Basque names are unusual and often striking, immediately recognizable. And generally they are rare, particularly on maps. So, it is pretty cool when your distant cousin is recognized for her career by having an island named after her. Maybe that should be on my bucket list – to visit Uberuaga Island. Thanks to Damiana Uberuaga […]
Plans are underway to build the first national WWII memorial in the United Sates to honor veterans of Basque descent. Do you know that over 1,600 veterans of Basque origin served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII? The time has come to permanently honor and thank all WWII veterans of Basque descent who served […]
It was a little before noon and Kepa stood in front of the bar again, though Iratxe was no where to be found. He heard some bustling coming from the back as he waited patiently for Iratxe, or anyone really, to pop out front. Some fifteen minutes must have passed as he waited there, quietly. […]
When a budding genius dies young, one wonders “what if” they had lived longer, what could they have accomplished? Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, though not even reaching his 20th birthday, displayed such musical genius that he was often compared to Mozart. His teachers praised him for his deep understanding of composition and harmony, despite the fact […]
Weeks had passed and classes were about to begin for Maite. Kepa had continued to check out the local bars to see if anyone could use a bartender or waiter, but so far, he hadn’t found anything he liked. Or rather, no one had seemed to like him. He had been let go from his […]
Humans have always needed explanations for why bad things happen. If a crop went bad or a violent storm destroyed the harvest, maybe a wizard was the cause. Or maybe someone had not paid the proper tribute to a god or goddess. Bad dreams and nightmares are probably one of the most confounding experiences for […]
“That was… weird,” said Kepa, after Amalur had vanished. He still sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in the sheet. Maite sat next to him, feeling sticky from her run and wanting nothing more than a shower. But she sensed that he needed to talk so she remained by his side. “It was […]
“The best-laid plans of mice and men…” Well, one can argue that Bilbo’s Iron Ring, meant to protect the city from the advancing forces of Franco, wasn’t even the best of plans. Fraught with poor and antiquated ideas, it was then sabotaged as the main designer switched sides. In the end, the Iron Ring did […]
Maite and Kepa sat there, staring dumbly at Amalur as she continued to morph between her three forms. Kepa couldn’t quite tell if they were three distinct personalities or just different variations of the same person. No, person wasn’t quite right. You didn’t call an ancient earth goddess a person. But, he wasn’t quite sure […]
There are some people that become larger than life, who take on new roles in the popular imagination because of their accomplishment and become legendary characters in their own right. Axular is one such person. A priest who served many years in the Lapurdi town of Sara, he became mythic, the protagonist of local legends. […]
