A Basque in Boise

One of the main reasons the kids and I love going to the Basque Country has to do with the food, particularly my mom’s. I once got a magnet for my birthday that read “I only have a kitchen because it came with the house”. It’s supposed to be funny, but in my case it’s just true. When we told the kids about vacationing in Ortuella again this summer, they jumped up and down with excitement. “We’re finally going to eat good food again, yay!” In their opinion -and mine- amama’s house is Euskadi’s best restaurant.

However, it is very small and open to the public by invitation only.

Lucky for you, there are other restaurants featuring delicious Basque food for your enjoyment. Just last week I came across a review of Arzak restaurant in Donosti written by Mark Bieter (he’s been busy this month), one of a handful of restaurants in the world to receive a 3-star rating from the Michelin Guide. He gives such a wonderful firsthand account of his visit to Arzak last summer that I started looking into reservations for the family. Then, I found out from a friend a bit about the price, so I’m making it a goal for next year. You know, they’re not rated the 8th best restaurant in the world for nothing.

In the meantime, we’ll keep up with our family tradition of dining at the Chinese restaurant in Elcano, where my parents have been taking my sister and I since we were kids when there was something special to celebrate, usually birthdays and around Christmas time. The owner looked as old to me when I was 8 as the last time I saw him, when I was 38. He never once failed to stop by our table to greet us, and he’d always turn to my dad to ask if he had the bill covered. And every time my dad would say no while pointing to my mom. He knows very well who handles the finances in the “Chico” household. The owner finally retired, after about 120 years of service. You would have never guessed it by the way he talked. Like he had just arrived from Beijing the day before.

Later, the employees opened a smaller restaurant right by the original location, where I still go with my family on special occasions. Sometimes even just ‘cos. That’s how we roll.

The kids are leaving for the Basque Country on Tuesday. I won’t see them again until I arrive in Bilbao on the first of July. I have never spent over a week without them, so I’m not quite sure yet how I’m going to handle six. My poor parents… I’m starting to understand how they must have felt when I told them I was leaving for the States. See you in a year, love you! On the other hand, it was impossible to miss how excited I was about the move, just like it’s impossible to ignore how ready my kids are to be in Ortuella again this summer.

I asked them why they like it so much. “Our friends, our family, soccer, and amama’s food”, they fired back. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

If you’ve ever been to Ortuella though, you’ll probably agree with me when I say there is nothing that special about it. It’s a small mining town of about 8000 people. We have grocery stores, bars, shops, restaurants, an outdoor swimming pool where the wind blows like there is no tomorrow, possibly the worst designed park you’ve ever seen in your life, the post office, the city hall, the library, the fronton, and of course, the soccer field. There used to be a movie theater too, but it disappeared long before pesetas did. Other than that, things have remained pretty much the same since I can remember.

Growing up, that was the main reason for wanting to get out of town. Now, I look forward to the daily routine of running errands with my mom after having breakfast in the bar downstairs. I take pleasure in the constant exchange of greetings with people on the streets, and stopping by a friend’s house unannounced gives me a rush. I like going into a coffee shop by myself and listen to the chatter in Spanish, catching bits and pieces of conversations from people I don’t know. I find comfort in the fact that almost everyone there swears and yells just like I do. Plus nobody can tell anything by the way I talk. For about three weeks out of the year, I’m (almost) normal.

And forget about playdates. All you have to do is go to the park at 5 and everyone will be there. Just ask my kids.

A few weeks back we heard on the radio a story about a Michigan mom having a fit about her daughter’s school forcing her to read pornography. After an excruciating wait for commercials and the weather, Paul J. and Chris Walton finally got back to the story. I’d like to say it was shocking, but things like that do not surprise me anymore. As it turns out, the pornographic book was no other than The Diary of Anne Frank, where there is a section on the changes in her breasts as she is going through puberty. Maybe I’m mistaken, but I thought even puritan women got boobs and pubic hair at some point in their lives.

In any case, where I’m really going with this is the impact the story has had on my kids. After the news was over, they wanted to know who Anne Frank was, and after I told them, they started bombarding me with more questions about the nazis, the Jews, how big the basement was, who won the war, and were those the good guys. I should have known most of the answers already, but high school keeps getting further and further away, so I turned to Google for the umpteenth time. I’d forgotten what a painful time that was. I’d forgotten the atrocities and how young Anne was when she died.

I thought about taking the kids to the Idaho Anne Frank Humans Right Memorial downtown after seeing how interested they were in learning about Anne’s life. However, I was afraid of the things I’d have to explain, the horror and sadness of her story, so I didn’t.

