Donostia, the capital of Gipuzkoa, is a city filled with a myriad of things to see and do. From the Parte Vieja, where one can wander all night sampling pintxos, to the wonderful beaches, to the history of the San Telmo museum, there is so much to do. And, thanks to Cristina Iglesias, a sculptor native to the city, there is one more attraction that will certainly become a must-see on any visit to the city: Hondalea.
Cristina was born on November 8, 1956, in Donostia to Eduardo Iglesias Hernández and Maritxu Fernández-Berridi Lecuona. Cristina is one of five children, all of whom became artists and creators of one type or another. She began studies at the University of the Basque Country in chemical sciences, but began down a path of art that took her to the Chelsea College of Arts in London.
Cristina’s career grew in the 1980s and really took off in the 1990s. Her first solo exhibition was in Portugal in 1984 but this was soon followed by exhibitions across Europe, in Vienna, Bordeaux, Athens, Dusseldorf, and Ghent. The 1990s saw her reach across the ocean with exhibitions in Canada, the United States, and Australia. In 1999, she was awarded the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas, for having opened new paths in the plastic arts (sculpture for example). That year, she also created special pieces designed for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Today, her work can be found in some of the most prestigious museums in the world, including the MACBA (Barcelona), the Tate Gallery (London), the Reina Sofía Art Center (Madrid), and the MoMA and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museums (New York). In 2016, she was awarded Donostia’s Tambor de Oro. And, in 2020, she won the Royal Academy Architecture Prize in London for looking “at the spaces between buildings, creating thoughtful work that rewards sustained reflection.”
Her work incorporates multiple materials, fusing the industrial and organic. She explores our relationships with both nature and space. One of her works, Deep Fountain, looks almost like a marsh with organic green leaves that cover the bottom of a pool. As the pool fills from a crack, or abyss, in the center, the water slowly flows over the sculpted leaves.
With her most recent work, entitled Hondalea (Marine Abyss in Basque; check out the video, the photo doesn’t do it justice) and unveiled in June 2, 2021, Cristina has converted an abandoned lighthouse on the Basque coast into a kinetic water sculpture. The lighthouse, on Santa Klara Island in the middle of Donostia’s bay, has been completely transformed. The bottom was excavated and replaced with bronze sculpture that mimics the rugged Basque coastline. Water flows in and out, driving by hydraulics, that mimic the crashing of the waves. All of this is surrounded by the walls of the lighthouse itself.
The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!
The next few weeks at the boarding house seemed a blur. Every day was the same: get up, have a quick bite and some coffee, prepare breakfast for the boarders, clean the rooms, prepare lunch, and take a small break before having to get ready for dinner. Most of the faces were the same, and Maite was getting to know some of them pretty well. However, there was always a new face or two, someone popping in for a meal or a camp foreman who was in town gathering supplies. While Maite didn’t love the daily grind of the boarding house, she got to enjoy all of the characters that gave the house life.
She still hadn’t had any luck finding the zatia. She was convinced it wasn’t in the boarding house, but if it wasn’t there, she had no clue where it might be. Why was there a time bubble here if there was no zatia? And, if they never found the zatia, would they be stuck here for the rest of their lives? Maite didn’t know of any other way to pop the bubble and return to her own time.
It was early Friday morning and Maite was sitting at the table, enjoying her small breakfast and cup of coffee when Juan Jose walked in. He wasn’t normally up this early, so his presence startled Maite.
“Juan Jose! What are you doing up so early?”
The old man shrugged. “Just couldn’t sleep. My mind kept drifting back to the Basque Country and wouldn’t leave.” He sighed. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” said Maite as she waved to the seat across the table from her. “Let me get you a cup of coffee,” she added as she stood up. “Want anything to eat?”
“Ez, not yet. My mind is awake, but my belly is still alseep.”
Maite laughed as she brought Juan Jose a cup of coffee. “Extra milk and sugar, the way you like it.”
Juan Jose smiled. “Eskerrik asko.”
“Any big plans for the day?” asked Maite as she sat down again.
Juan Jose laughed. “You mean, besides trying to strike up a game or two of mus, like every other day? No, not really.”
“When was the last time you went home, went to the Basque Country?”
Juan Jose sighed again. “Too long. Like I told you before, I went back a few times not long after I first got here. I had a girl back home. The first time, I tried to convince her to come out here, that life was pretty good over here. But, the second time, she was already married. She didn’t want to come here and she got tired of waiting for me to come back.” Juan Jose took a sip from his cup and looked at Maite. “You know what hurt the most? The guy she ended up with, he was my best friend when we were kids. We were supposed to come out here together, become rich together. But, he got scared in the end and didn’t come. And he ended up with my girl.” Juan Jose shook his head as he looked down into the swirls of his coffee. “I probably should have stayed too.”
Juan Jose cleared his throat, took a sip, and looked up. “Anyways, what about you and that young man? What are your plans?”
Maite blushed. “We aren’t sure yet. We just want to get past this little adventure and then see what life has for us next.”
