Basque Country Live

The time to say goodbye has arrived. After loads of experiences here in The Basque Country I flying home on Tuesday. Before that I wanted to thank everybody who took care for me during this stay. My period here was one to never forget. Learning about myself and this totally different culture has been very valuable to me. Thanks ofcourse to my school and its teachers. You’ve been great company and help. Last but not least, the newly created international friendships, I will never forget all of you! Eskerrik asko!

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Jai-Alai, the fastest ball sport in the world

MONRAGON – According to the Guinness Book of Records, Jai Alai is the fastest ball sport in the world. Speeds of 302 km per hour are measured. The game that already is around 400 years old comes from Spain, to be exact, from the Basque Country and is a follow-up of Pelota Vasca.

There are several game variants of Pelota Vasca, the most famous is Cesta Punta, today better known as Jai Alai. The game was created by young Basques when they smashed balls against their church wall. Jai-Alai means good festival in Basque. This name was given to the game because the game was often associated with festivities and religious events.

The way the attributes are produced, haven’t been changed for ages. Due to the country of origin, most terms of this sport are in Spanish. You have the “pelota” (ball) and a “cesta” (basket), a curved device made of walnut (woven) cane, with a leather glove on the outside. And of course all players wear a helmet, the “casco”.

Jai-Alai is played on a track (cancha) which is surrounded by three thick granite walls and a plexiglass wall, with behind that the audience. The playing field is about 53 meters long and 12.2 meters wide. The three walls with the track, is called a “fronton”, so actually it is the name for the building where Jai-Alai is played. The game can be played one-on-one, but also in teams. Jai-Alai is a dangerous sport and sometimes can be fatal. If the pelota is catched by the cesta, the ball will be thrown hard against a granite wall (front wall). Granite is used because this material can handle the impact of the pelota.

Jai-Alai is a very spectacular sport to see because of the the insane speed. But it is also a very expensive sport. A pelota can cost about € 350.00 and should be replaced after fifteen minutes. A cesta costs nearly € 1000.00 and will last approximately 3 weeks. They are hand woven, made specifically for a player. The cane which is used for a cesta comes exclusively from the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain.

This sport came originally from the Basque Country and reached Mexico and Cuba via Spain and was successfully introduced as a professional sport in 1926 in the Miami Fronton, Florida. The man responsible for the popularity of Jai-Alai in Florida is coming from Havana, Cuban Pedro Mir. Mir was a professional Jai-Alai Cuban player of Hispanic origin. He was born in 1900 was a professional on a 13-year and emigrated to the U.S in 1923. He worked as chief referee and tournament organizer for the Miami fronton until his retirement in 1975. He is also responsible for the changes of the rules of Jai-Alai, which still exist today. Pedro Mir is called “The Father of Jai-Alai” is the U.S. He promoted the sport more than 45 years.

Currently there are more Jai-Alai frontons in Florida than in any other place in the world; best known is the Dania Jai Alai Palace. Gambling on Jai-Alai games is very popular in the U.S., similar to gambling on horse racing. Jai-Alai is now also played in some parts of Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Philippines.

A Jai-Alai professional in action on the Dania Jai Alai Palace in Florida.

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‘Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, for our freedom and fatherland’

MONDRAGON – Spain is divided into several autonomous regions. These regions are part of Spain, but have autonomy. There are private elections and besides Spanish Basques speak their own language. Yet it is not enough ETA, the organization wants the autonomous Basque Country to be independant.

The Basque Country and Freedom

ETA is a terrorist organization that commits attacks in Spain since 1968. They do this to achieve their ultimate goal: the separation of Spanish Basque Country.
ETA stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, meaning Basque Fatherland and Liberty. This organization was originally not a terrorist one and consisted out of members of a Basque political party. They were afraid that the culture of the Basque Country would disappear under the regime of General Franco. Franco had all the power in Spain and did not hesitate to capture or murder his opponents. Because the ETA dared to rebel against the dictator, the organization was a heavily supported.

In 1960 ETA carries out their first attack. They were trying to derail a train in which combatants were of General Franco. This attack failed. A few years later, they had more success. They blew up the car of the leader of the secret police of General Franco, while he was still in it.

Franco has no longer power in democratizing Spain. The Basque areas were given autonomy, but for ETA this was not enough. Due to internal quarrels ETA falls in 1976 and splits into two organizations. ETA military and politico-militar ETA. ETA militar is trying to achieve their goal through attacks since then. ETA politico-militar has chosen the politic way.

In 1987 ETA commits a attack with many casualties. A bombing of a supermarket in Madrid costs 21 lives. To pay for such actions regularly rich people are kidnapped. With the ransom they get, they can pay for the explosives.

Development

The remaining military wing of ETA consists out of a cell structure. The followers get their orders from a central point, but work in groups of up to four people. So it is very difficult for the police to get a grip on the organization.

