the followings streams in the disrict: Prado, Piletas, Granadina, Valdelasierpe, Bo, Valdivia, Gitano, Escalabra, Hondonado, Giles, Huertas and Navafría.
The climate is subtropical Mediterranean. It is situated in one of the areas of the region with less rain rate registrations.
The annual average temperature is 16.4ºC. It normally has an average temperature of 8.6ºC in winters, and in some cases absolute values of – 3ºC. Summers are dry and hot with an average temperature about 24.4 ºC.
The annual average rain is 468.4 mm. The most rainy season is Winter (178.0 mm).
The most common plants in this area are the oak, jara, aulaga, cantueso, …

Village.
Santa Marta is a modern villaje, enterprising and dynamic that is increasing economicaly and with a lot of modern services to respond to the requirements and demands of citizens.
The population of Santa Marta has experienced an irregular increase, with a lot of oscilations, until the middle of the 20th century when it achieved the higuest rate of population. From that date, the emigration has caused losses of about a third of the population.
Actually only 11.3% of population are elderly.
History.
There were Roman settlers and Arabic settlers in that area according to some studies.
In 1925 a Roman mosaic was discovered in an area called “Las Tiendas” and near that place in another area called “La Atalaya” a roman villaje was discoverd. The person who leaded the investigation was Virgilio Viniega de Vera, who extracted a piece of pavement with a representation of Orfeo between the animals.
After that, the place was left and it was being deteriorated. Then, the ruins were moved to the Provincian Arqueologic Museum of Badajoz.
There are some dates of Arabic vestiges of the 17th century in the place called “Argamasa”.
The nearest record of the present Santa Marta municipality is an old medieval village called “La Pontecilla”, which probably emerged by the end of the 13th century or at the beggining of the 14th century. There are a lot of written documents that reflect how the King D. Sancho IV donated some pieces of lands in “El Cincho” and in “La Pontecilla” to Sancho Martínez.
That Pontecilla area was mencionated in a lot of documents of sells and purchases of pieces of lands of some “señores”, mainly the “señores” of Feria.
At the end of the 13rd century the population o the village started to decrease and some centuries later it was disappeared completely.
A report from 1783 states that Santa Marta was founded in a plot of the old Pontecilla and its name is in honor of the patron saint of the Church of the village. We do not know the exact date of foundation, but it could be 1430. The first mention of “Santa Marta” was in the “Carta-puebla”, a document from 1481, in order to favor the repopulation of the area.
Although the exact date of foundation is still a mystery, the fact of its written mention in 1481 leads to the conclusion that it would have taken place half a century earlier, approximately.
Santa Marta may have been founded spontaneously, in order to relieve farmers from long and painful movements.
In July 1646, the village was destroyed by the Portuguese, being rebuilt later through streets of regular, large and straight patterns and open spaces. In the 18th century a close uninhabited area known as the Cotos is still registered in the local archives.
Around the middle of the 19th century the nearby village of Corte de Peleas was attached to it, and for a short period of time it was under its rule, until this small village recovered its autonomy soon after. On the other hand, Santa Marta belonged as place of Señorío with the category of village, to the jurisdiction of the Duke of Feria, in his condition of marquis of Villalba.
Included in the village of Villalba, we know that Santa Marta depended on the authorities and justice of this municipality, at least until the middle of the 16th century, and we also know that by the end of that same century there were a total of 317 inhabitants in the village, of whom 307 were farmers, 4 noblemen and the other six were clergyman.
In the 16th century the village had a hospital for the poor, but it later closed. In the same years the Hermit of the Saint Martyrs is mentioned as the only hermit with historic referenced in the area. In it, people venerated from old times the image of Our Lady of Grace, who today gives name to the fundation. The building, out of town before, and situated in one of the ends of the village, is basically a simple construction of popular taste, painted in white, in which we find up to recent times the emblematic cable car that distinguishes the town and that is today situated in a nearby place.

The name.

Before going into detail with the origins of the name, we will explain first who Santa Martha was.
Martha was Mary Madelaine and Lazaro's sister. She held the Bible in her hands, together with a skull that symbolised the miracle that Jesuchrist carried out with her brother: "to raise him from the dead after four days buried". Martha was a "Saint", who believed in God, and who accompanied and witnessed Sain Mary's sobs and painful tears when she held her own dead son in her arms. She went with Mary Madelaine and other women to honor the dead body of Jesus, giving him a decent burial with the highest veneration. Martha saw the Lord after his resurrection, and she later witnessed the coming of the Holy Spirit, from which she received her gifts in the Cenáculo.
Saint Martha was prosecuted by the Jews and exiled with her brothers in a boat without rudder, masts or apparels, exposed to the arbitrariness of the winds and the waves of the seas, seeming to the Jews the best way of getting rid of them, given the fact that Lazaro was the living proof of the miracle carried out by Him who they had killed.
Saint Martha and her brothers soon arrived in the port of Marsey where they preached their faith, but moved by the tears of Tarascon and other villages nearby, she freed them from the monstruous dragon that was eating a man. In order to thank this event they built a monastery to honour her. Sain Martha died the day that Jesus revealed her, after a slow fever.

