Speaking your way to smartness

A couple of months ago, the NY Times ran an article that I found particularly interesting.  Titled The Benefits of Bilingualism it explains why people who speak more than one language, on top of being able to communicate effectively with more people, are smarter. 

If that's the case, the I am surrounded by a pretty intelligent population.  With Basque and Spanish as official languages in the Basque Country, these people are constantly switching back and forth between the two.  You don't need Basque to get by here, but anyone who speaks Basque as their first language has learned Spanish just as well too.  And even the Spanish speakers who don't speak Basque can get by with some vocab and phrases. 

Some time ago, researchers believed that trying to use two languages would only confuse children who were simultaneously learning two different tongues.  However, recent research has shown just the opposite - that having to constantly be thinking about what you're saying is like a great exercise plan for your brain.  Staying focused while doing meaneal tasks such as speaking conditions your brain to be a better problem-solver and better use functions involved in planning, doing complicated tasks and so on.
Below is an excerpt of the article which speaks to the type of tests that have been done to reach the results about bilingualism helping not hurting children:

In a 2004 study by the psychologists Ellen Bialystok and Michelle Martin-Rhee, bilingual and monolingual preschoolers were asked to sort blue circles and red squares presented on a computer screen into two digital bins — one marked with a blue square and the other marked with a red circle.

In the first task, the children had to sort the shapes by color, placing blue circles in the bin marked with the blue square and red squares in the bin marked with the red circle. Both groups did this with comparable ease. Next, the children were asked to sort by shape, which was more challenging because it required placing the images in a bin marked with a conflicting color. The bilinguals were quicker at performing this task. 

Obviously starting a second language at a young age has positive affects throughout your whole lifetime, but learning one at an older age helps just as much and is said to help prevent dementia!

Throughout the world, people have taken note of the benefits of speaking more than your native tongue and bilingual schools, called immersion schools, have popped up around the globe.  For example, where I work, the classes are taught in English although the students speak Basque and Spanish.  They learn math, social studies and science in my language, because immersing yourself in a language has a better effect than just studying it an hour a week.  Same as the in the States where your kids can study and go to school in Chinese or German.  

After having lived in Europe for some time now, it kind of becomes embarassing that us Americans, for the most part, only speak 1 language.  In Europe, people speak at least 2 and in some places many more.  My friend Emma speaks 7!  And when I say 7, I mean she speaks all 7 well.  If you go to Germany or Sweden you don't even have to worry about speaking their language because everyone speaks just as good of English as you.  Not only have these speakers learned in a classroom but they also watch American films in the original version, see our TV series and read books in the language that they were written.  It's very impressive!

The Basques are constantly jumping between their own language and Spanish.  I find myself doing the same with English and Spanish.  And from that develops Spanglish that we know so well in the States.  And here, I don't know what you could call it - Basquish?  But if you listen to a Basque conversation you will hear quite a bit of Spanish peppered in, and if you're speaking in Spanish it's not odd to throw in a Basque connector word.

To give your brain a little workout, here is a quiz that I use with some of my private students to engage both Spanish and English at the same time.  At 14 he is already on his 3rd language!  It makes you wonder, if speaking 2 languages makes you smarter, what does the 3rd and 4th do?!  Happy studying!

Muxu!

Amanda

Potato Potatoe Tomato Tomatoe

At my work, I have the pleasure of working with a lovely English girl.  If you know her country well enough, she might tell you she is actually Cornish, but in the end, she speaks the English of the mother country.  And while we both speak the same language, it is funny how often we come upon things that the other person doesn't say or says in a different way.

When I worked in the Academy, I taught a specific day or so about British vs. American English, because although the poor kids are learning one language, you can't say zucchini in England and you can't say corgette in the States and have people understand what you're talking about.  Here are some of the differences in vocabulary that I used to teach - let's see if you knew them all.

