EXPLORERS from EXTREMADURA

“Extremadura was my Spain…I saw about me the suspicious, dour Extremadurans, whose ancestors had conquered not cities but whole nations and continents. I felt that I had come back to my own land.”  Michener, James A. IBERIA; 1968

            In his non-fiction book of his travels through Spain, Michener’s first chapter after his introduction, is “BADAJOZ” . 

            It is obvious why he began with Extremadura based on the quote above, but it was also the fact that Michener did extensive study on explorers. And just as he did, many people still have similar views of Spanish explorers: firstly these people were courageous and made many contributions even in their struggles and voyages, but secondly, that conquistadores are remembered for their ruthless conquests of indigenous civilizations.

            It is a well-known fact that many men (and some women), came for the region of Extremadura. Extremaduran’s contribution to the age of discovery was more prevalent than others from Spain. It was through the Extremaduran generals that many of the area soldiers were recruited. The new recruits were willing to leave behind a life of poverty and hardship to seek fortunes in the new world.

            In some of our future blog posts, we will introduce, not only the most famous of the generals, but also some of the lesser known soldiers along with their contributions to history, all originating from Extremadura.

             These are a few of the extremeño explorers:

            Vasco Nuñez de Balbao and Hernando de Soto from Jerez de los Caballeros.

            Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez, Francisco de Orellana  and Alonso de Sotomayor y Valmediano from Trujillo.

            Leonel de Cervantes and Pedro Gallego Andrada from Burguillos del Cerro.

            Pedro Arias de Almesto and Luis de Moscoso from Zafra.

            Hernán Cortes de Monroy y Pizzaro from Medellín.

            Pedro de Alvarado, Jorge Alvarado, Diego Alvarado, and Juan de Alonso are from Badajoz.

            Hernando de Bustammante and Juan Rodriguez Suarez from Merida.

            Francisco Aguilar from Villalba.

            Garcia Aguilar from Villafranca

            Alonso Álvarez de Pineda from Aldeacentenera, Cáceres.
            Marina Ortiz de Gaete wife of Pedro de Valdivia from Zalamea de la Serena, Badajoz. Valdivia was also from Badajoz.
    
            

R. Aguilar

#EARTHTOPARIS

Dear readers,
     Since its inception in 1992, world leaders have united to find solutions in combating climate change and its affects, at their yearly conferences. Known also as COP21, the Climate Conference of 2015 will meet for the 21st time in Paris during 30th of November to 11th of December.
     This time, however, the UN hopes to have in place a legal, universal agreement on climate change for all nations.

     As you can see, Climate Change is real and will affect us in many ways. Unfortunately, one of them is losing some of our favorite foods that we now take for granted and some of us enjoy on a daily, or weekly basis.
     The high heats and extreme weather conditions are no match for the fragile food plants due to global warming. The plants will not be able to grow and produce due to the abundant contaminates and high levels of carbon dioxide that will have them overly stressed and ultimately, the plants will die.

Here a but a few of the food products that are being threatened by climate change.

Coffee: Climate changes in the tropics and central America where coffee beans grow, have seen more high temperatures. A fungus is attacking the coffee plants and inhibiting growth of the beans. Farmers are seeing a fall in production due to lost of plants. More information can be found here: "A Coffee Crop Withers




Chocolate: I love chocolate! Indeed, a lot of us do. And now that research has shown that its flavonoids and antioxidants are good for your health and heart, more people are consuming it . The problem with that is we are already seeing a decrease in production. The cacao bean tree needs a lot of water. Countries that produce these beans, such as Africa and in Latin America, are seeing an increase in heat temperatures, therefore the plants are losing more and more water, leading to a reduction of beans.


Beans: Beans are a basic staple to most Latin American countries and most of Africa. A high level of carbon dioxide and higher temperatures will not allow these legumes to flower and seed production will be impacted. This in turn will lead to less beans being produced, and therefore may lead to hunger in these countries. Beans will also not produce well if there is more water than expected.
We are already seeing many of these temperature and climate patterns this year alone.


Cherries: Cherries are my favorite fruit (apart from pomegranates). Cherries are also high in beneficial vitamins and antioxidants. Cherries require a series of many cool nights to bear fruit. If there are fewer nights, then of course, there will be produce fewer fruits. The rising temperatures also mean that the fruits need to be harvested quickly or they will rot in their trees.
I saw this happening during my visit to the Jerte Valley, in Spain this summer. Many Picota cherries were damaged because of the high temperatures therefore limiting the season to a short month instead of several.

Picota Cherries

Seafood: Rising warm waters will impact the an entire spectrum of edible seafood. Rising levels of carbon dioxide will produce a warmer and acidic ocean, which will lead many species of fish and seafood to either migrate or die off from lack of survival. These creatures may also have a tendency to be infected with parasites or bacteria that will harm humans, if eaten. Habitats of these sea creatures will also be lost.

Apart from recycling, reusing, and reducing waste, we can also let our voices be heard to the world leaders that this is the time to take action.

#EarthtoParis

R. Aguilar