Were off to Basque Country 2012

Our Air France flight was delayed 15 minutes and we lost 10 minutes in the air, putting us 25 minutes less time to make our connection flight in Paris.

You have to understand that the Charles DE Gaulle Airport has been under construction for the past several years I have been coming to Basque Country. This is the first time our flight was that late. What complicated the connection process was the necessity to go through customs to get our passports stamped. The problem was we had to exit the plane on the tarmac, ride a bus for 5 minutes to the middle of the airport, stand in line with 50 people with 2 custom agents working frantically to get people through only to walk a quarter mile to the sign that pointed outside with no signs on the curb to give us direction. We saw two large tour busses unloading, but no N2 Bus to transport to us G2 terminal. We all went inside to see if we missed something. I remembered that this was what I did last time we were at DE Gaulle. Jane went to ask someone and I went outside to look for the bus. Sure enough, as soon as we were about to panic the N2 bus pulled up to get us to the G2 Gate.

The N2 bus was a 5 minute ride back to the same terminal we exited the plane. I looked at the LED monitor on the bus and it said Next Destination G2 Terminal – 6 min. The time was 10:01 and our plane was to depart at 10:15! But I said to Jane, but the building over there says G2 and we were passing by it. Then the bus turned sharply, the time on the monitor said 2 minutes till arrival. Boy, are we going to cut this close. We walked very quickly through the G2 Terminal doors on a mission. Jane asked, “Where do we go?” I said, “Turn left, we have to go through security again.” The government of France had really constructed a nice security area since the last time I visited. Fortunately, no one was waiting in line so we went right through, except for my suitcase caring the video projection unit for the classroom presentations. They had to screen it using the wipes to detect explosives. Precious minutes were ticking away. Finally, all clear.

Our fast walking turned into a slow jog and the slight decline down the walkway to the waiting area at Gate 23 helped speed us up a bit. If I was smart I would have told the King’s West and Olympic College track star, Irene Moore who is traveling with us, to sprint ahead of us and hold the plane. I turned the corner, with Irene right behind me, and saw two flight attendants down the stairs to the doors that led to the plane. One lady went out the door to the plane, the other lady told me as I was huffing and puffing that it was too late. “You will have to go upstairs and get a later flight”, she said. I couldn’t say anything because I was out of breath, Irene did not break a sweat and Jane and Marcy were just coming down the stairs to the waiting area. The flight attendant repeated herself about going upstairs to book another flight to Bilbao. Jane said we have four people waiting for us in Bilbao and we have no way of contacting them. I had may arms on the podium still breathing hard when the second flight attendant flung open the door after returning from the plane and said we can BOARD! I ran over and gave her the double kiss on the cheek thank you.

Unfortunately, our luggage did not make the flight. I am glad to say, we met up with Syd on the airplane. He was wondering what took us to so long. Ruth was on a later flight but because of all our delays she beat us to Bilbao. Marcy was able to meet her Basque daughter and family at the airport and everyone but me got on the 12:45 bus to Donostia.

I need to wait here for a couple hours to pick up Billy from Portland. I had time to write this introduction to our trip. I better go and see if he has arrived. I hope the rest of our trip is this exciting.

Agur

P.S.
Billy missed his connection and got on another flight which was to arrive at 8PM. I returned to Donostia. I received notification that our luggage was to be on the same flight Billy was on. So, I was able to pick up the luggage and Billy in one trip to the airport. Sweet!

Christian Surfers in Basque Country

Chris and a number of SUSA supporters have are a part of Christian Surfers in Basque Country. Here is a TV spot that aired recently in Basque Country. To get to the Christian Surfer interview quickly, slide the view bar to 7:40 (7 minutes and 40 seconds into the show) and you will get to the segment quicker.

Irene support

Please donate to help Irene reconnect with the girls from Basque Country.

Together in Basque Country

This is our first trip to Spain together. Bev and I escorted the students back to Bilbao. After the parents picked up their students we were free to travel. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

2011 YL Camp - Basque week

We are in our 5th day at the Washington Family Ranch Young Life Camp in Antelope, OR. We have had great weather, great food great conversations and great FUN! This is part of the promise we make to families that their student will speak English and interact with teens, build friendships and explore faith. Click here to see more.

2011 Summer in the USA Begins

In the last couple days we have connected 74 Basque students with their American families. There were many tired students who were revitalized when they saw and heard their welcome from the cheering crowd at Sea-Tac international Airport.

Basking in Idaho's Basque Culture

This is an article form the LA Times. Click here

By Jay Jones Special to the Los Angeles Times

May 22, 2011
Reporting from Boise, Idaho—
For high school senior Alex Wray, there's no stigma to his membership in a troupe that performs traditional old-world peasant dances. The 17-year-old also is an offensive lineman, but he said his varsity football teammates never razz him about his primary passion: dancing with the young adults of the Oinkari company.

In many communities, the harmonious mix of arts and athletics could be attributed to "Glee." In Boise, thank the Basques.

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"My mom is Basque," Alex said, referring to Basque Country, the small, semi-autonomous chunk of land straddling the border of Spain and France. "[The dancing] is just part of what I grew up around."

In the Idaho capital, a city of about 200,000, nearly one in 10 residents is thought to have Basque ancestors. It has one of the largest Basque populations in the United States, which explains the presence of several restaurants, a heritage center, a museum and a market embracing Basque traditions.

They're all on what is known as the Basque Block on Grove Street in downtown Boise. The Basque Museum & Cultural Center is a good starting point to understand how so many people from such a small place ended up in Boise.

"If you could pick up [Basque Country] and put it in our state, it would fit in our largest county here in Idaho," said museum director Patty Miller, whose grandparents were among the early immigrants.

"English and Scottish sheep and livestock owners that were in this area needed workers. And they found this work force in the Basque," she said. "Word gets out, and chain migration occurs. They were writing letters [stating], 'There are job opportunities here.'"

Because many visitors may know Basque Country only as home to a violent separatist movement, Miller includes a panel about Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna in the museum.

"It describes [ETA] as a minority," she said. "The majority of the Basque people do not believe in terrorism and do not advocate terrorism as a means of gaining their own freedom."

Museum docents lead guests next door to the Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga House, a rambling boarding house that has been restored to how it looked when Basques lived here in the early to mid-1900s. The oldest surviving brick building in Boise, the boarding house features a long table in the kitchen, around which several families would share large platters of food.

Meals are still often served family-style at Bar Gernika and other Basque restaurants in the city. They tend to feature simple dishes of lamb or pork, such as solomo, pork loin cooked with sweet red peppers, and chorizo, a sausage made from spiced, ground meat.

Another nearby Basque boarding house has been converted into offices, but maintains a unique — and original — feature: the fronton, a court on which a game called pelota — a mix of handball and racquetball — is played.

"When there are league games going on, the fronton is used three nights a week," Miller said. "There are probably 100 people playing, and you don't have to be Basque."

Ancestry also is not important at the only Basque preschool in the country, which welcomes non-Basque children as well. At Boiseko Ikastola, guests are welcome to observe as children ages 2 to 6 are immersed in Euskara, a language with no known relatives.

"Non dago hiru?" asks teacher Itxasco Cayero, a native Basque. The children, who know she has asked them "Where is three?" quickly point to the figure 3 on a classroom wall.

Miller, the museum director, is learning the language in her spare time.

"I think it builds better Americans, having some knowledge of where they come from," she said. "Basques took great pride in being hard workers and being good citizens."

travel@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times