“Kontuz! Be careful! This ‘adventure’ as you call it has a way of keeping people trapped and not letting go. There’s another boarding house down the road… one of the boarders has been there for fifty years, if you can believe it!”
“Fifty years? Just living in one of these small rooms?”
“Hell, I’ve been in mine for ten years now. It’s not much, but it is comfortable, the people are good, and they keep you fed. And I can always find a card game.”
Maite shook her head. “No offense, but we hope to move on as soon as possible. Find the next adventure and all that.”
“I don’t blame you. When I was young, I was always looking for the next adventure. I never thought I’d be here, that’s for sure.”
Maite swallowed the last of her coffee. “Well, I better get working on breakfast. It’s been nice talking with you, Juan Jose.”
“Berdin,” replied the old man as his gaze returned to the dark pools of his coffee cup.
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.
The Olympics ended a few weeks ago, and now it’s time for the Paralympics, which start on Tuesday. The first official Paralympic Games were held in 1960 in Rome, though there were precursors to this historic event. There are at least thirteen athletes from the Basque Country going to Tokyo for the 2020 Paralympic Games. They will be competing in events from wheelchair basketball (both men’s and women’s), swimming, rowing and paracanoe, running, cycling, triathlon, table tennis, and archery.
Beatriz Zudaire shooting a basket. Photo by I. Aguinaga and found on noticias de Navarra.
Agurtzane Egiluz Ibarguen was born in 1997 in Vitoria, Araba. At the age of 14, she was injured in a bus accident. She is on the Spanish national wheelchair basketball team. She is studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management at the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences the University of the Basque Country.
Nadia Zudaire Borrezo is also a swimmer, from Zubieta, Gipuzkoa, who will compete in the 400 meter freestyle. In the Berlin Swimming Championship held in July, she set Spanish records for both the 400 and 800 meter freestyle.
Higinio Rivero Fernandez is a specialist in the paracanoe. In 2013, he had an accident while climbing that left him paraplegic. He kept his same passion for sport, but channeling it instead into canoe.
Jorge Pineda Matabuena is a rower from Getxo. He will compete in the four-crew mixed boat. In this race, the crew must be composed of two men and two women. In addition, two must be physically disabled and two visually impaired, accompanied by a non-disabled helmsman.
Izaskun Osés Ayúcar was also born in Pamplona, in 1984. She is a blind runner, having won bronze in the 2016 Rio Games in the 1500 meters. She earned a nursing degree but had to give up the profession due to her deteriorating vision.
Eduardo Santas Asensio, born in Zaragoza but living in the Basque Country, is a cyclist. Since 2014, he has won 14 medals at the World Championships for Adaptive Cycling. He won a bronze medal in the Mixed Team Spring in the 2016 Rio Games.
Iker Sastre Sanchez-Vallejo was born in Bilbao in 1977. His sport is table tennis. When he was 23, he suffered a surfing accident that left him with a spinal cord injury. He has won multiple championships in Bizkaia, Euskadi, and Spain. He is currently ranked 9th in the world. He is the first Basque table tennis player to ever play in the Olympics in any form.
María Carmen Rubio Larrion is an archer from Pamplona. She was born in 1961. She participated in the 2012 Games in London. She got her start in her archery career thanks to a scholarship from cycling legend Miguel Induráin.
The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!
Dominique returned after a few hours, beating Santi to camp. Maite got back on her horse and waved goodbye.
“It was good seeing you Kepa,” she said. “If I get another day off, I’ll try to come back.”
“I’d like that,” said Kepa as he gave an overly dramatic kiss to the back of her hand.
Dominique chuckled. “Oh, young love.”
Maite and Kepa both looked at Dominique in surprise.
“Who said anything about love?” asked Maite.
“You didn’t have to,” replied Dominique with a wink.
He spurred his horse down the hill. Maite followed. She turned one last time to see Kepa standing near the wagon, watching her. He waved as she turned. She waved back, almost falling off her horse.
The trek back to town and the boarding house was uneventful. They didn’t encounter any other riders, for which Maite was thankful. She remembered their encounter with Donny McCowen and shuddered at the thought. She didn’t expect Dominique could be all that useful in any altercation, though the older man did carry a rifle strapped to his saddle.
“Have you ever had to use that?” asked Maite.
“Zer?” asked Dominique.
“The rifle.”
“Oh, yeah. A few times, hunting rabbits when I got sick of lamb. And there have been a few rattlesnakes I had to get off the trail.”
“What about another man?”
A dark look crossed Dominique’s face. “I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I keep to mine, and they keep to theirs. I tell my herders to keep their sheep off of cattle land. But, there was one time, when I was a herder myself, before I knew much better. I didn’t even speak any English, back then, at least not much. Some cowboys came up to me and threatened to burn my camp and shoot my sheep. They did shoot a few of them. But, I just stood my ground, pointing my gun at them when they got closer to the camp. Eventually, they backed off. I guess they didn’t think their lives were worth taking a chance, at least that day.”
Maite shook her head. “I can’t imagine,” she said. “That must have been terrifying.”
