Maite turned back to de Lancre. “I don’t understand why you haven’t collected that zatia yet. Why are you still here?” “Simple, really,” said de Lancre. “I can do whatever I want in this bubble. I can live whatever life I want. I can get away with anything.” He looked over the railing at the […]
At the end of June, my wife, my daughter, and I did an ecotour of Costa Rica. We did and saw lots of awesome things, from wildlife (the goal was to find frogs and we saw a lot of them, as well as bats, tapir, monkeys, and crocodiles), whitewater rafting, ziplining, waterfalls, cocoa and coffee […]
“What now?” asked Maite, as she finished her coffee and placed the empty cup on the table. “Well,” said de Lancre, “I thought I might show you some of the most amazing parts of the city, the parts that the average person never gets to see. The real heart.” “That does sound fascinating.” Maite stood […]
Jai alai has been called the world’s fastest sports game and, indeed, the fastest clocked ball, at 188 miles per hour, is from a jai alai player (though golf balls have been clocked at over 217 miles per hour). Since 1920, at least four players have died from being hit by the ball, or pelota. […]
There is a scene in one of The Lord of the Rings movies when one of the hobbits is shocked that the human doesn’t know what second breakfast is. The scene always makes me think of the Basque Country; when I go there, it seems I never stop eating. Food is such an important part […]
Kepa wasn’t sure what time it was when he woke up. If there was a way to access the time in his room, he couldn’t find it. And, while he suspected the pod next to his cot was meant to help him with his… bodily functions… he couldn’t figure it out either. He approached his […]
Gerard Ezcurra sent me this cool article about the discovery of extinct carnivore predators that inhabited the Pyrenees (as well as other parts of the world) some 7-8 million years ago. These bear-dogs are not related to neither bears nor dogs, but have characteristics of both. Fossils discovered in the Pyrenees point to maybe a […]
History is full of characters that, while not always highlighted in our text books, made seminal contributions that certainly impacted the course of events. In the early days of what would eventually become the United States of America, numerous Basque were behind the scenes, working in official capacities for France and Spain, aiding the American […]
Just got back from a great trip to Costa Rica, where we encountered a few Basque names (though not as many as I might have expected): Soul’s Beauty by Ana Mendieta, Lubricentro y Repuestos Chaverri, Bolívares from the República Bolivariana de Venezuela (Bolibar is a Basque name, and both are named after Simón Bolívar), Ferretería […]
Kepa walked through the door. The inside of the large room was nondescript. It was a large circle, with a row of doors that ran its circumference. Inside the circle were various tables and chairs.It reminded Kepa of a cafeteria as much as anything. Everything was white: the walls, the tables, the chairs, even the […]