VIVA TRUJILLO!

Gorka and Allan Strand are wearing out a great group of College of Charleston biology students as they trek around the Trujillo area exploring meadow, forest, mountain, and stream communities. 

Students are busy hiking, birding, tracking, and identifying the one hundred plus species on their list.  Highlights include orchids, Spanish imperial eagles, black storks, a vulture feeding frenzy, a huge scorpion, ocelated lizards, mountain goats, a snake eating a large toad, wild bulls, iberian pigs, fields of wildflowers, and traversing a snowy section of trail along a trout stream in the Gredos mountains.  Soon they will head north to Picos de Europa, Asturias, Cantabria, and Pais Vasco before completing  their experience in Madrid.   Allie, Chris, Evan, Iris, Josh and Rachel, are also having a blast practicing their Spanish and enjoying the cultural aspects of their stay in Trujillo.

May 20th, 2009 | Tags: College of Charleston, Natural History, Spain, Trujillo | Category: Deb's letters, Nature, Spain, Trujillo Students | Leave a comment

  I am overdue for writing a blog about Semana Santa (Easter week) here in Trujillo. It was nice to see the band that had been practicing in our neighborhood since before our arrival. Their out of tune January days progressed into the competent, fully decked out, well organized, perfectly synchronized band of drummers and buglers we saw accompanying their marchers as they carried the purple robed Christ through the streets. The spectacular processions of worshippers from at least 5 different Catholic churches in Trujillo continued day and night for the week leading up to Good Friday. The bands lead the way behind the leader of the procession that carries a gilded placard/banner. The swaying of the floats (Christs and virgins that literally weigh several tons) was rhythmic as the carriers struggled with the weight and rocked back and forth left, right… left, right… with their KKK-like pointy hats and robes on. Freaky! Especially the white pointy hats. The other colored ones, like purple, were less threatening somehow. Lots of the folks wore regular hoods. I am not sure what goes into determining who gets to wear the pointy hats and who has the hoods… maybe some sort of complex seniority structure within the groups from different churches. Some friends told us that those wearing hoods without the cardboard cone inside, do it mainly because they are much more comfortable after a few hours and do not need constant re-adjustment. Trailing in a double column behind the floats were the mourners, all ladies, in their black lace with peinetas and veils…. and high heels! I’d be dead in a heartbeat wearing shoes like that on these cobble stoned streets, even as slowly as they walked in the processions. Scott France from the Department of Geology was over on a visit along with his fancy Nikon SLR, and he contributed several of the pictures!

Chiviri is one of the main fiestas of Trujillo and is a round the clock party beginning at midnight on Easter Sunday consisting of alcohol (lots), food, and dancing in the main town square (Plaza mayor). It is basically one big street drinking party, where most people bring their own alcohol, mixers, ice cubes and plastic cups! Chiviri includes a huge stage with mega sound system on which a band plays continuously (they say it has been the same band for the last 20 years). Everyone knows the words to the songs which are mainly silly drinking songs… which are repeated every 6 minutes or so! Over and over and over! Locals and students alike dressed up as shepherds and in traditional dresses. After Chiviri was over, 8 tons of trash were picked up from the main plaza, plus 6 tons from the street where the pubs and discos are located! (On a greener note – all the recyclables get sorted out at the local trash sorting plant.)  On Easter it is also traditional for chocolate animals to be given to kids by their god parents. Popular this year were Futbol Club Barcelona chocolates – shaped like players or like footballs with Barcelona’s colors, and Hello Kitty shaped chocolates. Although eggs and bunnies were part of the artwork that the kids did at school, the Easter Bunny doesn’t come to Spain and there are no baskets, jellybeans, or chocolate eggs to be had.

The Monday after Easter is the Dia del Campo – a day where the whole town of Trujillo evacuates and heads for the countryside to picnic and nurse their hangovers. Traditional foods cooked over a campground fire include white bean stew and pork stew with potatoes.

Beginning today and continuing through the weekend, our students’ last weekend in Spain, is Trujillo’s other main festival: the Feria del Queso (the cheese festival)! The Plaza Mayor is filled with kiosks full of the best cheeses in all of Spain. Goat, sheep, cured, fresh, strong, mild, blue, creamy, and everything in between sells for 50 cents a slice and is accompanied by gallons of red wine. It is a fitting way for the students to end this terrific semester, a very merry festival indeed.

