Markets, hiking, basketball, Goenkale...
Trip Start
Oct 27, 2008
1
9
17
Trip End
Jan 22, 2009
Lasarte,
Basque,
Spain
Monday, December 1, 2008
things I want to do but the how and when are never really set in stone. That is
one of the many benefits of being unemployed and not tied down to a schedule.
Really the only routines that I don't like to break are basketball practices
and Goenkale, the Basque television series. I never know what they are saying
(it's all in Basque) but it is entertaining to watch the drama in a foreign
language. It shows the same streets that I wander daily and I often
recognize the sets. Goenkale is a great conversation topic with the locals,
mainly with my friends in Hernani and my new grandma in Lasarte. She is my
Basque Country grandma and we occasionally have a coffee and go for walks. She
is great! (Don't worry, she does not replace you back in the states, but is a
nice addition. LOVE YOU Grandma Dufurrena and Grandma Mac!!) Besides Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights... I just wing it. Tough life, huh? :)
Today I am leaving for Elizondo to visit
my family in the Baztan Valley. It has already been a month here in Euskadi but
my trips to the family have all been set back due to weather and communication
difficulties. The rain put a slight damper on my travels and I have also been
dragging my feet on going to visit them alone. It is a little intimidating when
they don't speak any English and my Spanish is struggling. But I feel
significantly better about the language barrier and am going to have Sunday
dinner. Wish me luck. Or as they say here, "buenas suerte!"
For the last week I enjoyed three days
without rain. It has been cold, but at least there was a bit of sunshine. The
mountains have snow on them but everything here is very green. I discovered
some more hiking routes close to Lasarte. Friday was nice so I went on a little
8-mile loop that linked Lasarte, Hernani, and Urnieta. It was a pleasant walk
but I think my detour upset a few road workers. Somehow I had strayed from the
main path and took a road that would link me back eventually. Quite a
ways into my alternate route there was a big sign with no words but several
images, including a pedestrian with a big red circle and a diagonal line through it. My
lack of language skills was not relevant here and it was pretty
self-explanatory: don't walk through the construction site. Well there wasn't
really much for traffic and the passage was short so I went for it. My path
didn't look very dangerous at all. I couldn't tell what the workers were
yelling, but it sounded kind of angry. No harm though and I quickly found the marked
path just up the road.
Actually, I have started a third ritual
with the Saturday market in Tolosa. My street savvy is improving and I even
bartered a little this week. I just wanted to look at cheese prices and ended
up talking the lady down from 12 euros to 10 euros for a wheel of cheese. She
was really persistent and I wanted to get past her booth without being rude.
But she made the offer and it was a good buy. You may ask, "What the heck are
you going to do with a wheel of cheese?" I'm taking half to the family in
Baztan and then another quarter to my friends in Hernani. After all, it is the
holiday season and who doesn't like a little 'behi gazta' (cow cheese)? J
Txintxo ibili!