Yesterday, I went with my daughter to her last field trip of the year. We hit Boise Zoo first, then walked over to the Library to see a puppet show and check out some books. You have to pass by the Idaho Anne Frank Humans Right Memorial in order to reach the Library, so I had no choice but to point it out to my daughter. Her eyes widened. I felt bad for keeping the place a secret and promised Maitane we would come back after the puppet show.

We walked around the memorial for about a half an hour. We listened to the recordings scattered throughout, the type you have to wind up in order to hear. We looked at the 180-foot Quote Wall, featuring words of presidents, slaves, children, philosophers. I read a few quotes here and there (there was even one written in Basque), but she only wanted to hear the bits that Anne Frank wrote in her diary. So I read the passages to her, explaining the meaning of the words I knew she wouldn’t understand. Then, a couple seconds of silence while she processed the information and formed her questions, which I answered the best I could: “What did Anne’s parents do while she wrote, just sat around?” “Did she brush her teeth in the mornings?” “Are there Jews in Ortuella?”

By the end of the tour, I felt empowered. We left with two simple, but powerful messages: ‘Do right by others’, and ‘Change starts with you’. So easy and yet, we manage to screw them up every single day.

Maitane and I looked around one last time before making our way back to the car. We climbed in, and right away she asked for my iPhone to go on YouTube. I guess that’s the beauty of being seven. You can go from a meaningful visit to a Human Rights Memorial straight to this and not feel guilty at all. Waddle-waddle.

You know that feeling when you take the bedsheets out in morning to throw them in the wash because it really was time and then go about your day just to come back late at night, freaking exhausted and looking forward to a refreshing night sleep, then suddenly remembering you never got around to making the bed? I hate it.

And don’t get me started when it happens two days in a row.

One more year, members of the Rhode Island Basque Club gathered last weekend for ‘Txitxiburduntzi‘, a Basque ritual celebrated on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

Roberto Guerenabarrena, president of the Rhode Island Basque Club, explains how on that Sunday, friends in the Basque Country would go to the mountains and enjoy all the products from a fresh pig. Even though Lent Season is long past, Riki Lasa -president of the Pelotari’s Union- has been organizing this event in May for many years now at his home in Connecticut.

Everyone gathered last weekend at Riki’s house to have chorizo and sausages, including Ander Caballero, the newly appointed Basque Government Delegate in the United States. In addition, attendees also enjoyed an entire pig roasted by Barbecue Master Patxi Gandiaga. Rhode Island Basque Club members participated in many Basque rural sports like sokatira (tug of war), txingaruten (weight carrying), txokorbatzen (corn collecting), or harrijasoketa (weight lifting).

The main event was a challenge of aizkolaris (wood cutters), where three new challengers set out to defeat the current champion Riki Lasa, and one of them did! The new champion is Juan Mari Aramendi, aka Troitixe.

Here you have the pictures from the event. Enjoy!

RI Txitxiburduntzi 2013

Thanks to a message from my friend Olatz Amarika, who you might remember from previous posts on cultural exchanges between Basque Country and the US, I came across one of the best sounding rock bands I’ve heard in a while, Buffalo Clover. The band is based out of Nashville, with a touch of Basque, thanks to Amaia Agirre, who plays the keys.

Amaia, a former student in Olatz’s English Academy Ikasgela, is a 24 year old girl from Larrabetzu, a little town in the province of Bizkaia. She moved to Nashville in 2011 after finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Education in order to learn music, English, and continue with her academic and personal formation in the educational field.

It wasn’t an easy move for Amaia. She recalls struggling with the English language and having to depend on sentences she’d written in her little traveling notebook: “I’m sorry, I got lost. Could you help me, please?”. Luckily, she had family ties in the US that made the transition more manageable. One of her uncles left Gernika for Miami when he was young to play Jai Alai, and ended up living there permanently. Amaia also has a cousin in Nashville, so she decided to make of that city her starting point for learning a new culture and a new language. As it usually happens when you live abroad, the US in general and Nashville in particular have given Amaia a different lens to see the world, not to mention an opportunity to expand her music knowledge. She is in Nashville after all. They don’t call it the “Music City” for nothing!

Apart from playing in the band, Amaia is a Lead Teacher at El Jardín de los Niños, a preschool focused on teaching Spanish. She also volunteers at the Montessori East preschool and Kindergarten as Spanish instructor.

Buffalo Clover recently struck out on their own as an independent band, with no label or middle-man. On the flip side, all the costs of releasing a quality record now fall directly on their musical shoulders. The band is raising funds for mastering, album art, vinyl and CD pressing, distribution, promotion, and all the other costs that go along with releasing a record. They sold a car to release our last record, and recently joined Kickstarter, an online platform to raise money directly from the fans in exchange for cool rewards from the band.