Gorka, Eneko, Unai, and I will accompany the students to Madrid this weekend to explore the Capital (Madrid vs. Barcelona soccer match, art museums, gorgeous parks, huge Sunday flea market, the royal palace) before they catch their flight home on Tuesday. It is an emotional time for the students who are looking forward to seeing friends and families back home but are hard pressed to leave behind their Spanish families and new Trujillo friends. Lucky for this family, we remain, awaiting Gorka’s biology students who arrive in about two weeks, and a large College of Charleston group of Spanish students who will follow shortly thereafter.

April 30th, 2009 | Category: Deb's letters, General, Spain | Leave a comment

I continue to dwell on the complexities of a socialized healthcare system in the United States as we have become more familiar with our local clinic here in Trujillo through student and family illnesses (ears and throats).  A student, myself, and my son all recently visited the Trujillo clinic and received prompt, competent, free medical attention. 

I should probably have mentioned in my first blog on the subject that in Spain and the EU higher education is also subsidized by the governments.  For example, studying at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (the equivalent of a large state University in the US) costs about €900 a year.  Spanish medical students pay about €1100 a year due to extra lab fees (www.allstudies.com).  Numerous regional, national and private scholarships (becas) are available so that most university students pay considerably less (http://www.uam.es/estudiantes/secbecas/) and can receive assistance with rent if they attend university outside of their hometown.  How does a Spanish University education compare to the US version?  Quite comparable.  My husband, Gorka, completed his undergraduate studies at Autonoma de Madrid and later went on to receive a beca to complete his doctorate at the MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic joint program in the US.

The key is that new doctors in Spain do not begin their careers saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of educational debt.  See below regarding malpractice insurance (free for doctors working in the Spanish social security system).  Hence there is absolutely no need for Spanish doctors to earn huge salaries to compensate for their educational debt and malpractice insurance expenses. 

Surely we could have a hybridized healthcare system in the United States?  What if scholarships were available for students wishing to study medicine, offering  free medical school with a commitment to practicing medicine for 7 years at a middle class salary in the social security system of the state in which the student studies?  This option already exists in the US within the military, free medical school with the commitment to serve in the military for a minimum of 3 years of active duty (US Navy).  Couldn’t it become available in a more mainstream manner?  US doctors in the socialized system could also opt to have a private practice on the side, after hours, if they wished to earn more money or specialize.  Doctors desiring to go into strictly private practice could still opt to pay to do so.

Malpractice insurance is the other key issue of course.  In the US, malpractice insurance costs vary by state and by specialty with the highest premiums paid by ob/gyn practitioners topping out at over $170,000 a year in Florida.  An estimated average, based on 2001 malpractice premiums for ob/gyn’s, surgeons, and internists in Michigan, Illinois, Florida and California, is $67,000 a year (Insurance Information Institute, www.iii.org).  Doctors in Spain don’t have to pay malpractice insurance if they work in the socialized system (the government picks up the tab).  They only need malpractice insurance for their private practices and the rates are much more affordable than in the US.  Rates depend on the specialty (ob/gyn the most expensive) and for private practice in Spain may average between €15,000 – $25,000 a year.  (Rates based on conversations with Spanish doctor friends).

I’d happily pay higher taxes in return for socialized healthcare and affordable higher education.  It would still be cheaper than health insurance premiums and college tuition.

April 23rd, 2009 | Category: Deb's letters, General, Spain | Leave a comment

Coastline in Cascais, Portugal

By Elizabeth Hallett:

Portugal seemed like it needed a visit this weekend. We really had no definite plans, so we trained into Lisbon on Thursday morning. Since we were on the coast, we decided to spend the day at the beach. It was the best idea we have ever come up with. We trained a little further up to Cascais. The water was clear blue and inviting. We couldn’t go in because the currents in the Atlantic make the Portuguese waters freezing. The water numbed our feet just wading in it. We bought a picnic lunch and hiked up to Boca do Inferno (mouth of Hell). Don’t let the name frighten you. The mouth is quite tame this time of year. When it is high tide on a good day, the wind blows against the rocks and makes an eerie, groaning sound. While we didn’t get to hear Hell’s fury, we did get to see some great views. Fun Fact: Europe has not set their clocks back yet and Portugal is an hour ahead of Spain. So I was only four hours ahead of you all weekend. I waved to you all from the Portuguese shore. Did anyone see me? We ended our wonderful day at the beach and headed back to Lisbon.
We started the next day off on a train to Queluz. Queluz is a palace located 5 km away from Lisbon. Reportedly, upon Pedro of Braganza’s (later to become King Pedro III) visit to Versailles, he proclaimed that Portugal must have their own. It is actually one of the last great rococo palaces in Europe and just the quaintest pink monstrosity I have ever seen. It was also home to Maria I as she descended increasingly into madness. Every inch (centimeter) of the palace is covered in mirrors or some ornate decoration. Every room has at least one chandelier and most are fabulously decorated to show the wealth and power of Portugal. One room was covered in Don Quixote murals and was the bedroom of King João VI. The gardens were by far the best part. The grounds are covered in green and every walkway is flanked with statues. The fountains were full of fish and the best part was that a middle school was there on a field trip, so we got to see a couple of characters dressed up in 18th century finest putting on a show for the kids.

