All posts by buber

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 92

Kepa threw his arms around the taller woman. “Am I glad to see you!” he said. “I didn’t want to have to do another one of these alone.” Maite gave him a cold stare. “You know what I mean,” said Kepa. “Alone, just the two of us. It would be nice to have more help […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Canadian Hall of Fame Quarterback Sam Etcheverry

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, the culmination of the National Football League’s season, which saw star quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, and Dak Prescott light up the field (yeah, these last two are on my fantasy football team, so I might be biased; and I’m rooting for the Bengals!). However, there’s another league, […]

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 91

“Who…?” began Maite. “Shush!” hissed the figure. “Follow me.” Without waiting, the figure strode through the crowd. Maite looked at Kepa who simply shrugged. They took off after the figure, who was weaving and dodging the various people in front of it almost as if it anticipated where they would be. Maite and Kepa had […]

Fighting Basques: Three Basque-Navarrese families from California in World War II

This article originally appeared in Spanish at El Diario on October 9, 2019. The bertsolaris Fernando Aire Etxart “Xalbador” from Nafarroa Beherea and Mattin Treku Inharga of Lapurdi arrived in the United States in June 1960 to participate for a month in the Basque festivals of La Puente, Bakersfield (both in California), and Reno (Nevada), […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Possible Basque Origins for the Names of Several Native American Tribes

It is now well established that the Basques, if not the very first Europeans to set foot on the North American continent, were among the first. Of course, there were already a large number of thriving peoples living there when they arrived, and the Basques certainly interacted closely with them, even developing trading pidgins. None […]

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 90

“The future?” exclaimed Kepa, an edge of panic in his voice. “What do you mean, the future?” “Well, why not?” asked Maite, rhetorically. “Our time is the future for Marina and de Lancre, and they’ve both gone there. Why wouldn’t there be zatiak in what we would consider our future?” “But, but,” began Kepa. “At […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Butrón Castle

In probably 1996, after I had started this page and met Xabier Ormaetxea online, I visited the Basque Country and Xabier took me to see Butrón Castle. At the time, it was open for visitors, with people in period costume welcoming us and showing us the castle. For me, it was pretty impressive – you […]

The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 89

It took a few moments for their vision to clear. When it did, they could tell they were still in the airport, but it was drastically different. Rather than the relatively sparse and empty hall they had just been standing in, they now found themselves surrounded by people, lights, and displays. Every nook had a […]

Basque Fact of the Week: Florentino Goikoetxea, Smuggler of Allied Airmen in WWII

During World War II, the Basque Country occupied a special geopolitical position which provided unique opportunities to contribute to the effort against the Axis powers. The French side was of course occupied by Germany, but the Spanish side remained neutral. This led to networks to get soldiers, refugees, and politicians across the French-Spanish border and […]