{"id":4454,"date":"2021-03-24T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4454"},"modified":"2021-03-24T14:10:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T14:10:27","slug":"bubers-basque-story-part-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/03\/24\/bubers-basque-story-part-45\/","title":{"rendered":"Buber’s Basque Story: Part 45"},"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

Getting to the hotel had been relatively painless. Their bags were on time — Maite was nervous that her suitcase would get lost and then she\u2019d have nothing to wear for her interview — and the Uber they hired picked them up and took them straight to the hotel without incident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you want to do for dinner?\u201d asked Maite as she unpacked her suitcase and made sure her clothes for tomorrow hadn\u2019t gotten too wrinkled in transit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething mellow?\u201d replied Kepa. \u201cHow about a burger and a beer?\u201d<\/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

\u201cThat sounds fine to me. Can you find something nearby?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa nodded as he pulled out his phone and searched for nearby pubs. \u201cThere\u2019s one just around the corner,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has four and a half stars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSounds good,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cI want to get back early and go through my talk one more time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you have that thing memorized yet?\u201d asked Kepa. \u201cYou\u2019ve gone over it so many times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite replied with a sheepish smile. \u201cI just want to do well. It\u2019s a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa stood and walked over to Maite, putting his hands on the small of her back and pulling her close. \u201cYou are the smartest person I know. You\u2019ll do fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut, what if I don\u2019t get in? What then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll get in. But, even if you don\u2019t, there are many opportunities for someone like you. You\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shrugged. \u201cI guess. But, this is Berkeley.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa smiled. \u201cYou\u2019ll do great things, with or without Berkeley.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEskerrik asko, Kepa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEz horregatik,\u201d replied Kepa as he pulled her closer and kissed her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pub was filled with people of all ages, from undergraduate students who were releasing some steam after some big test, to a group of graduate students who were huddled with their advisor, talking about their latest research, to a few older professors who had grabbed a corner table and were amongst the loudest in the pub as they discussed the day\u2019s news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite took a sip of her beer and, then, looking at Kepa, said \u201cIsn\u2019t this awesome? There is so much energy here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess it has its own flavor of marcha,\u201d replied Kepa with a smile. \u201cNot quite the discotech, but still pretty lively in its own way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite gave him a playful punch in the arm. \u201cYou\u2019re just disappointed there are no ladies dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo this?\u201d Kepa replied, absently waving his hands to indicate the alternative music that was playing over the speakers. \u201cNah. And, besides, you are the only one I want to watch dance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite blushed as she finished her beer. \u201cReady to go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa downed his beer as well. \u201cYep, let\u2019s get you some rest before the big day.\u201d<\/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! Getting to the hotel had been relatively painless. Their bags were on time — Maite was nervous that her suitcase would get lost and then she\u2019d have nothing to wear for her […]<\/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-4454","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-19Q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4454","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=4454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4455,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4454\/revisions\/4455"}],"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=4454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}