Sintra palace

We spent the rest of the day in Sintra. This town has several attractions, but the only one we had time for was the Quinta da Regaleira. It is a palace built in the early 20th century by an opera set designer. The enchanting palace is said to reflect symbols from alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. The interior was amazing, but the true gem was definitely the gardens. The entire garden is filled with lakes, grottoes, streams, wells, caves, and waterfalls. The entire area is full of mystery and wonder and you really feel like you fell into a fairytale.
We decided to call it a day and headed back to Lisbon to get ready for our last day in Portugal. We awoke with the sun and got to work. The first stop was the Castelo de São Jorge. The structure dates from Visigothic times and stands on top of the tallest hill in Lisbon. Luckily, we took the tram. I am so sick of hills. Like most castles in Spain, it is very old and was occupied by Visigoths, Moors, and Christians. The castle is in ruins but it still affords great views of Lisbon. We broke for lunch and then headed down to the monastery. El Monasteiro dos Jerónimos is gigantic. It was constructed by Manuel I in 1496 after the discovery of the New World. It took up about three blocks just on one side. So it was 12 blocks all the way around. The inside is incredibly ornate and the Church was gorgeous with beautiful stained glass windows. Vasco da Gama is actually entombed in the church. I love the fact that it was supposed to be a “humble” chapel, but it turned into a gargantuan monastery. And so ended our trip to Portugal. I would have to say this was one of my favorite places I have visited. The beach and the sun were just what I needed. Traveling has been a little wearisome as of late. We have been taking overnight trains everywhere.

April 14th, 2009 | Category: Trujillo Students | Leave a comment

A member of our College of Charleston student group sustained a recent injury (luckily it turned out to be a contusion) that was painful enough to warrant medical attention and potential x-rays. We visited the emergency room in the brand spanking new Trujillo hospital, coincidentally christened earlier that very morning by the President of the Extremadura region, Guillermo Fernández.  The staff greeted us in a friendly and cheerful manner, teasing my young son who was with us and joking about trying to pronounce the student’s foreign sounding name in English, saying that they were still only in beginning English classes. We offered information about the travel health insurance policy that the students have and I mentioned that we’d be happy to pay any fees with a credit card.  The staff waived away our offers immediately and with humor. “We couldn’t make you pay even if we wanted to!  There are no cash registers or credit card machines here.  We don’t even need your address! This is socialized medicine. We’ll fix you up, of course.  Have a seat and we’ll call you in to see the doctor in a minute.”  We hardly waited the full 60 seconds before an orderly came for us.  The doctor was friendly, efficient and patient with our attempts to describe what had taken place in a mix of English/Spanish translation. Some poking and prodding and off we went to the x-ray ward.  Less than 15 minutes later, x-rays in hand, we were chatting with the doctor, looking at the x-rays together and relieved to know that no fracture had occurred.  Pain-killers in hand and clear instructions on how to proceed, we were warmly escorted to the door and wished well.  We didn’t pay a cent, nor will we.  The care we received was prompt, competent, caring and efficient. 

