for the love of the mountain

Zafra has a lot of attractive features and yet among Extremeño towns is defined only by El Castellar, the small mountain which borders it to the west. This blog is dedicated to our findings concerning this mountain and the countryside between it and Zafra. There is basically no information regarding these topics on the Internet, and less than none in English. Really, we’re (my girlfriend and I) interested in studying for doctorates or master’s degrees in archaeology and this is a place where we are going to post our practice field reports and drawings. Everything here, however, (as we’re amateurs) will be geared toward providing information for the tourist public about the area.

I believe that Extremadura is a beautiful autonomous community and the Badajoz region is one of my favorites in Spain. Tourism here is tricky as it’s difficult to get here and once here it’s tough to figure out what to do because nothing is in English and the people here will be among the last in the country to gain fluency in the language (my verdict as an ESL teacher). This place is a snapshot of an earlier, simpler time and I value it as such. My parents were born in the 1950’s and have told me that the North America they knew has all but disappeared (for cultural advancement and changes, etc) but I believe that America exists – here. In this tide-pool away from the menaces of modernity, things change very slowly and some things not at all, and social dangers are rare if they exist at all. Tranquilo…it’s what’s the churretines are and what Zafra embodies. So. Read on through our posts to learn a bit about el campo. Leave comments and I’ll respond to them.

Lo siento españoles sobre la idioma – un gran oportunidad para estudiar el ingles! ;p