Pedro Oiarzabal, a newly minted researcher at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, has spent his young career focused on issues of Basque identity around the world. His newest book is Gardeners of Identity: Basques in the San Francisco Bay Area, published by the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. (Incidentally, […]
I received this request for assistance from Daniel Clarke, who needs help researching how the diaspora commemorated the bombing of Gernika. Feel free to write Daniel directly or to post your comments here. Dear all, I am a student at the University of Cambridge, England, working as part of a project looking at memory, heritage […]
A couple of panoramas of Donosti, from Mount Igueldo. Incidentally, I made the panoramas with the software Hugin, which is awesome for stitching photos together.
During my last trip to Euskal Herria, I made a point of traveling from Munitibar, where my dad is from and where I was staying, to Donosti via the coast. It’s a trip I’ve made several times in the past and well worth the cost of a rental car, but this time I tried to […]
As sent to me by Tristan Marciano: Question: What do you get when you cross Halloween with a wholesale club discount store? Answer: A scary Costco! (Eskerrik asko!)
Jon Zuazo, a friend of mine in Munitibar, Bizkaia, just finished renovating his family’s ancestral baserri, Aixabide. He has taken pains to use as much of the original wood as possible, beams that are literally hundreds of years old. In showing me his house, he recounted some of the history, a history that I found […]
Euskal Musika, (Basque-language pop, rock and folk) has flourished for four decades, but the past 10 years have seen a musical and lyrical maturing. With the end of the era dominated by Negu Gorriak, Hertzainak and Itoiz, Basque music searched for a new touchstone identity and came up with a multitude of them. In this […]
Lee Azpiroz sent a photo of his tattoo, a collage of Basque icons. He writes: “Started with the lauburu. Then added the euskadi map, ikurrina background, and the bull to balance the whole thing out. “PS: Need to add “Azpiroz” as a sur name.” Lee’s tattoo, along with all the others, can be seen in […]
A historian’s greatest challenge is to convey the excitement and drama of history. This is especially true for more obscure subjects, as the reader doesn’t already come with some emotional attachment. But this is exactly where Christine Bender excels. By using fiction as her vehicle to explore historical events, Christine is able to delve into […]
Anyone who has visited the Basque Country, or even attended a Basque celebration in the US, knows the central role that food occupies in the culture. Today, the Basque Country is famous for its “new Basque cuisine,” which I did have an opportunity to try at a restaurant in Donosti (and, it was very good). […]