American English          British English
 french fries                        chips
 apartment                          flat
 parking lot                         car park
 main street                        high street
 elevator                             lift
 eggplant                            aubergine
 trunk (of car)                     boot
 diaper                                 nappy
 round-trip                          return
 schedule                            timetable
 track and field                   athletics
 gas                                     petrol
 sidewalk                           pavement
 soccer                               football
 stroller                              push chair
 truck (semi-truck)            lorry
 street musician                 busker


While I am not teaching the 1 year olds about the small differences in the language, my workmate and I get a big laugh out of it all day.  For example, one day she came up behind me and said  'oh you have a ladder!'.  For me, a ladder is something you climb up to get onto a roof or something no?  What she was referring to was the run in my nylons.  When I asked her if that's what she meant, she started laughing hysterically that I even called them nylons, as in England they call them tights.  What a mess!

Some are quite funny like those, but some differences could get you into a bit of trouble.  In England, the word 'fanny' means a girl's private part but in the States we know it as a tush.  Imagine if you went to Britian and commented that you thought a girl had a nice fanny!  Bad news bears.  Vice versa, if a Brit came over to the new world and said 'I could murder a fag right now', he wouldn't be saying it in a derrogatory way, no no.  In British English that sentence means 'he could kill for a cigarette right now'.  See the problem?! 

The vocabulary isn't the only thing that could make for a sticky situation, but all parts of speech.  In the USA we would say the date is June 31st but in England they would say it is the 31st of June.  Or if you want to meet someone at 5:45pm in the States you say five forty-five but if you're meeting that someone at the Queen's home you would need to say quarter to five.  These little type of things are easily understandable and don't cause much problem between the Yankees and the Brits, but they are things that do stand out.

Spelling is also a doosy.  Theater vs. theatre,  center vs. centre, neighbor vs. neighbour, meter vs. metre, practice vs. practise - things like this drive me insane.  When I used to correct papers, I would sometimes have to think twice - 'CAN it be spelled like this?'  Even my thinking could go both ways because in American we say 'spelled' but in English it's 'spelt'.  Same story goes for dreamt, learnt, spoilt, smelt and knelt.  Poor English learners.

To make it worse are the difficult-in-any-language prepositions.  In the States you play 'on a team' but in England 'in a team'.  For us Yankees, we talk about what we did 'on' the weekend but they say what they did 'at' the weekend.  If I tell you that my old office building in NYC was 'on' 6th Ave., Prince William would tell you it was 'in' 6th Ave.  After speaking the way I learned (not learnt!) for so long, these changes in prepositions sound preposterous to me.  How can my building be IN a street?!

As time goes on though, I see myself influenced by all these mother tongue speakers.  Nowadays, it isn't uncommon to hear the following come out of my mouth:
 - 'I was taking the piss out of her. '  No No, it has nothing to do with pee, but it is the English way to say 'I was making fun of her'.
 - 'Would you like a biscuit?'  and this isn't something I utter at the Thanksgiving Day table.  Biscuit in British English is cookie and since all the kids learn it at school, it is weaseling its way into my vernacular.

Between mixing up vegetables, not understanding jokes and pretty much just being silly, I think the funniest British vs. American English moment I had was a few years ago with my friend from London.  It finally was a sunny day in San Sebastian and I commented 'I'm tired of pants, I'm gonna wear a skirt today'.  She, confused, said 'Amanda, you're not going to wear pants with your skirt?!' to which I said 'of course not, I know some people do, but it's so ugly, I don't like it all!'.  She had a serious look on her face and then asked me...'what does pants mean to you?'.  Turns out pants in British English means undies, so this whole time she thought I was going to wear a skirt sans the knickers!  If you want to say what we call pants in England you must say trousers.  Go figure.

There are tons and tons of differences, and when my workmate and I try on each other's accents we really get a kick out of trying to imitate the other's language.  Unless travelling, it's not so useful, but definitley worth a chuckle, but if you DO go to England, don't forget your 'pants'!