Doctors earn a good salary but aren’t wealthy in Spain – they are paid more like a public servant – what would be considered middle class in the US.  Many Spanish doctors who work in the socialized medical system also have private practices on the side in which they see patients with private health insurance or wealthier clientele that don’t want to wait for appointments for optional procedures and prefer to pay out of pocket for more personalized and immediate attention.  In this way doctors can earn extra money and can specialize if they choose to. Spain therefore has a hybridized system of social security and private medicine.  In larger cities, such as Madrid, waits for non life threatening emergency care can be considerably longer than the grand total of 25 minutes that we spent in the emergency room at the Trujillo hospital!  None-the-less, what a comforting, wonderful feeling to know that there is a social safety net here – that if something urgent and unfortunate happens, from car wreck to heart attack, one will not be saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills – regardless of one’s socio-economic class or the absence of private health insurance.  Oh, and medicines here are extremely affordable.  Example: 7 doses of children’s liquid ibuprofen in the US cost approximately $7.  In Spain, a 20 dose bottle costs $2.50.  Antibiotic prescriptions are less than $5.  Are taxes higher here in Spain to cover socialized medicine?  Depends… the wealthy are taxed more, yes, up to 50% or more on income.  Middle class tax rates are roughly equivalent to those in the US.  In Charleston our family of four pays over $700 a month for medical insurance and the visit to the ER would still have cost us the $125 co-pay plus 10% of the hospital bill… not to mention the time it would have taken to ensure that our paperwork was in order before during and after our visit with the doctor.  The painkillers would have required an expensive prescription.  For non-urgent, socialized medical care in Spain, citizens have a social security card that shows they are officially registered in the system.  Our family once paid taxes in Spain and is fortunate to be registered in the Spanish system.  Should a serious health complication arise, we dream of coming to Spain for treatment.  Free chemotherapy for cancer patients in Spanish hospitals like Gorka’s mother had versus the $7000 weekly sessions my mother had in New England?  Food for thought.

March 25th, 2009 | Category: Deb's letters, General, Spain | Comments (1)

Sierra Nevada, outside of Granada

What do you get when you cross two days of skiing in Sierra Nevada with formula one race cars zooming past on a practice track in Jerez de la Frontera?  One very happy (and tired) family.  Gorka and I have known from day one what a truly amazing opportunity coming to Trujillo for the spring would for our family but we think it is just starting to register with our kids.  After gallivanting around nearly every weekend since our arrival they are now constantly thinking up adventures for when we return to Charleston – overnight island camping trips, shrimping at night, camping in the NC mountains at Pisgah, skiing in the winter-time, going to see NASCAR races at Darlington, river rafting and camping out in Colorado, mountain biking in Vermont, RedSox baseball games… fat chance!

Why is it so much easier for our family to adventure here in Spain than from back home in Charleston?  There are a number of potential reasons… I guess first among them is that Gorka is on sabbatical here and I have less students than usual (8 versus 100’s) – so while still busy, we aren’t drowning in work during weekends (just late nights). Not feeling as stressed out certainly makes us feel like we have more time to be adventurous.  Clearly distances in Spain are so much more manageable as well – we have many friends and family here easily within 1-8 hours of driving.  Since airfares are prohibitively expensive for our family of four, we nearly always have to drive to travel.  Being in Charleston can be a bit of a handicap as far as a

Fernando Alonso and his Formula 1 racing car

dventures go, being a good 5 hours from mountains, 15 hours from family in New England, and expensive flights to family in Colorado and Spain.  In Charleston our buddies live nearby and we don’t tend to get out of Dodge much to visit with other folks since we have a lot of fun close to home.  Our fun in Charleston doesn’t last all weekend – it is more reined in and usually consists of a couple hours of playtime outdoors with the kids.  Lately here in Spain we’ve been leaving after school on Fridays and coming home at bedtime on Sundays.  Having frequent free weekend schedules in Trujillo helps – in Spain the kids’ sporting events are all on weekdays after school leaving the weekends free and clear, while Saturday’s in the US almost always include some sort of sporting activity or birthday party for the boys.  Even the kids’ birthday parties here are on weekdays (evenings) so that weekends can remain sacred.  We are also getting spoiled for sure having help with housework here (we don’t have help at home in Charleston) and it really frees up a ton of time to do things as a family.  We get our work done during the week and can often escape for the weekends here, but in Charleston work has a habit of invading a significant portion of our weekends.  When we get in a rut we do the grocery shopping, the laundry, clean the house, work in the yard, and grade all weekend long when maybe we could drop it and adventure instead if we just slept more and planned better.

All sorts of new schemes are creeping into my head so that we can take fuller advantage of Charleston like we are doing with Trujillo.  There is nothing like going away to make you realize the pleasures of home, as a wise former student of mine recently pointed out.Why don’t we go for walks on the beach at sunset more often?  Why don’t we go out for more sunrise fishing expeditions?  Why don’t we stargaze?  Why do we shy away from bringing the surfboard to the beach instead of optimistically tossing it on top of the car and taking advantage of the fact that there are nearly always surfable waves at Folly with a longboard?  I hope I can manage to slow down the pace of my life back in Charleston somehow so I can feel half as adventurous, spontaneous, happy and relaxed back home as I do here in Trujillo.  Time will tell.