Dominique turned to look at Maite, a sparkle in his eye. “You betcha, it was. I almost shit myself. Especially since I’d forgotten to load the gun.”
Maite’s eyes went wide. “It was unloaded?”
Dominique chuckled. “Yep. If only those cowboys knew. I’m sure I’d be dead if they had.”
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.
In between my sophomore and junior year at the University of Idaho, I spent a year in Donostia with the goal of learning Euskara. When I told my dad that I wanted to learn Basque, he asked “Why? Why not Spanish? You can speak that everywhere.” I guess he was too pragmatic. Anyways, I did learn some Basque and felt like I got a reasonable handle on the grammar. My Achilles’ heel, though, was vocabulary. I never built up a big enough vocabulary to really be able to converse. If only I’d had Gaurko Hitza, or Basque Word of the Day! Every day, they send an email with a new word, it’s history and usage, and translation into English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. I subscribed about a year ago. I can’t claim my vocabulary is increasing all that fast, but here are some of my favorite words over the last year.
Ipi-apa ezagutzen zituen eskualdeko bazter guztiak. [(From start-to-finish, he/she knew every corner of the region.) Erabili goldea hilen hezurren gainetik, Olga Tokarczuk]. Image from Gaurko Hitza.
indargabetu: depending on the context, this word means to weaken, to attenuate/diminish, or to repeal. It’s one of those words that, when you look at it closely, becomes transparent. indar means strength, gabe means without, and tu is the suffix that makes something a verb. So, literally, indargabetu means “to make without strength.”
lehenbailehen: as soon as possible. This word comes from lehen baino lehen — lehen means first. It can also mean before in some contexts. And baino means “than,” so this literally means something like “before the first thing.”
txintxo: well-behaved. Such a nice, short word you can yell at someone who isn’t behaving…
odolbero: irascible, irritable. Literally, it means “hot blooded:” odol means blood and bero means hot.
zingil: thin or slim. What strikes me about this word is that it doesn’t really sound like a Basque word. There are no “tx”s or “k”s.
kukubilkatze: squat. Sometimes, there isn’t a short, simple word for something in a language. It would almost take more time to say the word than to do the squats!
betiera: eternity. beti means always, so betiera is something that has the quality of being always, or eternity.
minbizi: cancer. Sometimes it seems that meanings are hidden behind words, that you can’t know what a word means without knowing what it means. But minbizi, the Basque word for cancer, literally means living or alive pain.
dapa: voice used to indicate the presence of a sudden idea. In English, we had to borrow the word eureka from Greek. The Basques already had their own word for eureka!
zipriztindu: to splash or spatter. I just think it’s a cool sounding word.
sabelzuri: false or a cheater. Literally, this words seems to mean white belly (zuri=white, sabel=belly), so something with a white belly was a cheater.
puskakatu: to tear apart or shred. It’s funny how words can be made. Puska is a noun that means piece, like a piece of something. Puskaka is an adverb that means breaking up or apart. And puskakatu, a verb, is the action of making something break apart.
eztitu: to sweeten or to calm. Just like in English, some words have different meanings that seemingly have little to do with one another. eztitu can mean sweeten, but it can also mean to calm or soothe, I guess making someone’s mood a bit sweeter?
sorgin-gurpil: vicious cycle. Literally, it means witch’s wheel.
ahozuri: gourmet. Literally, this word means white mouth. In addition to gourmet, it flatterer, wheedler, sycophant, bootlicker (thanks Morris Student Plus Dictionary!). What are the Basques trying to say here?
gurgur: rumbling sound, babbling. The word sounds like it’s rumbling!
bakoiti and bikoiti: odd and even, as in numbers. I assume the first parts relate to the Basque words bat (one) and bi (two)…
ipurdikatu: to turn upside down. Yeah, I’m a dad, I had to squeeze in a butt joke. Ipurdi means butt. Ipurdika means backwards. Ipurdikatu means to make backwards or upside down…
ipi-apa: detail, from start to finish. The Basque version of alpha to omega.
konkolotx: astride. Just another word I think sounds cool.
The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!
Another week passed. Santi was as sullen as ever, barely saying ‘thank you’ after dinner before going to sleep. Kepa just sighed as he gathered the dishes so he could wash them in the morning. While his lamb stew was getting really good, in his own humble opinion, he was getting tired of eating the same thing over and over again. How he missed his ama’s porrusalda or the bollos de mantequilla he’d get whenever he had visited Maite in Bilbao.
But today, at least, there was something to look forward to. Dominique was due with another supply run. Kepa couldn’t wait to have someone to talk to who had a vocabulary that consisted of more than just a few grunts. Kepa made a fresh loaf of bread in the hopes of enticing Dominique to linger just a bit longer at the camp.
Just after midday, he could hear the clomping of the horses as they approached. He looked up and, to his surprise, saw three horses, the third carrying
“Maite!” exclaimed Kepa as he rushed to her side. “What are you doing here?”
Maite smiled as she let Kepa help her dismount. “Dominique gave me your note. Since I had the day off, I thought I’d join him on his rounds, see how you are doing for myself.”
