Basques around the world

Arratsalde on!

There are just 4 days and 16 hours to go until the start of this year’s Jaialdi celebrations in Boise. Throughout the course of the festival, we’ll be bringing you news, images and updates of goings-on.

As you can imagine, with less than a week to go Boiseans are now in the final stages of preparations. It is now the turns of Boise Mayor David Bieter and Basque Museum Director Patty Miller to tell us how each of them has been preparing for Jaialdi.

Dave Bieter, a Boisean of Basque descent, says that there are more Basques than ever visiting from the Basque Country and just to make us feel welcome recorded an invite in his very best Euskera!

News this side of the Atlantic includes the latest from San Sebastian’s Heineken Jazzaldia, which included an important award presentation for double-bassist Roy Carter and a performance from Cuba’s Arturo Sandoval.

Laister arte!

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Good afternoon,

Following up so soon on our now twice-weekly updates we just had to tell you about our interview with Emily Lobsenz, the US filmmaker who is seeking backing for her documentary Ipuina Kontatu.

The documentary takes a fascinating look at Basque culture and how it has managed to survive so many slings and arrows.

Read the intriguing interview and find out how you can take a part in the film’s release and get a sheep named after you! Plus receive some other interesting perks.

Ipuina Kontatu [Telling Stories] -promo trailer from Daggewood Films – Emily Lobsenz on Vimeo.

Other interesting news today is that Elhuyar Basque Encyclopaedia is now up and running. But don’t worry if you don’t speak Euskera – the on-line science and technology Encyclopaedia also offers definitions in English, Spanish and French.

Joe Sample and Randy Crawford play at Vitoria’s Jazzaldia tonight. Meanwhile, enjoy a video of last night’s gig with Diane Reeves.

Have a great weekend.

Ondo pasa!

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Good afternoon Basques from a very – very – rainy Basque Country.

We’re almost drowning here from all the rain, and some parts of Biscay are even experience floods. Let’s hope it doesn’t get any worse.

Despite the miserable weather, we’re still celebrating… following Real Sociedad’s promotion to the first division, the latest fabulous sporting news is that Vitoria’s basketball team, Caja Laboral Baskonia, are now ACB Champions following a nail-biting match against rivals Regal Barcelona.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Ipuina Kontatu, today there’s a special item about the documentary which was filmed by American Emily Lobsenz. Emily discovered the Basque Country by chance, fell in love with the place and has now made a documentary. The title – Ipuina Kontatu – means ‘telling stories’, which is a clue to the format of the film, entirely based on first hand accounts from Basque shepherds, fishermen and many more typical figures.

For those of you struggling to learn Euskera – and even those who aren’t it’s really worth your while to check out the posts written by Cody Beaudreau and Megan Otteman, two Americans from Boise currently at the Barnetegi in Lazkao… real eye-openers.

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Arratsalde on!

A few items today to bring you up to date with goings-on around the Basque Country this week.

Today you can read about Cody Beaudreau, an American learning Basque in the Basque town of Lazkao. He tells us of his first impressions of the Barnategi where he’s studying.

Lots of sports news, the most recent being the result of Caja Laboral Baskonia’s match against Real Madrid. Read about the nail-bitingly close match which led to a fourth play-off this Friday.

STOP THE PRESS: the North Korean World Cup squad are wearing shirts manufactured in none other than Basque town Mondragon. Find out how home-grown brand Astore made it onto the mysterious Far Eastern side’s kit.

The third sports news today, well… it’s not often we bring you news about Donostia-San Sebastian side Real Sociedad, especially since their demotion to the 2nd division. Well, they may just be promoted this weekend so watch this space…

By the way, if you’re going to be spending time in the Basque Country this summer, you’ll want to know which of our beaches have received blue flags for cleanliness. You have 3 to choose from…

That’s all for now.

Gero arte!

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Good morning/afternoon!

We have a couple of great blog posts today Basques.

Firstly, a new post on our Basque Country Live blog. This time a one-to-one with Jon Warren, the man behind San Sebastian Food and co-creator of the Discover the Basque Country Tour, both of which we wrote about last week.

It’s all go since we started our Kepa Junkera blog – Kepa played the Chino Basque club in Chino California on Saturday, a visit which was to coincide with a recording session.