March 19th, 2009 | Category: Deb's letters, Eneko & Unai, General, Spain | Comments (1)

In late February the College of Charleston students along with the Sancho-Bidwell clan travelled to Andalucia for a 4 night excursion of history, sightseeing and fun. The scenery we passed to and from Andalucia was beautiful… olive groves stretching as far as the eye could see, plum trees in splendid white bloom, peach trees in purplish-pink and the grass greening up right before our eyes. 

Deb and an interior patio in Cordoba

We began in Cordoba where we enjoyed the Mezquita immensely and strolled through the winding narrow streets of the old quarter of town  (each house harboring gorgeous interior patios) to rediscover a huge, sunny plaza that Gorka and I had visited with his mother some 6 or 7 years ago now.  Gorka has an amazing memory for places!   The plaza lined with bars and restaurants and had plenty of outdoor seating set up – a taste of spring.  The Mezquita with its candy cane striped unique double arches stretching as far as the eye can see gives a hall of mirrors sort of effect.  In the dim lighting one gets a powerful sensation of the opulence, dominance and mastery of Arab culture in Spain at its historical peak.  At the center of the Mezquita there is a large, gothic Catholic Cathedral that is both a masterpiece and a crime, depending on one’s point of view.

We continued on to Granada where the impressive snow covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada dominated the skyline. Spain’s biggest continental mountain, el Mulhacen -3482m, is there.  The island of Tenerife (Canary Islands) has a taller volcano, El Teide – 3718m.  In Granada we spent the better part of a full day at the Arab palace of the Alhambra with its mind-blowing architectural detail and sonorous splashing of water.  After a picnic of bocadillos in the Generalife gardens surrounding the Alhambra and the Alcazar we strolled and ate tapas in the Albaicin neighborhood before winding our way down through pedestrian streets lined with tea houses and dreadlocked vendors in shops selling jewelry and Tibetan  clothing, the smell of burning incense wafting through the air.  We enjoyed the huge servings of free tapas in Granada… they practically serve you a free meal with every drink!  We also found the best gelato joint this side of George Street.  Our group was so very fortunate to coincide with another College of Charleston student of Gorka and mine living and studying in Granada who was both tour guide and nightlife social coordinator extraordinaire for our group!  We convinced him to join us for the remainder of our trip to Sevilla over the weekend.

Decoration inside the Alhambra palace

Sevilla es una maravilla… it is true.  Sevilla is larger than both Cordoba and Granada and more splendid.  The gardens and parks are more expansive and there were easily two days worth of sight seeing to be done.  The cathedral is remarkable. it is the largest gothic church in the world!  We admired the towering ceilings, ornate wood carved designs behind the main altar and were agasp at the size and grandeur of the organ.  Climbing the square bell tower of La Giralda we had spectacular views of the entire city stretched out below us in every direction.  The Plaza de Espana is also exquisite.  It seems to be so old and regal even though it was actually built less than 100 years ago.  We don’t seem to build things like that in the United States outside of DC.  Students located a gem of a bar off the beaten path with authentic, free, live flamenco music.  The music was fantastic and the bar itself was also quite interesting – it was once a coal distribution warehouse for the city.  It was also an eye-opening moment for our group in a number of ways… we ran into another CofC student in the bar that night who happened to be visiting Sevilla as well with a study abroad program in Barcelona (small world experience to say the least) and we also had the displeasure of witnessing the “ugly American” phenomenon first hand.  A large group of alcohol dosed American college students simply wouldn’t shut up… they just didn’t get the message that the audience was a respectful quiet one.  The entire bar was glaring at them and shushing them but they carried on their loud conversations in English while drinking pitchers of pina coladas.  Ugh.   

This group of intrepid College of Charleston students is travelling extensively on their own as well.  So far students have traveled to:  Barcelona, Caceres, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, London, Paris, Dublin, Lisbon, Berlin, Stuttgart, and soon to come: a whirlwind tour of Italy.  They’ve had their share of adventures and are becoming quite seasoned.  They are also going broke in a hurry!  Gorka and I are taking advantage of their willingness to babysit the boys for spending money – it’s a win-win-win situation.  Eneko and Unai are psyched, they love breaking rules and taking advantage of babysitters.

