{"id":4557,"date":"2021-05-06T02:51:15","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T02:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4557"},"modified":"2021-05-06T02:51:15","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T02:51:15","slug":"the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/05\/06\/the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-50\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 50"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m rebranding the story — the plot continues, but I thought I’d add a little bit of a splash.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a delayed start to their day, they headed out to the street.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you still want to check out those gardens?\u201d asked Kepa as they strolled past a few cafes that were packed with students.<\/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!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNah,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cI\u2019d just like to get a better sense of the city, if you don\u2019t mind. If they do offer me a position here, I\u2019d like to know what the city is like, to help me decide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa chuckled. \u201cHelp you decide? Are you seriously thinking you\u2019d turn down an offer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d replied Maite absentmindedly. \u201cSorry,\u201d she continued as she shook her head. \u201cNo. Maybe. I don\u2019t know. I mean, this is such a great place for science, it would be a dream to work here. But, I would desperately miss everything about home. It\u2019s a big change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow about we walk to the marina? It might remind you of home, put your mind at ease a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite looked at her phone. \u201cIt\u2019s like an hour walk from here!\u201d She shook her head. \u201cIt\u2019s so different here compared to home. You can\u2019t really walk anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa shrugged. \u201cTrue, but we aren\u2019t in a hurry. And we\u2019ll get to see more of the city this way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite smiled. \u201cEgia da. That\u2019s true. Ok, lead away, my fearless leader!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa pulled up a route on his phone and began walking, Maite in hand. They passed what seemed like a park on their right, full of tall trees. Some people were jogging along a trail while others were walking their dog. A few were sitting on the grass, reading or listening to music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty nice,\u201d said Kepa. \u201cAlmost like the mountains back home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd right out the door too,\u201d agreed Maite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once they got past the park, however, the cityscape changed to low-rise buildings that seemed to extend on forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head. \u201cIt is amazing that they don\u2019t build up more here. Even the smallest towns back home have taller buildings than these, it seems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess this is how it is when everyone wants their own house and more space. I can see the appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou live in a baserri, surrounded by space. If everyone did, we\u2019d be just like this, I imagine. I like being able to pop down to the street and get a coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I like that too. But, I also like having space for all of my stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeems like the more space you have, the more stuff you buy. Not just you, all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They kept walking, past an endless stretch of houses punctuated by the occasional church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt does surprise me,\u201d remarked Kepa, \u201chow many churches there are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, it almost seems like every person has their own church,\u201d chuckled Maite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess that\u2019s the difference between having one dominant religion. But, I don\u2019t see any bars around here. The bar-church ratio seems\u2026 backwards to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite laughed. \u201cMaybe the bar is your religion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe,\u201d smiled Kepa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They came to the freeway. \u201cSomehow, we have to cross over that to get to the marina,\u201d said Kepa, looking at his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head. \u201cThey don\u2019t make it easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa was looking around to get his bearings when he noticed the street sign. \u201cHey, look at that, we are on Bolivar Drive.\u201d Bolibar was a small town very close to Kepa\u2019s baserri. His grandmother had been from another baserri that was in Bolibar proper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s cool! Who would have guessed we\u2019d find a Basque name way out here!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They found the foot bridge that took them over the freeway. Mid-way across, they stopped to watch all of the cars zooming by underneath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo many people,\u201d mused Maite, more to herself than to Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, and they\u2019re all in cars,\u201d added Kepa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once they were across the bridge, it wasn\u2019t too much further to the marina. The docks were full of sailing boats, all with fancy names like \u201cPrince of Tides,\u201d \u201cDark Star,\u201d and \u201cZafir.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty,\u201d said Maite as they strolled along the waterfront, watching people scurry on their boats. \u201cIt reminds me of the ports in Bermeo and Lekeitio, though something\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t any fishing boats,\u201d replied Kepa. \u201cThey\u2019re all sail boats and the like. I don\u2019t think I see a single fishing boat out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I see what you mean. It\u2019s a different world out here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, what do you want to do now that we found the marina?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m famished,\u201d answered Maite. \u201cLet\u2019s find some food!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m rebranding the story — the plot continues, but I thought I’d add a little bit of a splash. After a delayed start to their day, they headed out to the street.\u00a0 \u201cDo you still want to check out those gardens?\u201d asked Kepa as they strolled past a few cafes that were packed with students. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"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":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1bv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4557","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=4557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4559,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4557\/revisions\/4559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}