During tough times, people find a way. The aftermath of the Spanish Civil War was brutal for many. In the Basque Country, and beyond, the resulting food shortages led enterprising folks to devise new ways to make and deliver food. One curious – to me – example is the wandering noodle men or fideogile ibiltariak. […]
This one will maybe resonate more for those from Idaho. Idaho is famous for potatoes and there his a lot of research in the state devoted to the potato – for example at the University of Idaho. Other places also have such efforts, including in the Basque Country where the Experimental Potato Farm of Iturrieta […]
Back in March, we took a quick trip to the Basque Country to see family. On the way, we had stopped at Burgos, just to see a new place. We were talking about Burgos when a friend said he had passed through Burgos when he participated in Korrika, the massive race in support of the […]
This one may be of interest to only me… Driving along the highways in the heart of Bizkaia, there is a sign that appears on the side of the road that simply says Urberuaga, but there is nothing really there. It turns out that there used to be a quite renowned spa in the area, […]
My mom tells a story of my dad where they were out in the countryside working, spending the night camping in the field. Somehow, my dad became aware of a rattlesnake nearby and freaked out, dousing the whole area with gas and lighting it on fire to kill the snake. My mom said it was […]
Love is the universal language, so they say. Though sometimes it is more difficult to “speak” than even Euskara! In every culture, there are norms of how men and women socialize and get to know one another, and this is true in the Basque Country. Particularly in rural areas before the advent of phones and […]
The Basque Country holds so many hidden gems. We are all familiar with the big places – Donostia, Bilbo, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pamplona/Iruña – but there is so much more to see. Spectacular waterfalls. Strange geological forms. Nature reserves. Small villages untouched by modernization. Ainhoa falls in this last category. A small town in Lapurdi on the border between France […]
Even as recently as the early 1990s, when I lived in Donostia for a year, Bilbao seemed this dirty place that wasn’t really worth a visit. I think in that whole year, I only visited a couple of times at most. However, the city transformed itself from a relic of industry to a modern and […]
I spent the 1991-92 school year in the Basque Country, trying to learn Basque and learning a bit more Spanish. It was my first time to the Basque Country and it really opened my eyes as to what life was like in the Basque Country. I had learned something about the traditional culture, primarily dance, […]
The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know about Basque culture. When she accepted her award for her dedication to Basque culture at the Zortziak Bat symposium, Meggan Laxalt Mackey emphasized the role of auzolan – community work or more broadly collaboration – in her work. I hadn’t heard of that […]