Kepa blushed. “You gave up your day off for me?”
Maite blew him a kiss and a wink.
“She’s a keeper,” laughed Dominique as Kepa turned an even brighter shade of red.
“Look, I’m not going to linger,” said Dominique. “Maite, I’ll pass by this way again after I stop at the other camps and we can head back to town. Until then, you and Kepa can catch up.”
“But, what about my stew? I even made fresh bread!” protested Kepa.
Dominique climbed back onto his saddle. “I’m sure Maite will enjoy it just as much as I would have. I’ll be back before long.”
Soon, Dominique’s horse disappeared over the hill.
“So,” said Kepa, “how have you been?” He handed Maite a bowl of stew and a slice of bread.
Maite shrugged. “Fine, I guess. Just working. They work the girls to the bone. I get up at five in the morning to begin cleaning the dining room. Then I help prepare breakfast. After that, I clean the linens while another girl works on lunch. In the afternoon, we all get ready for dinner. Then there is serving all of these demanding Basquos. Sometime around 10 or 11, if I’m lucky, I get to have a bite to eat with the other girls before we clean up the dishes and head to bed.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I’m exhausted.”
She took a bite of the stew. “This is really good,” she said in mock surprise.
“What? You didn’t think I could cook?”
“I knew you couldn’t. You’ve tried, remember?”
Kepa blushed again. “Well, I’ve had lots of practice with this one dish.”
“How are things up here?” asked Maite between bites.
It was Kepa’s turn to sigh. “The work isn’t quite as hard as yours; I’ve only got one demanding Basquo to take care of, but he is the most anti-social fellow. I think you’ve spoken more words since you got here than he has in the last month. It’s just so damn boring up here.”
“Miss your phone?” teased Maite.
“I miss everything!” barked Kepa. He paused as Maite looked away. “Sentitzen dut. I’m sorry. I’m just so frustrated, being up here. What does any of this have to do with the zatia? It all seems so pointless.”
“I understand. I feel the same way. It seems we are being punished somehow.”
“Right?!?” Kepa shook his head. “I can’t believe that these people chose this life.”
“I guess things were… are… even worse back home.”
“Worse than this?”
“That’s what some of the other girls tell me. Life back in Euskal Herria was even harder, with fewer chances of it getting better.”
“It’s hard to imagine, the way things are now,” said Kepa. “I mean, the way things are in our time. Life isn’t so bad at home.”
Maite nodded. “I agree. Funny how things change in just a generation or two.”
“Anyways,” said Kepa after he pulled a squirt from the bota bag before tossing it to Maite. “Have you had any luck with the zatia?”
Maite shook her head before taking her own squirt of wine. “Nothing,” she said as she tossed the bag back to Kepa. “I’ve cleaned all of the rooms from top to bottom. If it’s in the boarding house, it’s hidden very well.”
“Damnit,” swore Kepa. “I just want to be done with this place.”
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.
Linda Uruburu was born in 1951 in New York City. She has been a professional musician, music publisher and songwriter for most of her adult life. Her lyrics can be heard on the two Helen Schneider cds: Collective Memory (2015 SPV Records) and Movin’ On (2017 SPV Records).
Some years ago, she began writing children’s books: Animal Stories for Children and Maximillian Snail’s Wonderful Rainy Day (both translated into German and published in 2008 by Baumhaus Publishing) and Lenny’s Summertime Adventures – first prize winner of the Literary Contest 2019 – CBS – Center for Basque Studies, published in 2020.
Her hobby and part-time profession is designing patchwork.
She currently lives in Hamburg, Germany.
For those of us Basque-Americans that grew up in the West, we were surrounded by the sheepherders that came before us. Images of sheep wagons, bands of sheep, and sheepherder’s bread are common. However, the Basque-American experience is as varied as Basques themselves. Out east, the typical Basque immigrant was very different. Still driven by a desire for a better life, these Basques often found work in construction and similar occupations. And, the east coast, particularly New York, ended up being the home of many Basques fleeing the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Linda Uruburu grew up in this environment. In her book, Lenny’s Summertime Adventures (available here from the Center for Basque Studies), she captures the magic of that time, in which large groups of extended cousins roamed the country side, looking for adventure. In this interview, Linda describes the inspiration for her award-winning book and teases what might be next for Lenny.
Buber’s Basque Page: Ongi etorri to Buber’s Basque Page, Linda! Let’s start off with an introduction. Tell us about your Basque roots.
Linda’s family’s original summer home, the Big House, in Ladentown, New York.
Linda Uruburu: Thank you so much… what a pleasure this is! My grandparents on my father’s side both arrived in the USA in the early 1900’s – my grandfather’s family, Uruburu, from Forua and my grandmother’s, Ercoreca, from Mungia. They settled into the lower east side of Manhattan. The first meeting of the Centro Vasco, the first official Basque club in New York, actually took place in my grandparents living room. In 1918 my grandfather, Benito, was hired to do some road construction in a small village about 30 miles outside of New York City called Ladentown. He liked the area and eventually the family, actually his wife and her two sisters, bought a summer home there. More and more friends and family visited and the area soon became a small summer Basque enclave. We (my immediate family) moved there permanently when I was 9 years old. I do still have family living in Mungia and Forua.