Muxu!
Amanda

Basques sell sea shells by the sea shore

May 14th, 1901 is an important date in Basque history - not for a war or an election, but for an event that was the last of its kind in the long story of the Basques.  On this very day, around 9am, a treasure appeared to the men of Orio.  A treasure not in the sense of a pirate treasure box or a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but the type of treasure that rowers of that time dreamed of - a Right Whale (a sort of humpback variety).  The Oriotarras, what people from Orio are called in Basque, rushed to their boats and headed out to sea at top speed.

At this point, the Right Whale was practically extinct in the Bay of Biscay.  After years and years of hunting them, barely any had survived and the talented Basque sailors ventured up to the Nordic Seas and to North America for new whale meat.  So, when this appeared, you can imagine their adrenaline pumping!  They had to arrive to the whale and harpoon it before the rivaling neighbor towns of Zarautz or Getaria got there.  In whaling, first to harpoon is the town who claims the coveted prize.

In honor of this final kill, a poem was composed in Euskera to honor the famous day.  In it, they describe the whale who moved agilely in the water as if he had lice and was trying desperatley to remove them from himself.

Upon seeing him from their fishing village, 5 Orio men, burly as they are described grabbed their rowing teams and raced out to catch the beast.  In an older and traditional Basque style of rowing, the men looked to almost lay down as the fiercely paddled out to see, from the comfort of their little inlet.  The five boats were led by the 'traineras' (drifters - those who steer the boat and harpoon the whale) who are now immortalized in Orio - Olaizola, Loidi, Uganda, Atxaga and Manterola.

The made it to the whale and without further ado, killed the massive creature who let out terrible and immense screams according to the poem.  Some disagree, saying a rival town arrived first and Orio swept the whale out from under their feet and stole him, but ask any Oriotarra and their rowers were the ones who claimed the spoils fair and square.

Measuring 12 meters long (almost 40 feet) and 10 thick (about 32 feet) it is said they the whale's body weighed over 30,000lbs and even more with his tongue!  It was a heck of a catch and earned the Oriotarras a lot of pesetas and the fame of having caught the last Right Whale in the Bay of Biscay.

While the Basques no longer hunt whales, they do maintain the rowing competitions that used to be used in them.  When any town saw a whale, they gathered their best rowers and dashed out to catch it.  Nowadays, water spouts from whales are hard to catch, and when they do appear the same reaction doesn't happen, but throughout the rowing season, the Basques constantly battle against each other to show who can make it out to sea and back the quickest.  Rowing as their ancestors did, they look to paddle with just as much strength and desire to make it out and back, whale or not.

In Orio, this momentous day is accounted for in an entire plaza that the town has used to honor it.  When Cathy and Grammy came, we took them to the plaza where you can see, with tiles and mosaic art along with part of the poem, the story of the last hunted whale in the Basque Country.

Famous for this as well as their constant rowing skills, everyone always ask me if Joseba is/was a rower since he is from Orio.   It's like asking if someone from Texas is a cowboy or someone from California has been to LA - it is part of this little fishing village's fame and it so far embedded in the culture that it cannot be lost. 

Muxu!
Amanda

My painting career comes to an end

As most of you know, this year I decided to sign up for an oil painting course.  My first 'work' was a scene painted by a famous Basque artist of San Sebastian.  It took me ohhh so long and being my first real painting ever (besides a still life exercise we did in class) I was quite proud of it.  In the end, I thought it was the perfect souviner to give to Grammy for having come to visit.

My second painting was personal as well - it is a scene near Joseba's old house that when I lived there in the summer, I used to pass everyday on the bike.  At low tide there was always this colorful but fading boat that sat on the muddy ground with a ladder to nowhere.  I can't explain why I love it so much but every time I passed it I just smiled a bit.