Talking of music: We told you that legendary blues musician John Mayall would be playing Bilbao. Well check out the video of his performance.

Eitb.com also managed a scoop with famous US creative writer Robert McKee, who’ll be dropping into our headquarters on Friday. He gave us an exclusive interview in the lead up to his visit, which you can see here.

That’s all for now.

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Good day Basques,

We wish everyone a good day and hope that wherever you are the weather is better than here!

Firstly, just a quick note to let our members know that group member Alberto López Palacios has written an important message on our wall. Alberto and his wife have a son and daughter suffering from a rare illness and are hoping for our help and support. For more information, take a look at their facebook group: “Buscando una oportunidad para Arene”.

Elsewhere, and despite the wind and rain – and in some places snow – the news goes on:

Pelota fans will be interested to know that the latest Manomanista match saw two players from the same town go head to head. Leitza, a Navarran town with a strong history and even stronger following of Pelota was thoroughly divided on Sunday as Abel Barriola met Oinatz Bengoetxea. But what was the result?

If you’re learning Euskara, take a look at our Learning Basque Blog. Isabel Zialcita gives us her latest tip for learning and memorising vocabulary, and much more, with the Language Learning Toolkit.

Other sports new is that Bizkaia Bilbao Basket beat Gran Canaria, though unfortunately it wasn’t enough to make it to the playoffs.

Gero arte!

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Hi Basques –

Firstly, a correction: José Alcayaga (the US-Basque photographer) kindly wrote to inform us that his photo exhibition is on in Greenwich Connecticut and NOT New York! Thanks for that José.

Otherwise, if you’re curious about Basque history you should definitely read on:

This Thursday and Friday (April 15^th and 16^th) at the University of Nevada in Reno is the 9^th Annual International Conference. This year the title is “War, Exile, Justice and Everyday Life, 1936 -1946” and includes an interesting section on Basques caught up in the civil war and in exile.

Back in the 1960s, one such Basque exile – Gotzon Elortza, then residing in France – would sneak across the State border to film his land and people, knowing it would help keep the language alive. Three documentaries by Elortza – the first ever to be filmed in the Basque language – are now being re-mastered.

Fittingly enough, this Thursday also sees the start of the Zinebi International Short Films and Documentaries Festival, which offers two months of films in the categories of shorts and documentaries – check it out if you can.

Some great news if you’re looking for a cultural holiday to the Basque Country – author Paddy Woodworth and chef Jon Warren have teamed up to offer you a unique Basque adventure. The first one will be this July between 5^th and 8^th and includes a trip to San Fermines in Lesaka, Navarre.

Bihar arte!

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Hooray! Well done Basques:  In record time we’ve managed to build up a following of a little over 2,000 members of “Basques Around the World,” the Facebook group we created to keep you all abreast of goings-on both here in the Basque Country as well as the many parts of the world where Basques are living.

The Basque Country woke up on Thursday 11th February to heavy snow clouds, though an otherwise brighter outlook on the horizon: figures show the Autonomous Community is finally – if precariously – out of the recession.

The latest installment to our Basque Pelota blog comes once again from English pelota fan Tiffany, who gives us a blow-by-ricocheting blow account of Olaizola and Mendizabel’s victory over the might Tintin III and Pascual.

If you’re a Pelota fan – or want to learn more about it – check out our fantastic new infographic which explains the history, origins and some interesting facts about the Basque sport.

And the Basque Country once again makes it into the UK press as a top destination to visit, this time touring by car.

Where you can help

Here at Basques Around the World, we think you’ll agree we’re always glad to help. We’re delighted that Sally Cochrane, a university student in Leeds undertaking a dissertation on the Basque Language, was able to find our group to carry out her research. She wrote yesterday to say:

“I found your name on a Basque group on Facebook and I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to complete this questionnaire to help with my study. All the responses are anonymous and all questions are voluntary. You can withdraw your answers at any time. Please could you also forward my questionnaire to other people of Basque origin you may know. Thank you very much.”

The link to Sally’s questionnaire is the following: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dG5qeXJtcjdETFBXUVZ0X1pNdlNzVnc6MA

If you’re Basque-speaking, click on the link, answer the questions and submit – couldn’t be easier.

Bihar arte!

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