BBP: You grew up in the Basque community of New York, which is different from the western communities many of us are more familiar with, particularly given the stronger political tendencies of the New York Basques. What was it like growing up in that environment?
Linda Uruburu: My grandfather died when I was 8. I know that he and his brother Tiburcio (one of the founders of the Centro Vasco) were very involved with the Basque community of New York but as a young girl I was not really aware of that part of their lives. My father was not political at all but he was a Basque through and through! He instilled in me a strong pride in my heritage.
BBP: You called your childhood home a “summer Basque enclave.” What was it like growing up surrounded by those Basques? What stands out in your memory?
Linda’s grandmother on the right, her grandfather on the left.
Linda Uruburu: It was an amazing childhood. My extended family (relatives and neighbors) arrived in the beginning of the summer and stayed until the end, with a constant flow of visitors from New York City and Spain. My memory is filled with Basque and Spanish words and music and food and clothing. I’ve read that a central concept in the Basque identity is belonging, not only to the Basque people, but to a house or a clan. In the summers I always felt like I belonged to a family much bigger than my actual one. I guess that’s my most treasured memory.
BBP: Your book, Lenny’s Summertime Adventures, was published last year by the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. Can you give us a brief synopsis?
Linda (on the right) and her cousins – the inspiration for Lenny’s cousins.
Linda Uruburu: Lenny is a young girl of Basque heritage who lives in the “Little House” at the foot of the mountains outside of New York City. As they do every year, her city cousins and relatives come to the “Big House” at the other end of the road to spend the whole summer. Lenny has a wild imagination and believes she saw a ghost in the mountains the past winter and she enlists her cousins to help her find it. The book follows the children’s adventures throughout the summer and is filled with Basque traditions and words.
BBP: If I understand correctly, your story won the Basque Writing Contest put on by the Center for Basque Studies. How was that? Did you write the story specifically for the contest or did you already have the seeds planted before?
Linda Uruburu: In 2007 my family had a reunion with over 100 Basque relatives from all over the USA and Europe (I moved to France in 2002 and have lived in Germany since 2006). The next day some of us wandered through the area, hiked into the mountains, and visited the family cemetery and places we remembered as children. When I returned from that reunion, I began to write Lenny’s story, inspired by our adventures growing up. When I read about the Literary Contest put on by the Center for Basque Studies I decided to submit my story.
The baserri in Mungia where Linda’s grandmother grew up, painted by the Basque painter Inchaurbe.
BBP: What did it mean to you for your story to win the contest?
Linda Uruburu: I couldn’t have been more proud or shocked. The contest is for all genres and so the competition is tough. For years I have bought books from the Center for Basque Studies and to be recognized by that organization is an honor.
BBP: What inspired Lenny’s adventures? How much of your own experiences are part of her story?
Linda Uruburu: Lenny’s family and extended family are loosely based on my family and the local folk in the area I grew up in, at the foot of the Ramapo Mountains. The adventures are based somewhat on my childhood experiences but mostly come from my imagination.
BBP: What’s next for Lenny? Do you plan to continue her adventures?
Linda Uruburu: I’m working on a sequel right now. Having adventures comes natural to Lenny and so she is once again going to enlist her cousins to help her solve a mystery.
The baserri in Forua where Linda’s grandfather grew up, painted on an envelope sent to her father by his cousin Juan Ara-Uruburu.
BBP: Might Lenny make it to the Basque Country in one of her adventures?
Linda Uruburu: In my story, the reader can follow Lenny’s adventures with her personal map of the neighborhood. Her next adventure will extend the borders of the map a bit. As for the Basque Country… who knows?
BBP: With your deep connections to the Basque Country, I imagine you’ve visited many times. What are your favorite places to visit?
Linda Uruburu: I am embarrassed to say that I have never had the chance to visit the Basque Country. It has always been a goal of mine but somehow life always seems to interfere. But I’m not giving up!
BBP: What advice do you have for up and coming story tellers who are hoping to share their own stories?
Linda Uruburu: Write what you know – the truth is always a good beginning. And don’t give up!
John Acuaga was an icon of the gambling industry in Northern Nevada. Even in high school, which he attended in Notus, Idaho, he had big dreams. His yearbook claimed “He would own the biggest gambling den in Reno.” John was known for his gregarious personality and his constant floor presence, where he would meet guests and make them feel welcome. As a local business leader, he valued education and reinvested in the community, providing scholarships to some 700 students. John died on June 28, 2021. He was 96 years old.
John was born in Caldwell, Idaho, in 1925. His father, Jose Ascuaga from Orozko, Bizkaia, emigrated to the United States in 1914 where he ultimately settled in Notus, Idaho. He had come to herd sheep. A few years later, his wife, Marina Eguiluz, joined him in the states. John was one of four children, two boys and two girls, one of whom was his twin sister.