Since we don't live in the 'country' anymore, I decided painting this scene and hanging it in our house would be a great reminder of our wonderful days there.  While I only had 4 classes (about 1.5 hours each) I am quite happy with how it turned out.

Here you have the short evolution of the painting along with the original.  It's obvioiusly not going in any art exhibitions but it will hang in our home, so I think it's good enough for that :)

The Original

Day 1 - Putting the Color

Day 2 - Working on the foilage and rocks

Day 3 - Perfecting the rocks and doing the ground

Day 4 - Boat Boat Boat and ground

The Oustanding Out-of-Towners (Part 10)

After such a sunny day, there was nothing more to expect than a day of rain.  That is how San Sebastian weather seems to treat us.  Although filled with a lot of precipitation, we didn't let it rain on our parade and made sure to spend the last full day in the city doing what girls do best - shopping and drinking wine!

We headed to the center in the morning on a mission.  Cathy, the pottery lover of the family, headed into a kitchen shop much to her delight while Grammy and I headed to the Old Part to look for souviners.  From earrings to oven mitts, we were able to find everything quite quick and then headed to meet Erika,  my old boss. 

Grammy was quite excited to meet her, as she knew so much about her!  Heck, she had even talked to her a couple years ago when Joseba and I visited Erika in Sweden.  I am sure Grammy was quite surprised to see a Swedish number pop up on her called ID, but it was us and boy was she happy.  Erika has always seemed more like a friend to me than a boss.  We meet for lunch, she came to our wedding, we visited her family, etc so it seemed appropriate that she meet my family and show off her brand new adorable baby boy, Alex. 

We sat down in a small cafe with the coveted window seat and just talked and talked.  Soon after Cathy joined us and I felt a bit outnumbered in the crowd of blonde and white haired ladies!  Erika had heard so much about Cathy and Grammy that she was quite excited to meet them too and it was sad to part ways as Erika headed for the bus home and us to the bookstore for some more 'pressies' (presents as Cathy calls them...it must be that New Zealander's influence!).  However, we did manage to capture a 'Swedish Sandwich' photo, where I am squished between my two favorite Swedes!

Next on the 'to-meet' list was my close friend, Emma.  Grammy also had her up at the top of her list.  Back when we got married, Emma contacted Grammy to ask her to send something (a letter or video) for me to be given on the special day from Grammy, so she could be part of it.  Using Facebook she found her in a hot minute and wrote her.  Seeing as Emma speaks something like 9 languages, it was no problem for her to write Grammy a note in English and get a lovely note and photo, which she gave to me right after we said our vows.  With long dark hair and a cute little figure, Grammy commented that Emma was even prettier than in the pictures!

We headed to another bar, seeing as the sideways wind and heavy rain impeded any sort of outdoor strolling and ordered what would be our last pintxos of the trip.  Stuffed to the brim and after talking over some wines, we bid adeiu to Emma and then headed back to their apartment to finish packing and relax. 

The rain finally stopped and made the walk home much more pleasant.  We hung out at the apartment just a smidge and then headed off for more socializing - another meeting with Joseba's mom and him.  As the queen of presents, Maixus gave Grammy and Cathy each a lovely pair of earrings and a bottle of the Basque wine, txakoli, which was made with grapes that are grown on her family's farm.  A  very sentimental and tasty gift for sure.  And although Grammy doesn't have pierced ears, I imagine sooner or later she will find a way to get them converted into clip-ons!

After Cathy and Grammy's final hugs with my mother-in-law, Joseba whisked her back home and we headed back to start cooking the last supper.  Delicious as always, we enjoyed our last night together just calm and quiet. 

Bright and early the next morning though, we had to take my ladies to the airport and say our goodbyes.  Since we are coming to visit on July 24th though, it was more like saying 'see you later' instead of goodbye and I barely even cried, which is a miracle for me. 

