It was late when Maite finally boarded the train from Bilbao to Gernika. Her research project was starting to take more and more time, time that she couldn’t then spend with her ailing parents. Every extra hour she spent in the lab led to a ton of extra guilt she carried on her shoulders. During […]

A few days later, Maite found herself sitting in her thermodynamics class. She hated the idea of taking summer classes. Since moving to Gernika with her parents, she had already missed out on so many things with her friends, and commuting to Bilbao to take classes certainly didn’t help her social life, but she wanted […]

It was about nine thirty in the morning when Maite’s little Fiat pulled up again outside of Goikoetxebarri, the baserri where Kepa lived with his mom. “Mil esker for the ride,” said Kepa over a repressed yawn as he opened the door. “Are you sure you don’t want to crash here for a while, before […]

Kepa passed a red plastic cup to Koldo. “Kalimotxo, ezta?”  Koldo nodded as he took the cup. “Mil esker!” “That last song was… different,” said Kepa, taking a sip from his own cup. “Don’t get me wrong, I really liked it, but sorginak? Madarikazioak? Curses? Where did you come up with that stuff?” Koldo shrugged. […]

The crowd cheered as Unai clicked off the beat with his drum sticks and Idoia lit into a guitar riff that filled the entire town with the metal sounds of their first song. Ainhoa laid a thick bass beat that Kepa could feel in his ribs. When Koldo finally joined in with his voice, the […]

Kepa and Maite made their way through the growing crowd. “Want something to drink?” he asked Maite.  “Sure, a kalimotxo would be nice,” she responded. They weaved left and right around people, avoiding knocking into anyone else’s drink, toward one of the booths lining the edge of the plaza. After a short wait, a young […]

As they got closer to Aulesti, they found the road-side packed with cars. Every little nook and cranny had been taken and the road itself barely had enough room for Maite’s little car to squeeze through. People lined the road, walking toward the plaza. Even though Aulesti was a small town, it attracted a large […]

“Hemen da!” yelled Kepa over the telenovela blaring from the TV. “Agur ama! I will see you tomorrow!” “Segura egon!” he heard his ama yell as he dashed out of the door of the baserri. Maite was there, waiting, in her little white Fiat. She smiled at him as he opened the passenger side door […]