After a stint in the military during which he served in Japan after World War II, John earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting from the University of Idaho and hotel and restaurant management from Washington State University. He moved to Nevada after Idaho made slot machines illegal in 1954.
John is best known for the Sparks Nugget, a casino in Sparks, Nevada, that he bought in 1960 when he was its general manager. The Nugget had only opened five years before, when it was owned by Dick Graves. It started out as a small coffee shop that held a few slot machines. With his wife, Rose Ardans, John made the Nugget into a great success and they expanded it continuously during the 1960s and 1970s. One particularly popular attraction, the Celebrity Showroom, was built in the 1960s and hosted such big names like Liberace, Peggy Lee, The Osmond Brothers, and Robert Goulet. At its peak, the Nugget consisted of two towers and hosted 1600 rooms.
John was very proud of his Basque heritage. In 1959, John organized the first Basque festival in the western United States, held in Sparks. The restaurant in the Nugget was named Orozko, after the village his parents came from in Bizkaia. In front stood an 11-foot sculpture of a Basque sheepherder with his dog (the statue now resides on the University of Nevada, Reno’s campus). And, when he dedicated the newest tower of the casino, a large ikurrina was on display.
John’s wife, Rose, who preceded him in death in 2020, was also the daughter of Basque immigrants. Her parents, Marie Louise Harriet and Jean Leon Ardans, were from Behe Nafarroa. John and Rose met in the Nugget’s steakhouse.
The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!
Weeks went by. Days started to blur as Kepa made meals every day, packing a lunch for Santi to take as he followed the sheep. Every few days, Kepa would have to move the sheep wagon as Santi took the flock further away.
About once a week, Dominique came to deliver supplies, arriving on horseback with the second horse laden with supplies. Kepa was always grateful to see Dominique, as it meant a break in the mundane routine that defined his life in the mountains. And, in contrast to Santi, who even after their seeming breakthrough barely spoke a few words, Dominique was a literal chatterbox, telling Kepa about everything that was going on with the other herders and back in town.
Dominique sat across the fire as Kepa dished him some stew that had been simmering since the night before.
“You’ve gotten to be a really good cook,” Dominique said between bites. He then took a swig of wine from his bota bag before tossing it to Kepa, who took his own squirt, the tangy liquid flowing down his throat.
“Eskerrik asko,” replied Kepa. “To be honest, there isn’t much more to do up here than practice my cooking. And taking care of the horses.”
“Well, that young girl back at the hotel will appreciate your cooking, I’m sure!” chuckled Dominique.
“Maite?”
“Bai, Maite. She asks about you every time I make it to town.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Fine, I guess.” Dominique shrugged. “I don’t talk to her much, but she always makes a point to find me and ask about you. I guess you made an impression.”
“I guess I did,” replied Kepa with a smile.
Dominique finished his stew. Taking the bota bag back from Kepa, he stood up.
“Well, I got to get to the next camp before dark. I’ll see you in a week.”
Kepa nodded. But then, he suddenly jumped up. “Itxaron! Wait a moment!”
He rushed into the wagon. A moment later, he returned with a folded piece of paper that he handed to Dominique.
“When you see her, can you give this to Maite?”
Dominique nodded as he tucked the paper into his shirt pocket. Soon, he and his horses were disappearing over the crest of the hills.
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net if you want to get in touch with me.
This article originally appeared in Spanish at El Diario on January 16, 2020.
Alfred S. Etcheverry had graduated from the University of California, where his father was a professor of engineering (Etcheverry Hall on the campus of UC Berkeley is named for him), and then went to Broadway, beginning a promising career as a stage actor. He participated in blockbuster plays such as My Sister Eileen, My Fair Lady, Delicate Story, and Key Largo. In the latter, he shared the bill with actors such as José Ferrer and Paul Muny. He died in combat in the Ardennes (http://www.ons-jongen-a-meedercher.lu/archives/personnes/detail/etcheverry-alfred-starr)
“Echoes of two wars, 1936-1945” aims to disseminate the stories of those Basques and Navarrese who participated in two of the warfare events that defined the future of much of the 20th century. With this blog, the intention of the Sancho de Beurko Association is to rescue from anonymity the thousands of people who constitute the backbone of the historical memory of the Basque and Navarre communities, on both sides of the Pyrenees, and their diasporas of emigrants and descendants, with a primary emphasis on the United States, during the period from 1936 to 1945.
THE AUTHORS Guillermo Tabernilla is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association, a non-profit organization that studies the history of the Basques and Navarrese from both sides of the Pyrenees in the Spanish Civil War and in World War II. He is currently their secretary and community manager. He is also editor of the digital magazine Saibigain. Between 2008 and 2016 he directed the catalog of the “Iron Belt” for the Heritage Directorate of the Basque Government and is, together with Pedro J. Oiarzabal, principal investigator of the Fighting Basques Project, a memory project on the Basques and Navarrese in the Second World War in collaboration with the federation of Basque Organizations of North America.
