Last February, I went on a trip to a place that I've always pictured in my mind but never imagined I would go to one day. Its name is Fermoselle, my grandfather's hometown. Where? In the province of Zamora, Spain.
Together with a group of twenty-seven young people from Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina, I took part in the “Roots Program” sponsored by the Spanish Government of Zamora with the aim of visiting our grandparents' villages for the first time. The program consisted in a guided two-week trip to explore each participant's ancestral village. Some of us were the first members of the family to go back to the land where our granddads and grandmas had been born and had left long time ago. Indeed, the overarching purpose of the program was to provide the participants, and consequently their families, with a deeper understanding of their heritage. In general terms, this trip was about searching for, interpreting and coming closer to our roots.

In search of the ancestral villages

The real search for the land of our ancestors started just at the moment we arrived in Spain. Our Spanish program coordinators had to list all the names of the ancestral villages of each participant beforehand in order to map out the group's travel itinerary. Actually, it was a tight schedule; we visited the six 'comarcas' of the province and more than thirty 'villas' within a seven-day period. Then, we devoted the rest of the days to sightseeing and learning about the Spanish people.
Once on the road, the coordinators took us to our grandparents' hometowns. We were really excited about that and we couldn't wait to get to the villages. We realised that finding a village was not a difficult task but locating the houses where our ancestors had actually lived was really tough. As some of the members of the group didn't have the precise address, it was necessary to go into the village itself and ask the elder local residents directly. Any name, surname or even nickname could give them a clue to locate the correct house. This was an effective method to find most of the group's ancestral homes. In my case, although I had my granddad's address beforehand, I was not certain whether his home had been sold, demolished or a new house was standing on that site. To my surprise, the house on 74 Requejo Street not only stood unchanged but also still belonged to my family. The elderly woman who showed up when I rang the bell happened to be my grandfather's niece. Incredibly, I didn't know that she existed and, in the same way, she didn't know about me either! It was extremely moving entering the house where my granddad used to live as a child. His interesting and hard life had started just inside those very walls. My granddad's niece kindly showed me each room and filled them with family anecdotes. After tasting some delicious olives and ham and taking some pictures, I left the house with the feeling that although my search had been successful, it was not concluded. It was just the beginning of an encounter with my roots.

More findings and more effects

For most of the members of the group, going back to the birthplace of our ancestors increased the awareness of our heritage in many ways. For example, it brought about clarity and understanding of the reasons that moved our grandparents to leave their homeland. We witnessed the hardship of the soil and we learnt about the poor living conditions of these rural villages in wartime periods. In a way, finding out the causes of our grandparents' emigration gave us another insight into our family history which had been sometimes disregarded.

At the same time, we had the opportunity to appreciate the Zamoranos' rituals, language, cuisine and customs which our grandfathers and grandmothers had once transmitted to our families. A clear example is the ritual of the 'tapas' in a typical Spanish bar. Every evening elderly people, adults, teenagers and even children gather together to have some 'pinchos y chatos' or some 'papas bravas y ali oli'. 'Pinchos' means a metal stick filled with pieces of pork, 'chatos' are small glasses of wine, and 'papas bravas y ali oli' are potatoes with a spicy tomato and garlic sauce. Unmistakably, I felt that the essence of the Zamoranos was present in those bars; you could see them eating and drinking; talking and shouting; laughing and arguing; and of course, playing cards! It was a good chance to gather details about the life in Zamora and confirm that our grandparents had kept that essence too, though they had spent much of their lives outside their homeland.

All in all, visiting my granddad's birthplace was unique and unforgettable. I imagined him sharing my emotion and happiness. He had always thought about coming back to his lovely Fermoselle but he couldn't. In some way, I felt that I made his dream come true.

I would like to thank the members of Centro de Castilla y León of Mar del Plata and all the people in Zamora for inviting us and for giving us a warm welcome. And I would like to tell them that our roots have not been lost because we, the grandsons and granddaughters, will keep the essence of that heritage. We'll never forget and we'll always celebrate our roots.
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