Besides the military organization, ETA has various affiliates and even a political party. These provide support for the organization. When the political party disapproved with any form of terrorism in 2003, the party got banned.

Change

In 1995, ETA decided to be less aggressive. They want to stop carrying out their attacks as the Spanish government’s acknowledges sovereignty and self determination of the Basque Country. Also they ask for a referendum to decide whether or not the Basque Country should remain part of Spain. This does not happen, but it remains quiet until 1999. Then a younger generation grabs power and the attacks begin again.

Because the leaders of ETA fled to France, it was very difficult for the Spanish police to do something against the organization. Therefore the Spanish police were going to work together with the French police. This approach works well. In August 2009 three key ETA leaders were arrested. Even so, the attacks did not stop. On August 9, 2009 ETA commits an attack on a Spanish restaurant in Palma de Mallorca.

Even thought ETA recently has put out a cease-fire, nobody knows what the future will bring. ETA probably always will be a force to be reckoned with.

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Atletic Bilbao: trendsetter of football

MONDRAGON – After the Spanish league, the Primera Division, was established, Athletic Club was one of the trendsetters of football. They won several Spanish Cups between 1928 and 1943 and won the Primera Division five times.

One of the first squads of Atletic Bilbao (1912-1913).
Athletic Bilbao is a Spanish football club who plays at the highest level in Spain since its foundation. The club was officially founded in 1898 and therefore has a big history. Athletic plays its matches in the Basque town of Bilbao, in a stadium called San Mames. The stadium has a capacity of 39,750 people and is the oldest football stadium in Spain. What makes this club so special compared to other teams around the world is that the team only has Basque players. In Athletic you will see no foreigners. If there is a foreigner member of the squad, then probably his parents are Basque. In its existence the club was eight times champion of Spain, the last championship, however, dates from 1983/84. The Basques won the Copa Del Rey 24 times and the Spanish Super Cup once. At the European fields, Atletic has won the World Cup for club teams in 1967 and ten years later the club was a finalist in the UEFA Cup. Unfortunately, the Spanish club hasn’t won anything in twenty years. Perhaps this is because of their selection policies. Obviously, many regional players will never be as good as a Kaka, Ronaldinho or Lionel Messi, but you can say that this might be one of the most beautiful football clubs in the world, purely because their unique regional scope.

Athletic Bilbao was founded in 1898 by a group of British immigrants. By the name of the club you can tell that the name was created by Englishmen. Because the club had started as an English one, there were also many English players that played at Athletic Bilbao. Besides this, not only Athletic Bilbao was founded by Englishmen, also the Spanish club Atletico Madrid has British roots. The relationship between the two teams you can still see, their shirts have the same colors. After the Spanish league, the Primera Division, was established, Athletic Club was one of the trendsetters of football. They won several Spanish Cups between 1928 and 1943 and won the Primera Division five times. So you can say that the Basque team was a very successful team in its beginning years.

These performances were not realized only because of the players. Bilbao was known for her good English coaches. Where many Spanish clubs just picked out managers from their own country, Atletic had mostly English ones. These English trainers had much more quality than the Spanish coaches; therefore Athletic has won many prizes in her early days. Although the club had English trainers in this period, from 1912 there have been no foreign players in her team. After an argument with Real Sociedad, the club decided in 1911 that all non-Basques were going to be sold.

After the war, Bilbao had only 587 members. Before the Civil War there were 3000 members, but many didn’t survive the war. Fortunately it didn’t take long before the first prizes were won again. In those days it was mainly Telmo Zarra, the Basque striker, who really stood out. Currently he is still Atletic’s top scorer of all times. After the war, Athletic won its first prize in the season of 1955/56.

Since the sixties other clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid became much more dominant. The Basque team increasingly became less and less a force to be reckoned with in the sixties and managed to win the Copa Del Rey only once in those years. Yet during that period there was European success for the first time. In 1967, the World Cup for club teams was won. Ten years later, Atletic lost the final of the UEFA Cup against Juventus. Under the French coach Javier Clemente Bilbao became a successful team again in the eighties. Suddenly there was the surprising championship in season 1982/83. After 28 years Athletic finally won the Primera Division again. One year later, they won the title for the second time in a row.

From that moment, Atletic has never won a prize anymore in Spain. Its best result was in the season 1997/98, when the Basques finished in second place in the Spanish Primera Division. Since that Athletic did only once finish in the top five. Last season they became the thirteenth. They reached the final of the Copa Del Rey, but Barcelona won 4-1. That year, they also played in the Spanish Supercup. In these two games against Barcelona, the Catalans were the better team. Athletic won the first leg 2-1, the return, however, brought an end result in favor of Barcelona, the team managed to win with 3-0.