Pedro J. Oiarzabal is a Doctor in Political Science-Basque Studies, granted by the University of Nevada, Reno (USA). For two decades, his work has focused on research and consulting on public policies (citizenship abroad and return), diasporas and new technologies, and social and historical memory (oral history, migration and exile), with special emphasis on the Basque case. He is the author of more than twenty publications. He has authored the blog “Basque Identity 2.0” by EITB and “Diaspora Bizia” by EuskalKultura.eus. On Twitter @Oiarzabal.
Josu M. Aguirregabiria is a researcher and founder of the Sancho de Beurko Association and is currently its president. A specialist in the Civil War in Álava, he is the author of several publications related to this topic, among which “La batalla de Villarreal de Álava” (2015) y “Seis días de guerra en el frente de Álava. Comienza la ofensiva de Mola” (2018) stand out.
On December 14, 1944, two days before a large-scale German offensive began in the Ardennes and just four days after his 33rd birthday, the Basque-Californian soldier Alfred Starr Etcheverry wrote what would be his last letter to his wife Marion Hazard and his two kids:
In a few days, or possibly even a few hours, I shall be going into action. It is never far from my thoughts, that I may not see you again […] If I should die, it will be now one’s responsibility but my own, that is was so willed. This is my way, my army […] However confused is our picture of the world today, however blurred the lines of the conflict, yet I am certain that I fight on the side of men of good will everywhere in the world. No, more than that. For men of ill will were not born so, and may be, by time, and by God’s good grace, be redeemed. It is for men everywhere -whoever they are, wherever they may be, that I am fighting.
Etcheverry, born on December 18, 1912, in Alameda, California, was mortally wounded on January 13, 1945 in Goesdorf (Luxembourg). He was a renowned Broadway actor in New York when he was called up in 1944. He served in the 80th Infantry Division with which he fought on the Moselle and Seille rivers and later in the Battle of the Bulge, where he met his death. His story allows us to humanize a battle that no one expected at a time, at the end of the war, when the arrival of Christmas gave light to the hope of returning home soon.
However, unlike the ceasefire on the Western Front of the Great War on Christmas Eve and Christmas in 1914, the battle that took place in the dense forest of the Ardennes – located between Belgium, France and Luxembourg – during the harsh winter of December 1944 and January 1945 gave the Allies no truce. What came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge (or what the Germans pompously called ‘Operation Wacht am Rhein’) from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945, would be the last great German counteroffensive. It was a desperate attempt to break the unstoppable march of the allied forces towards Germany (the first German city, Aachen, had been captured in October), to strategically separate British and Canadian troops, located in the north, from American troops in the south, with the ultimate goal of capturing Antwerp, the key logistics port for the Allies, breaking supply lines and pocketing four Allied armies. The surprise would be complete.
If initially, the German offensive, led by the Waffen-Schutzstaffel (SS), had 19 divisions and about 400,000 men while the Allies only had 8 divisions and about 230,000 soldiers, the situation was reversed towards the end of the conflict. By then, the Allies led some 30 divisions with nearly 700,000 troops and unmatched armament superiority: 2,400 tanks, 3,200 artillery pieces, and 6,000 aircraft. Despite the fact that the diminished and weakened German army had 24 divisions made up of some 380,000 soldiers, its ability to replace weapons was extremely challenged. The Germans with 200 tanks, 3,200 artillery pieces and some 2,400 aircraft were overwhelmed by the Allied thrust. The orographic difficulty, the inclement weather (freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls), the murders of soldiers captured by the SS, the retaliation against these murders by American soldiers, the infiltration of German troops in American uniforms, and the skirmishes behind enemy lines are stories that make up the epic memory of the Battle of the Bulge, which became the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States (USA) in World War II (WWII); it resulted in 1 in 10 American combat casualties during the war.
At the time of publication of this article (originally January, 2020), a score of soldiers of Basque origin had been identified among the US forces that fought in the Battle of the Bulge – a figure that is expected to increase as the “Fighting Basques” research project progresses. For example, in the 90th Infantry Division we find the Navarrese Frank Aristu Garde (born in Iruñea, 1915) and Ernest Uhalde Borda (Auritz / Burguete, 1921) as well as André Sallaberry Baratçabal (Bildoze-Onizepea, 1917) of Zuberoa. Both Aristu and Sallaberry served in the 345th Field Artillery Battalion, while Uhalde fought with the 357th Infantry Regiment, receiving two Bronze Stars.
Ernest Uhalde (on the left) with his brothers, US Army Sergeant Raymond (on the right) and US Marine Corps soldier Albert. Photo courtesy of the Uhalde family.
Aguerrebere was awarded 14 medals, including the Bronze Star, during WWII. Upon his return to the United States, he had the opportunity to participate in the New York Victory Parade. Photograph courtesy of the Aguerrebere family.
