Having read Laurence Bergreen’s description of Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe, Over the Edge of the World (see this post), I was very interested in Christine Echeverria Bender’s take of the same voyage, Sails of Fortune, partially because I found Bergreen’s account so fascinating, but also because I knew Bender’s would cast a more favorable […]
I originally wrote these thoughts in August of 2005 and thought I’d posted them here, but just realized I hadn’t. In looking back, there are clearly some errors in what I wrote, which I’ve corrected. Over the Edge of the World, by Laurence Bergreen, tells the story of the first voyage around the world, the […]
Jeremiah Saiz, whose ancestors are from the Basque Country, is a native New Mexican who has spent many years in Hawaii and is now living in San Francisco. In a blend of his interests and his heritage, Jeremiah had his new canoe painted in Basque colors. He also christened his canoe Aidegatxo, which in Lapurdi […]
Sheep were a big business in southwest Idaho/eastern Oregon/northern Nevada. As a result, a lot of Basques settled in the high desert of the area. Sheep brought my dad and my mom’s grandparents to America. My mom’s aitxitxa, Blas Telleria, and amuma, Ines Eiguren, both settled in Jordan Valley, OR, a small town just on […]
This is a nice video promoting Donostia/San Sebastian as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2016.
Molly Mendiguren sent this photo of her lauburu tattoo. She writes “Taken right after I got it. Chose the basque red & green colors over the plain black.” The full size photo can be found in the Tattoo Gallery. Eskerrik asko Molly!
One of the pioneers of modern Basque music, Mikel Laboa, recently died (Dec 1, 2008). Beginning in the 1960s, Laboa was a cornerstone of much that followed, from the rediscovery of traditional Basque instruments such as the alboka and the txalaparta to influencing even some of the hard rock and heavy metal bands that the […]
I’ve been meaning to share this set of links for a while and just thought I’d “dump” them on you before I either forget or they get outdated. 🙂 Last.fm, an online music station of sorts, has a channel dedicated to Kortatu and similar artists. I haven’t spent a lot of time with it yet, […]
The tattoo photos keep coming in. The latest tattoo belongs to Mikel Lataburu. On his arm, he has the phrase “Euskadi geurea,” which translates to “Euskadi is ours.” He had it done by a Kurdish friend of his in Istanbul, where Mikel currently resides. He says it is a beautiful Sunday day in Istanbul and […]
My Euskara is very poor. I have a basic understanding of the grammar, but my vocabulary is very limited and I don’t have the declensions nor the conjugation of the verbs in my head. Even so, I’d like to pass what little I can on to my daughter, to at least give her an exposure […]
