It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do any updates. I hope to do a series of them over the next few weeks and get reasonably “caught up”. “We need to turn the page. But we should read it first.” –Gorka Landaburu. To understand the recent history and current reality of the Basque Country, […]
A couple of weeks ago, during a work trip to Washington, DC, I met up with a couple of the members of the DC Euskal Etxea. I’ve mentioned Mark Bieter a few times in the past, as he writes a very insightful blog about many things, including things Basque. Sam Zengotitabengoa (ok, I admit, I […]
As many of you already know, Pete Cenarrusa, a long time politician in Idaho (the longest serving elected official in state history) died on September 29. It didn’t take long after his death for his life to be questioned in the Spanish press, particularly as it related to an incident in 2002 when the Idaho […]
Here are some recent stories I found particularly interesting. In September, Elhuyar will publish the 300th issue of its science journal, Elhuyar Zientzia eta Teknologia. The journal was created in 1974 to promote the use of Basque in technical and scientific fields. More info here. Elhuyar is an organization named after the Basque Elhuyar brothers, who in […]
My brother got married a couple of weeks ago (Zorionak Tony and Christmas!) and some of my dad’s family came over from Spain for the festivities, including my dad’s brother and sister, two sisters-in-law, and several nieces and nephews with their significant others. 13 in all, a large crew that made even the simplest of […]
Throughout the Basque Country, on cabinets, headstones, and books, one finds various designs that adorn pretty much everything. There is of course the ubiquitous lauburu, but there are also other figures, rosettas, that are very common. The Enciclopedia Aunamendi has an article on “popular art” where they have an image of a number of rosettas […]
A few weeks back, I flew up to Idaho to visit my parents. As I’ve written about before, my dad, once I left home for school (coincidence, or something more…?) started to make chorizo and jamon. He’d never done that before. Sure, he had his massive garden full of txurizeros (txuritxeros? That’s the way he […]
Gontzal Aranguren is an old friend and roommate from my days in Seattle (old in the sense that we’ve known each other a while, not saying he is an old man (baina, gizon zaharra bada…)) Since he returned to the Basque Country, he has gotten involved in a number of very interesting and very different […]
I first visited the Basque Country in 1991. The Internet was just starting to reach students at universities. I remember that, at the University of Idaho, I had barely learned about email before leaving for Spain. When I got to Spain, it was difficult to find any computers to log into and read or send […]
The Basques have been an integral part of the history of much of the world, from their role in Magellan’s voyage around the globe to their participation in the Spanish conquests of America. The Basques also touched a lot of the American West, and, while I should by now be accustomed to the pervasiveness of […]