March 12th, 2009 | Category: Deb's letters, Spain | Comments (1)

We asked the College of Charleston students living in Trujillo with host families what they miss from the United States, and what they do not miss, since over a month has gone by and they are fully immersed in the Trujillo lifestyle. Here are their responses, in no particular order…

What I miss from the US:

Pets, Food that doesn’t still have its head attached, Andolini’s pizza, Jim n’ Nicks, Tex-Mex, Hamburgers, Dr. Pepper, peanut butter, Chocolate chip cookies and pretzels, Beer variety (Ales!  Bud light!), The beach, More complete independence, Family and buddies at home, Ease of communication with friends and family, Central heating, Long hot showers, Easy internet access, Cash inflow, Golf, Live music

What I don’t miss from US:

Friday classes, Traffic, Strip malls, Crowds, Commuting, Sprawl, Driving everywhere, Lack of wild spaces, Paying for gas, Doing laundry, Bills and junk mail, Hectic schedule and no sleep, Business classes, Feeling stressed out, Lame egocentric US television news

It will be hard to live back home without…

Gorgeous countryside, Mountains at my fingertips, Chance to be alone in nature everyday, Spanish families, Travels every weekend, Easy affordable public transit from anywhere, Pasapalabra, Coffee breaks with Juani and Pili at the Coria, Cola Cao (Spanish hot cocoa), Cheese glorious cheese, Siestas, Delicious cheap olives, Relaxed pace of Spanish living, Emilio at Vilu pub, Views from the Coria – pastures and mountains, Wildflowers, Sunrise and sunset from the Castle, Tapas, Tortilla de patatas, Terrazas in the sun, Churros, Strolls through the countryside, Affordable Rioja wine, Amazing olive oil, Help with housework, Jamon and chorizo, Storks

March 6th, 2009 | Category: General, Trujillo Students | Comments (1)

Corrine, Christin, Eneko, Deb, Emilia, Unai, Carlos (Matt's host brother) and Matt, with Gredos in the background

A few days ago Deb and I made a couple of car trips to take our sons and some of the College of Charleston students studying this Spring semester in Trujillo for a hike. We chose to do an easy peak, the Pico de Santa Cruz, since little Unai would be coming along and we were not sure of the hiking prowness of the students. It is a small mountain (808 meters) but it stands by itself on the horizon south of Trujillo and dominates that skyline. We started the hike from the main plaza of the town of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, which indicates how Spanish towns are, condensed and without sprawling suburbs. Within a couple minutes we were walking in between stone walls and olive groves, and eventually we made it into the open countryside, encountering some scattered cows and a non-poisonous snake, a culebra de escalera (Elaphe scalaris). Eneko, a future herpetologist, impressed all the students by running towards the snake and trying to pick it up before it got into a hole, since they were jumping and running away from it. We saw a big cork oak tree, with plenty of bark to show everybody were cork comes from.

This trip I was playing with a handheld GPS, a new toy, for which I had downloaded a route for the hike. Unai had been griping and whiney, so I gave him the GPS which had an arrow pointing in the direction to follow. It was like giving him a twinkie, he instantly perked up, called himself “El Jefe” and started briskly leading everybody up the mountain! The only problem was that he stared all the time at the GPS, and therefore stumbled multiple times on various rocks, branches and other unseen obstacles.

The mountain of Santa Cruz is a granite formation, I believe an old volcano (though I am not certain), with a very jagged ridge. We had lunch near the top, and then hiked a little further where we could see excellent views of the whole province of Caceres: the Gredos mountains to the North, the rice fields and agricultural lands of the Guadiana river to the South, the Villuercas mountains to the East and the Sierra de San Pedro to the West. It is funny how much you can miss a mountaintop view while living in Charleston, where all you can see is the Cooper River Bridge!

On the way down we encountered a old, leather skinned hunter who was hiking up the mountain with a shotgun and a covered birdcage.  Inside the cage he carried a male Perdiz (red-legged partridge – Alectoris rufa). What they do is put the caged bird in an open field, and when it signs it attracts either other courting males or females, which then are shot down by the hidden hunter. Not the most sporting type of hunting, but a very traditional technique from days when hunting guns were much less accurate, since perdices have a very fast flight.

March 4th, 2009 | Category: Gorka's letters, Nature, Spain, Trujillo Students | Comments (1)