After they left as I rode the bus home alone, I still was in wonder at the amazing week that had just happened.  To be able to show my family my life was incredible.  I loved every moment of it and am so amazingly thankful that they took the time to come and visit me and our life here.  Now instead of just reading my blog, I hope that they can walk down the streets with me as I go through the Old Part pintxo bars, or recognize some views if I post a pic of a sunny day or taste the scrumptous breakfast if I meet a friend for a cafe con leche.  While they left, I think I kept a bit of their hearts here with me, for which I thank them and am now waiting for the return trip ;)

Muxu!
Amanda

The Outstanding Out-of-Towners (Part 9)

With an amazing forecast for Monday, we decided to jam in all the stuff that requires sun into one day.  We got an early start and were delighted after so many days of rain to have a clear sky!

We hopped on a bus to an outlying part of San Sebastian called Pasaia.  With only 3 neighborhoods, it is quite a small village, but albeit small it is quite lovely.  The bus dropped us off in the neighborhood of San Pedro, or the purple side as we came to call it.  San Pedro and San Juan, the neighborhood where we planned to go, are seperated by a bit of water that flows to the port.  Vicious rivals, San Pedro's color for rowing events is a deep purple and San Juan is a hot pink.  During rowing season, you can see flags flying with pride on both sides of the water.

A few minutes walk from the bus was a small little boat that would take us from the purple side to the pink side, which is just too picturesque it should be in every book of cute port towns.  The boat only takes about 1 minute to get from one side to the other, but while you're on the water, the town looks even prettier than from the banks where you board.  We pulled up and jumped out - for an 83-year old woman, Grammy did amazingly well deboarding that I think she surprised many people around her.

Basically built between the edge of the mountain and the sea, San Juan is a small and narrow little place - with only one road in the whole town.  We perused in one direction to start - admiring the window boxes with flowers hanging out, cute and creepy doorknobs and little alleys that led right to the water.  Once we reached the edge of town, we merely turned around and headed down the cobble stone street back to the center and this time headed out towards the water.  Starting on this path, we could have feasibly walked all the way to Hondarribia where we had been on Friday but its about 15 miles, so that wasn't really on our to-do list haha.

We did however, in the 20 minutes we walked get to see some interesting trees that were grafted together all along the riverside, the main plaza with it's narrow houses and colorful wood beams, and towards the end of our walk - lighthouses!  The town is just completely adorable and had we had more time we might have enjoyed the atmosphere with a coffee or something but sunny days were hard to come by during their trip so we moved onto other things that required the rays and caught the bus back to San Sebastian.

We got off quite near an ice cream shop and couldn't pass up the opportunity to walk along the coast with a cone in hand.  Everyone of us got a delicious treat - mixing two choices like always here.  Three woman - each from a different generation - enjoying an ice cream in the sun made for a great sight :)

We worked our way around the Old Part's mountain, Urgull, and had great views of the Bay of Biscay with the waves crashing against the massive cubed-shaped rocks.  After walking about 30 minutes we arrived at a special point on the 'Paseo Nuevo' as the street is called - the point where the painting I had been working on for so long is taken.  While working on it, I decided that I wanted to give it to Grammy as a momento of her trip here and was looking forward to her seeing the scene in real life!

Our walk continued in the sun and we meandered through the port passing by all the restaurants with seafood smells wofting from them.  We passed by the Old Part again as we made our way to the Concha beach where we grabbed a couple bites of our sandwiches.  The ice cream had taken up quite a bit of space in our bellies so we weren't stopped for long!

We continued our Basque stroll along the entire beach, catching some great glimpses through the white rail that is so iconic of the city.  Miles and miles of walking lead us to the 'funicular' - the elevator sort of street car that climbs the side of the Mount Igeldo to take us up to the top for spectacular views.  From up there we were able to admire Donostia in all its glory.  With a turquoise sea right below hugging the sandy beaches with little dots of people on them the water scene seems like a Caribbean view.  The lush island smack dab in the middle and the mountains in the background reminded us that we were very much in the Basque Country though.  When people come to visit, this is my favorite place to take them - but only if it is sunny.  I love the contrast of the sea, the church steeples, the mountains and the beach all at the same time.  It always really makes me appreciate the beauty of where I live.

