{"id":4382,"date":"2021-02-24T16:40:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T16:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4382"},"modified":"2021-02-24T16:40:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T16:40:37","slug":"bubers-basque-story-part-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/02\/24\/bubers-basque-story-part-41\/","title":{"rendered":"Buber’s Basque Story: Part 41"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you have comments or questions, or have simply been enjoying the story and want to say hello, please drop me a note!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

George returned to the table with a couple of pitchers of beer in hand. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what kind of beer you like, so I got a lager and an IPA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa laughed. \u201cWhere we live, you often don\u2019t get much of a choice.\u201d He scrutinized the two pitchers before holding out his glass. \u201cI\u2019ll try the IPA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt might be a bit strong for your tastes,\u201d said George as he filled Kepa\u2019s glass. He then turned to Maite, who held up her hand, signalling George to wait a moment. She watched as Kepa took a sip of his beer. His eyes started watering and his lips puckered up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buber’s Basque Story 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!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou call this beer?\u201d he barely squeaked as he put his pint glass back on the table and guzzled some water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite promptly took the IPA from Kepa as she smiled at George. \u201cI\u2019ll be fine with this,\u201d she said as she handed him her empty glass. \u201cBut, if you can fill this with the lager for Kepa\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unai laughed. \u201cIt does take some getting used to,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd, some just don\u2019t like it. Eric has never gotten the taste for it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric shook his head. \u201cNasty stuff. And it\u2019s everywhere. It\u2019s sometimes hard to get anything else. Anyways,\u201d he continued, \u201chow was your trip to the Statue of Liberty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa glanced sideways over the top of his new pint at Maite as she began to speak. \u201cIt was\u2026 interesting,\u201d she said. \u201cDefinitely different than what I think either of us expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you mean?\u201d asked Unai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was just much more\u2026 immersive,\u201d replied Kepa. \u201cMuch more realistic than I expected. I really felt I was there with the crowds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know what you mean,\u201d said Edurne wistfully. \u201cI get caught up in the stories and almost feel I\u2019m walking beside those new immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite nodded. \u201cBai, that\u2019s what we meant. It\u2019s just so easy to feel like you are one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh,\u201d replied Unai. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve been there, maybe I\u2019ll have to take another visit. I don\u2019t remember it being so interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d laughed Edurne, \u201cyou were something like twelve when you went last time. There wasn\u2019t much that kept your attention back then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unai returned her laugh as he raised his pint. \u201cFair enough,\u201d he said with a smile as he mock-toasted and took a big gulp of his beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t long before they had neared the end of their beers. Eric looked at his watch. He was the only one of them that actually wore one, the rest of them relying on their phones to check the time. \u201cIt\u2019s about time to head to the theater,\u201d he said as he downed the rest of his beer. \u201cIs everyone ready to go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet me run to the restroom first, and then I\u2019m ready,\u201d replied Edurne, who also swallowed the last of her beer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood idea, me too,\u201d said Maite. Soon, they were all heading to the back and the restrooms. Moments later, they all reconvened outside of the pub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis way,\u201d said Eric as he led them down the street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have comments or questions, or have simply been enjoying the story and want to say hello, please drop me a note! George returned to the table with a couple of pitchers of beer in hand. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what kind of beer you like, so I got a lager and an IPA.\u201d Kepa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Artboard-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-18G","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4382"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4383,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382\/revisions\/4383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}