The badge.
The badge of Santa Marta de los Barros is an emblematic representation that incorporates and symbolises those extremes with which an old town council designed the identity of the village. Of classical shape and completed with a crown, it is devided into four quarters and a central figure.
The five leaves of the fig tree, in gold, of the central figure, are the arms of the Suarez de Figueroa family, señores of the State and Señorío de Feria. These are included because Santa Marta is a village that was founded in the lands of this family (Dukes of Feria and Marquises of Villalba), of whom the population received the first rules of government. In different historic writtings it is stated that before constituing the Mayorazgo y Señorío de Feria in 1394, by Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, son of the arrogant Maestre de Santiago, Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa, there was not an independent village with the name of Santa Marta in this area, although 87 years later it already appears mentioned as village.
The ear of wheat represents the traditional and most common proffession of the inhabitants of the village, who, with their hard work, make the cultivation of cereals productive and modelic, to the point that a denomination of origin originated in its land, known as fine wheat of Santa Marta, reaching in the market the highest value and winning national and foreign distinction. The farmer Francisco Cansado y Rodríguez obtained the silver medal in the Universal Exposition of Paris with a sample of this type of wheat, and the expositor Pedro Thomas García, from Montijo, obtained the gold medal with a sample of this same variety of wheat in the Estremaduran Regional Exposition of 1892.
As a reflection of the long farming and production tradition, we find transport contracts made between different consignees and road workers from Navarredonda (Ávila), made in the presence of a public notary in Badajoz in 1604, in 1609, in 1630. We also know about the sending to Alccacar do Sal, or to the "arrabal de Triana" in Seville, of important quantities of wheat, from the "silera de la Matilla, cercana al lugar de Santa Marta, del ducado de Feria", place known today for the many silos that appear undermined in the ground, and the house matrix of which, with thick walls, still stands there despite the passing of time.
The bunch of grapes represents, like the ear of wheat, the old tradition of grape harvest, maybe because the señores of the State of Feria "demanded the settlers of this land the planting of a minimum number of vineyards as a condition to give them land", encouraging them to its cultivation. One of the fields that are near Santa Marta, often quoted in old writings, is still known as "Old Vineyards". Today, the Cooperativa y Caja Rural "Santa Marta Virgen" is a sign of honour for the village. Its wine is highly regarded and well known in all Spanish regions, talking about the inhabitants of the area, who are devoted to the production of bread, oil and wine.
The low quarters are devoted to Saint Martha Virgin, patron saint of the village.
In the altarpiece of the church, made by the wood carver from Jerez de los Caballeros Agustín Núñez Barrero, between 1762-64, we find the same symbols that appear in the low quarters of the badge of Santa Marta.
The authors of the badge are:
Historical justification: Fernando Pérez Marqués
Design: José Antonio Martínez Portillo

Learning English in San Francisco by Pedro J. Rayo Álvarez and David Fernández Hernández

Our experience in USA was a good one. It was five of us going together: Agustín, Aranzazu, Laura, Pedro and David. When we booked our course the only option they gave us was homestay, so they selected families for us. However, the families they selected were far from being appropriate for the type of experience we were looking forward, so we bitterly complained and they found places for us in a halls of residence. From that day on everything was a lot better. The course was nothing from the outter world, but it wasn't bad either. The city however is incredible, it's like being in four or five different countries at the same time. When you are in Chinatown, for example, it is difficult to find any sign of American culture, the same happens in North Beach (Little Italy) or other places. The Golden Gate bridge is a momument that everyone should visit at least once, it makes you feel that you are in a movie! San Francisco is a city full of history, it is the craddle of the hippie movement, and one of the most representative cities of the West Coast. It is also a city of contrasts, there are places where you can smell the taste of luxury and glamour like Tiburon Island, but there are other parts of the city where it is difficult (not to say impossible) to recognize the richest country in the world. In the mornings we would go to class, then we would have lunch somewhere in Pier 39 and then we would go sightseeing. The only weekend we spent in San Francisco was really special. We rented a car and we went to Yosemite Park, which is where the original 49ers used to live and find gold. Shopping in the States is also a wonderful experience. There are great bargains if you like fancy brands, and we certainly knew where to find them.
All in all, our experience was very enriching and we practised a lot of English, which was our main aim.

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COMIENZA LA FORMACIÓN.

El período de formación del itinerario formativo PALE comienza hoy 16 de septiembre con un taller de creación de blogs.