Having passed lunchtime, we wanted to enjoy the sun as much as possible and took the funicular down again to head to the 'Peine de los Viento' - the Wind Comb, sculpture a few minutes walk from the mountain.  Created by the famous Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, this sculpture is probably his most famous and it draws mosts tourists from the Old Part to admire it.  With 3 seperate pieces, these 'combs' make a cohesive work as they interact with the mountain, sea and wind that surround them.  Each one stands for something different - the past, the present and the future.

Besides the sculpture, the whole plaza area is also lovely to see.  With little areas that are like blow holes, when the waves rush underneath the rock, air rushes out and those who are standing on top of one get a blast of sea air!  Although I have lived here for 4 years and have seen hundreds of people do it, I had never actually stood atop a blow hole.  When Cathy did it, it looked fun and I decided to drag Grammy to one and when the air rushed up we both screamed and laughed at the same time.  It was hilarious and very memorable!  And I just adore the pic that Cathy snapped of us.

With the pedometer saying almost 10 miles of walking, we decided that that was sufficient for a sunny day's walk and headed to a nearby bar to refresh ourselves with what else but with Txakoli (Basque wine) while Joseba drove to come pick us up.

Having not had so many sunny days during their trip, I was so happy we were lucky enough to have one of the last days be so great!  They were able to see San Sebastian and its true beauty :)


Muxu!
Amanda

The Outstanding Out-of-Towners (Part 8)

After many action-packed days, we took Easter Sunday a bit easier - well Grammy and me that is.  Cathy, with all the energy in the world, boarded a bus to Bilbao to see the glorious Guggenheim Musuem!  Such an Energizer Bunny she is :)

After seeing her off, Grammy and I wandered towards the beach, admiring all the beautiful architecture of the houses.  Walking along the even pretty sidewalks which are flanked with gorgeous flower arrangements, sometimes we forgot to look up at the actually houses themselves.  With impressive rod-iron balconies to detailed engravings, each house was special in its own way and with the bright cherry blossoms nestled up against some of the stone buildings, they were even more astounding. 

Although a bit rainy, the sprinkling couldn't distract from the tree-lined streets and fountains that give beauty to even the normalest plazas.  In the Plaza Gipuzkoa however, there were too many flowers and trees to count!  The little pond with two swans swimming around was surrounded by bright flowering gardens and Grammy knew the name of each and every flower! 
We meandered across the Urumea River and headed to my old neighborhood of Gros.  Along the way I pointed out little things to Grammy - where Joseba and I bought our wedding rings, where I did this and that and we even had a coffee and tasty pastry at a bar I used to frequent.  As it started raining more and more though, we decided to head up to my current neighborhood, Egia, by bus for some more relax time.  Along the way we stopped off at my old apartment, and even made it into the building thanks to someone who was leaving!  Grammy got to see my old front door, which she was oh-so-excited about! 

When we arrived home, sick Joseba was cooking away - a tasty salad, this time sans sea snakes.  Not feeling well, after lunch he went to sleep and Grammy and I stayed in the living room going over photos, stories and more.  We eventually started to bake - something we have always done together and something that I love.  From carmel corn messes and muffins for school projects to ginger snap cookies and eating the cake batter, I have so many memories with my Grammy making desserts and was uber-excited to be able to actually do it in my own home. 

With some cute molds my friend Emma had bought me for Christmas, we made cute little decorative cakes for our Easter dinner that was to come.  While it wasn't raining too much we ventured up to the city cemetary, which is about 5 minutes up a steep hill from my house.  While a bit morbid, I think that the cemetary is gorgeous - with gravestones that could serve as small chapels.  Grammy, equally strange as me I suppose, also liked the place and we stayed for quite some time admiring the gravestones and their intracacies. 