In the 2nd Armored Division we have identified Saturnino Peruchena Sánchez (San Francisco, California, 1917) and John Arrillaga Jayo (Mountain Home, Idaho, 1918). Saturnino was part of Battery “A” of the 195th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion while Arrillaga served in the 78th Field Armored Artillery Battalion. In an interview about his time in the war, Arrillaga confessed: “It got to the point that it really didn’t matter if they killed you or not. You never get used to death or killing, but you accept it ”. He passed away in 1993 in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 74. Peruchena died in 1987 in San Leandro, California. In the mythical 82nd Airborne Division we find the Basque-Filipino Luis Mendieta Larrea (Manapla, 1915) as well as the Basque-Americans Francisco “Frank” Aguerrebere Ilizaliturri (Los Angeles, California, 1925) and Pete Etchepare Arriaga (Elko, Nevada, 1921) . Mendieta and Aguerrebere served in the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) and, after participating in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, they took part in the failed “Operation Market Garden” (September 17-25, 1944 ) in Holland. Finally, they were sent to the Ardennes with the aim of breaking the resistance in Bastogne. In the words of Mendieta – collected in the pioneering work of José Miguel Romaña World War II and The Basques – “It was a very difficult moment, because we had to face large concentrations of German tanks […] Another terrible enemy was the cold”. Aguerrebere echoed this sentiment as he vividly remembered “the bitter cold of the long month of the Battle of the Bulge […] with limited ammunition and with clothes that were not suitable for the cold” [1]. On January 5, 1944, 40 km from Bastogne, in Vaux Chavanne, Etchepare, of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Division and another veteran of D-Day and “Operation Market Garden,” met his death. His forward position was surprised by a German counterattack with a Tiger tank.
Frank Solaegui in a picture from the end of World War II. Born in Fallon, Nevada, he had participated in all the battles of the 101st Airborne Division since Normandy. He was in the siege of Bastogne and was promoted to lieutenant for war merits (coutesy of the Solaegui family).
Frank Solaegui Mugartegui, sergeant of the 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne Division and born in Fallon, Nevada in 1921 to Biscayan parents, found himself in the heart of Bastogne. (He was the brother of Daniel, merchant marine of the SS Melville E. Stone, sunk by U-516 in 1943). Their situation was not at all promising, to the point that the Germans even requested the surrender of the division, but the “battered bastards” of Bastonge resisted all overtures and their feats became tremendously popular, reaching our time through from the series Band of Brothers (2001) by producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. In fact, Solaegui, who would become a lieutenant on war merits, was with Major Richard Winters when he took over command of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th.
In a period of just over a month, some 19,000 American and 200 British soldiers had died, while on the German side about 11,000 had died. Among the former, Private First Class Miguel “Mike” Etchart León, born October 21, 1924 in Bakersfield, California, served in Company “A” of the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Mike, in his early twenties, died in Belgium from German machine gun fire during combat on Christmas Eve.
Photograph dated April 1, 1944 of the 705th Battalion at Fort Lewis, Washington, of which Mike Etchart was part. Source: https://www.tankdestroyer.net/
Despite the high number of Allied dead and wounded (about 45,000 Americans and about 1,000 British) and missing or captured (about 23,000 Americans and about 200 British), the Ardennes was a definitive strategic victory. Among those captured was the Biscayan Santiago “Santy” Mendieta Telleria. Born in 1914, he grew up with his twelve brothers and sisters on the family’s sheep ranch in Jordan Valley, Oregon. Santiago enlisted in 1942 and was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division as a gunner. His division was sent to the North African battlefield in November and from there to Sicily, Italy, in July 1943. Finally, Santiago and his comrades landed on June 9, 1944, in Normandy, fighting through France until reaching Belgium. The 2nd Armored Division helped contain heavy German attacks during the Ardennes counteroffensive. However, at one point Santiago was trapped behind enemy lines and was reported missing on December 21, 1944. At first, a Belgian family hid him on his farm and then in a nearby forest for seventeen days. Unfortunately, Santiago was eventually arrested by the Germans and sent to the Stalag IX-B prisoner of war camp in the vicinity of Bad Orb in Hesse, Germany, where he stayed for 95 days until he was liberated by the US military.
Photograph of Mendieta in military uniform. Upon his return to the US, Mendieta defined the Bab Orb prison camp as a “famine camp.” Source: ION Heritage Museum (Jordan Valley).
The German defeat, at the cost of consuming its last and most valuable human and material resources, only temporarily delayed the Allied advance towards Germany, and accelerated the inexorable victory of the Soviet army on the Eastern Front. After the Allied victory, the breaking of the “Siegfried Line” – the West German defensive wall that stretched from Holland to Switzerland – was a matter of time. On the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge we remember those soldiers who gave us their Christmas (the last of the war) so that we could be free, taking part in one of the last great battles in Europe.
[1] Oral History of Frank Aguerrebere. Interviewed by Vicki Torres for Voces Oral History Project (The University of Texas Libraries, Austin) on January 7, 2011.
Collaborate with ‘Echoes of two wars, 1936-1945.’
If you want to collaborate with “Echoes of two wars” send us an original article on any aspect of WWII or the Civil War and Basque or Navarre participation to the following email: sanchobeurko@gmail.com
