CIADONCHA SO MANY MEMORIES! Lucía T. Varona, Ed. D. Santa Clara University Santa Clara, California 95053 Translated by Sandra Vindiola 1 Participants Agustín Arroyo López Gregorio Arroyo López Santos Arroyo Pérez Dulce Estrella Caballero López Marisa Delgado Sierra Fabricio Galiana Sierra Virgilio Galiana Sierra Purificación Galiana Arroyo Rosa Gutiérrez González María Hernando Temido Florencio Ibáñez Álvarez José Luís Julián Hernando Ángeles López Varona Genara Madrid Frías Paulina Madrid Mecerreyes Ismael Madrid Olmos Práxedes Martínez Santos Ana María Melchor Madrid Orencio Pérez Cascajar Angelines Pérez Palacios Emérito Puente García, Párroco Ángel Varona Madrid Arcadio Varona Madrid Federico Varona Madrid María Ángeles Varona Madrid Petra Varona Madrid CONTENT Introduction ………………………………………………. 4 Chapter 1: The Town and the people …………………….. 9 Chapter 2: Evolution of the Population ………………….. 17 Chapter 3: A Bit of History ………………………………. 25 Chapter 4: The Church …………………………………… 27 Chapter 5: Spirituality ……………………………………. 36 Chapter 6: The Food ……………………………………… 64 Chapter 7: The Matanza ………………………………….. 70 Chapter 8: The Wine Cellars ………………………………77 Chapter 9: Houses ………………………………………… 83 Chapter 10: The Cycle of Life…………………………….. 96 Chapter 11: Education ……………………………………123 Chapter 12: Agriculture and Livestock……………………134 Chapter 13: Santa Barbara Cultural Center ………………152 Bibliography …………………………………………….. 164 Internet Version Hollister, California, December, 2006 3 INTRODUCTION During the summer of 2005 I participated in a seminar given by Santa Clara University, where I am a Spanish Senior Lecturer. For two weeks during this seminar, 20 of us read, reflected and shared themes in relation to vocation. It was like, in some way, putting our whole life on the table and finding what it is that has motivated and motivates us to work each day. For me it is very clear, my vocation is sharing my life with simple people from the community. It is with them that I enjoy being more and from them that I learn the most. In Guatemala I worked for many years for a non-governmental organization creating, directing, and coordinating education programs for children, teenagers and adults from the marginal area of the capital city (areas forgotten by the government and society where there is poverty, with all its consequences of abandonment, illness, misery, etc...) This was my first university. Weekly I wrote a column in a supplement of the daily newspaper El Gráfico (The Graphic) that was called “Semilla” (“Seed”), where I would express my reflections and all that I would learn from the people with whom and for whom I worked. In the United States I specialized myself in multicultural education and in the teaching of Spanish as a second language. My doctoral thesis was inspired by my Latin students, mostly originating from rural areas, who took my courses while I completed my post graduate studies. My classes are characterized by community based learning, which is nothing more than inviting the students to coexist with the Spanish- speakers that use community help centers so that they can learn from them, sharing daily life. The principal objective of this type of learning is to establish a greater communication between the university and the community, wherein one nourishes the other, wherein they mutually respect one another and thus that is how human development is promoted. It is in this field of community based where I have carried out research work and it is in the simple people where I truly find the desire to live. No wonder then that this study has been inspired and carried out with the community of Ciadoncha; a small rural Spanish town whose inhabitants have worked the fields beginning with cows until the arrival of modern harvesting. This town has never had a secondary school, not even a library, but its men and women have the wisdom of one that has given its best years to the land, and the simple heart of one that every morning thanks heavens for a new day. This small and simple community has inspired articles in El Diario of Burgos (Burgos Newspaper), with titles such as “Ciadoncha: the most intellectual town of the province” written by Roberto Estébanez, (22) Since 1984 I visit Ciadoncha at least once a year. I got married with a “ranero”, as they call natives of this village, and since then I have tried to let myself talk by its roads, houses, fields, and mainly its people. Some short stories are witnesses of my first impressions. (http://itrs.scu.edu/instructors/lvarona ) Unfortunately, it is evident that many small towns, in Spain, tend to disappear and Ciadoncha is not an exception. With grief we have seen how much the population has been diminishing and with them also go the memories. Very little has been written about 4 this town. The stories are only engraved in the memories of those that live. We could say that every time an elder of Ciadoncha dies, a library disappears with him or her; that library that until today the town has never had. Before this reality and with the certainty of the large values that are in this place I began the present work. This is a compilation of the most pleasing memories of twenty two people that kindly accepted my invitation to dialogue. Only one of them asked that his name not appear in the list of participants. What I contribute to this study is the historical context of the times to which the narrations of the informants refer and also my own reflections and memories. Form in which quotes and bibliographical references have been done. It is my dream that this study be read by all the people that want to enter in some way in the marvelous ordinary, but not simple, world or those who make it possible for bread to come to our table every day. That is why the reader will realize that the language used is colloquial and direct. In the text the authors are mentioned and the number that you see in parenthesis corresponds to the page from which the information comes. The data of the sources of information are given at the end in the form of a bibliography. Many terms and words are written in italic, which means that the explanation for this word or phrase is located in the glossary at the end. When I refer to personal dialogues, I do not write the name of the person, but I do give the year in which the interview took place. This is at the request of the participants, whom only want their names to appear as collaborators, but do not want what each said to be individually identified. In which information is found on the Internet, the electronic address is given and a brief explanation of the same in the text. In the bibliography the address is given again and the date that it was used. With respect to the photographs used in this study, the majority was provided by Arcadio and Federico Varona, and others that wanted to collaborate; and yet others were taken by the author. In each photograph, its origin is mentioned. In many cases it is impossible to know the date in which they were taken and one can only make a reference to its era or the decade in which we assume they were taken. Those which were able to be given a date have only the year. Theoretical Bases Participatory research theory, appreciative inquiry theory, and oral history theory have served as a base for this study. These three vast research theories have inspired and helped me observe, reflect, learn to ask and organize information. Peter Park, a North American investigator who has done a lot of studies with different communities in the United States explains that the theory of Participatory Research says that the need for research comes from the people in the community. It is the people who have the power to generate, deepen and transmit knowledge (4). He says that participatory research begins because the people see a problem and try to solve it. The investigator with the people from the community (I have placed this emphasis) see 5 the problem and together try to solve it. Somehow, that is what occurred in our case, therefore “the problem” which we see is that there is not much written about Ciadoncha. We also see that the older people have these memories only in their heads, and there is a risk of losing everything if nothing remains written for other generations. Therefore, the idea of writing these memories has not been just mine but of many people and in fact we all have memories, not just one person. Therefore, this study had to be participatory, which means that in it many have actively intervened with their stories, their photos, their videos, opening their home to me, letting me take photos and sharing with me much of what has been lived in this town. But on the other hand, I have not wanted to emphasize the problems but more so the good memories, the positive things that have occurred in this town. That is why Appreciative Inquiry Theory helped me understand how I had to ask my questions, how to avoid to fall into negativity in the dialogues. This theory focuses the investigation from a different point of view, but complementary of the participatory research theory. Authors Jane Magruder Watkins and Bernard J. Mhor tell us that Appreciative Inquiry Theory is based on emphasizing the meaning of the word appreciate that is like to want, to value; and in the word inquire which means to try to understand asking questions (14). From this theory I took the idea of asking what were the best memories people had during their life in Ciadoncha? We always talked about the positive things.