Amaia is extremely excited about the upcoming record of Buffalo Clover and their summer tour, which will include the US (New York City, California, etc.), England, Spain and the Basque Country in the summer.

So hurry up and visit the band’s Kickstarter website to meet the members, listen to their music, and make your pledge. Time is running out, so don’t procrastinate!

I’m sorry for the late notice, I don’t know what I was thinking! But if you were looking for something to do this afternoon, here’s a great idea.

After nearly 3 months of games in the league, and three or four weeks playing the tournament, the baleen and pala finals will take place today, Saturday 11 at 1:00 PM, right before the start of Mother’s Day dinner, the last Euzkaldunak dinner until the fall.

Women’s B League will kick off the competition, followed by Men’s B League, Women’s A League and Men’s A League. These will be exciting games (two of them 2 vs. 1!), so come check them out. Bring friends, drinks, snacks, whatever you would like!

The fronton is located in the basement of the old Anduiza Hotel at 619 Grove Street in Boise, Idaho.

In the B League Finals for Women’s Baleen:
Kodi/Carianne will take on Kristina (her partner can’t make it)

In the B League Finals for Men’s Pala:
Esther/Juan vs. Rich/Pedro (the number one team Jerry/Mike unfortunately had a scheduling conflict)

In the A League Finals for Women’s Baleen:
Esther/Miren will take on Anne-Marie (her partner is gone as well)

In the A League Finals for Men’s Pala:
Sarria/Schaffner (they have to win 2 games to win the championship) vs. Boyd/Sangroniz
 

Last week, I wrote about Athletic’s nice gesture for Mother’s Day. Today, I dedicate this post exclusively to my mom. I realize a week went by already, but in the US we celebrate the day on the second Sunday of May instead of the first one, so I’m still good. Besides, if you ever had a mom, you know that everyday is mother’s day.

There is usually nothing profoundly deep about the meaning of life in our conversations. On the contrary, our interactions are simple, straight-forward, practical, fun. Like when I became a woman (I hate that expression, by the way) at the age of thirteen. “Ugh”, I thought. “AMAAAAAAA!!”, I yelled. She came running from the kitchen to see what all the noise was about. “Oh, you got your period”, she said nonchalantly. “Here, put this on”. And she handed me a sanitary napkin. That was the extent of my rite of passage, and it was perfect.

I don’t hold anything back from my mom; she knows everything my closest friends know. She never judges me, no matter what it is that I am confiding to her. Basically, she is always there for me, whether I need my pants altered, satisfy a special food craving, or relationship advice.

I’m almost forty and I am a mom myself. But without fail, when life gets me down with those little punches it throws, all I want is her there to say it’s ok, and then, it is.

A few weeks ago Basque rock band Gatibu asked their followers to record themselves jumping, kissing each other, going crazy, getting naked, singing, laughing, falling in love, breathing, living and celebrating, and then send the recording  for a chance to be included in the group’s new music video ‘Gabak zerueri begire’ (Nights looking at the sky).

Today, the band’s record label posted on their Facebook website that even though the band has received a large number of videos, few were sent from outside the Basque Country. They did receive videos from Barcelona, Boise (EEUU), Buñol (Valencia), London, Galicia, Madrid, Italy, and France, but they know more contributions are possible, from all parts of the world.

In order to encourage people to send their videos and images, Gatibu will draw prizes among those who participate. They will raffle off three bags filled with a signed copy of Gatibu’s last album (Zazpi kantoietan) and a t-shirt.

The deadline to send in your videos is May 19th.

I have followed Mark’s blog pretty much since the beginning, so for about two years now. I like it because it is eclectic and you never know what you’re going to find: sarcasm, politics, personal reflections, interviews, sports, newspaper articles. Whatever the day brings, however, it will be interesting. Like today’s post, for example, which features an interview with Basque Country’s president, Iñigo Urkullu.

Last October, the Basque Nationalist Party won the election in the Basque Country. Patxi Lopez stepped down from his role as Lehendakari in favor of Iñigo Urkullu. Shortly after winning the election, Urkullu wrote an open letter to the Diaspora, where he mentioned a “policy of rapprochement and commitment to the entire Basque community abroad”.

In his interview, Mark expands on that topic with the Lehendakari, but also asks about his goals for the future (both in general and regarding the Basque diaspora), the current economic situation, or his plans for independence.

You can read the entire interview on his website, bieterblog.com.