How the future of Athletic will look like, few people dare to predict. This will depend mainly on the upcoming Basque talents. Because the club can’t buy players from elsewhere, they mainly concentrate on the upcoming Basque youth players. Important is to scout for other players in the Basque Country and hope they want to play for Bilbao. In any case, with Javi Martinez, Oscar De Marcos and Iker Muniain there are very nice young players in Atletic’s club who can provide them a bright future.

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BC is very, I mean veeery, different from Estonia. There are both advantages and disadvantages. But living in another country on your own is always a great experience. I think that was cool time in my live and I am going to miss it.  

I liked university, especially because it is in a very beautiful architecturally old building. The relationship between teachers and student are more like colleges, and I like that, feel myself more comfortable with this.

The nature, of course, it is amazing and fascinating all the time. Just look out of my window and feeling happier.

But most of all I am going to miss my new friends. This time that I spend with them I will never forget!!  Four month living with Natalja made us a really good friend, so we can rely on each other (I hope=)))

We made a deal to visit each other, for example Fleur, Linsey and maybe Wilco want to come to see Estonia. And I will be really happy to meet them. I know for sure, that if I will go to Holland I will visit them as well.

We had great time all together: learning, partying, raveling, helping, especially at the beginning, and now it is difficult to separate. But everybody misses his family, so, this is the live. Anyway, hope you all liked our Erasmus live in Mondragon (P.S. Mondragon will never forget us as well!!! =)) Thanks to everybody, I LOVE YOU ALL, ERASMUS PEOPLE!!!

P.S.S. Wthat happened in Mondragon, stays in Mondragon. This is the rule, don’t break it, hahahha!!! Kisses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Today was my last day at EITB practice.

What can I say about it … I think this is a good opportunity that university provides students with practice. In Estonia we don’t have this. It is also good to know how do work web news portals and different programs that are making it work.  The structure of news is also different and working not in your mother language makes it more difficult.

I liked that we were free in our choices. We could pick up different topic we liked, choose pictures and so on. It is a pity that portal doesn´t produce its own material, because I was really looking forward to do my own articles.

And the last thing, practice on a week-end is not a good idea. Other students were free on week-ends, so, a lot of time we couldn´t join them.

Anyway, thank you, my dear colleges. Maybe will see each other, who knows =))

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It is almost one week before I go home. Actually, I am not going home but this is another story. So, now I am trying not to waste my time and enjoy my last days. We went with Natalja to party in Bilbo with some of our local friends. To be honest, I have expected something more modern and more similar to European clubs.

Anyway this place, called Mao Mao Beach, is very popular. We were queuing for about an hour and it was pretty cold. But thanks to our friends we got some warming drinks. It was funny that when the security saw our DNIs he was very astonished that we are from Estonia. We told him that we came here just to a party and he was happy with it =)) You can also have one free cocktail, whatever kind you want. Good commercial.

The inside club is like an old fabric. Only think that makes it more beautiful are dancing boys and girls. But still we were partying till the morning light and it is something new and different.

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On Monday we  with Erasmus students went  to the Book Fair which is in Durango. There was a lot of people. This fair lasts from 4th till 8th of December. We were told that it is a big Fair and is very popular. There you can find a lot of CD and books, most of them are in Basque and a lot of them are about the Basque Country. A lot of souvenirs are sold there as well. We bought something for oureselves to have a nice memory. Weather was nice and we  didnt missed the opportunity walk around the city. It was a nice day! Oh, and we listened some concert as well.

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As Viktoria already wrote in her post, while you live and study in Spain you should not waste an opportunity to visit different places. So one day we decided that we must see the capital city as well. We went there by bus, the way took us about 4 hours. But it wasnt that tiring as we expected. We came in afternoon and straight away went to our hostel. It was a nice hostel just to spent a night there.  And weather in Madrid was nice too- it wasnt too cold and it was sunny.  After we left our bags in our hostel we went to the museum. It was the Prado museum. We saw there a lot of art work of the famous artists like Rubens or Tizian. After Pardo museum we went to another one it was Thyssen-Bornemisza museum. There were a lot of art as well. We didn’t spent much time there because we came an hour before its closing, but still we saw a lot. After our “museum day” we went to walk around the city in the evening. It was really beautifull with a lot of light and Christmas athmosphere. Next day we went on a tour with the bus around the city. So we saw most interesting parts. It was nice. After, we went to one more museum – the Reina Sofia where we saw a lot of works of Picasso.  And after, in the evening we went for tapas. It was a nice weekend. We liked it very much.

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While we live in the Basque Country, we have great opportunities to visit its different places.  For example Erasmus media students must do a video project about something whatever they like. So, Viktoria is doing hers about the beautiful places in Debagoiena valley.  To do that, she has to visit them,  she asked me to help her out and because of that I have gotten the chance to go  there  with her. We went to such places like Urkulu – big water reservoir, Salt museum -where you can see how salt is made, we visited Aranzazu to see there its famous sanctuary in details. I am glad that I saw these places, it gives you more information abot Basue culture.

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