After another tasty meal by Joseba we almost couldn't even eat them, but made a bit of room for them and the little Easter candies I got everyone - turns out I am the only person in the group who doesn't adore black licorice, which was one of the candies I got them.  They all popped the black licorice wheels in their mouths with gusto and when the going got tough and Grammy couldn't unravel any more, she just gave up and ate it whole, which garnerend quite a few laughs.  While there were no Easter baskets, eggs or bunnies, it was our first Easter in our home together and it was very special to have shared it with two amazing guests!

Muxu!
Amanda

The Oustanding Out-of-Towners (Part 7 - Grammy's Guest Blog)

Last week, Amanda asked me to write my thoughts down on this past week we shared together-- me- who would forget my head if it wasn't glued on but I better give it a try......

For the past three years, Amanda has shared with me the beauty and love she has for her new home so it became a place of great interest to me and after a time I could put names on the faces of her friends at the Academy. I had a name and face for the man who stole her heart and his lovely family.  It was a Fairy Tale to  me so can you imagine my great surprise when my Niece called me last Fall and invited me to join her on a trip to Spain???? I'd get to see my grand daughter, meet her new husband, Joseba and his family.  Almost too much  to take in....

So on Monday , April 2nd, both Cathy and my self boarded the planes that took us to San Sebastian.  With Cathy making all the arrangements, all went so smooth.  Even my "ole age" and gray hair gave us many perks.   Both Amanda and Joseba met us at the Bilbao airport and our wonderful trip really began.  They met us with open arms and they were never far away.

I can't begin to describe the beautiful blue water in the Sea of Biscay. the cobble and narrow streets in the old section of the city ,the ancient cathedrals thousands of years old. Each and every day, Joseba and Amanda had some new and exciting thing to share with us.  We couldn't have found more perfect hosts.

Of all the wonderful experiences Cathy and I shared this week, the ones I hold most dear are the ones we shared with Amanda and Joseba.  We walked from one end of town to the other, stopping at many pinxto bars on the way. Joseba took us  on road trips to where he grew up, worked and lived before he married.  Meeting his lovely Mother, Maixus was  right at the top of my want list and her lovely family . She was all that Amanda said she was and I will long remember her sparkling eyes till we meet again.  I have tears when I remember holding Amanda close. I have tears when I remember a huge old cathedral and Joseba singing in his beautiful voice, Moon River. And last but not least I get tears when I remember Maixus and the great joy I felt meeting her. Altho we could not speak the same language, I hope she felt the love I held for her.  It was a week I shall never forget.

Good byes came much to soon but knowing we would see them again when they came to visit this summer made it easier.  For the time being Cathy and I left part of our hearts in San Sebastian.

Mucho  Muxu
Hazel (aka Grammy!)

The Outstanding Out-of-Towners (Part 6)

Saturday was forecasted to be rainy all day so we didn't want to do something that required sunshine.  What doesn't require sun?  Sleeping in, relaxing and pintxo eating!

We had an easy morning and pick the ladies up about noon and headed to the west to get some of what Joseba and I think are the tastiest pintxos.  We got off the freeway in Zumaia and headed back along the coast til we reached the little fishing village of Getaria.  Known for being home to the first man who circumnavigated the world (Elkano), being the birthplace of Balenciaga (an out-of-my-price-range designer) and the place where the best Txakoli, the Basque's white wine, is made, Getaria is also a place of yummy pintxos everywhere you look.

We parked in the port and got a close-up view of the big fishing rigs as we climbed a winding hill to the top of the rock that the city sits on.  Along the way we couldn't help but pick up some goodies in the street fair that was going on!  Once up top with a good view of the port, we ran into a restaurant with the grill outside.  With rod iron holders for fresh-caught fish to cook in, the smoke runs into the street and grabs at your nostrils as you stroll along.  With just hot coals and a bit of seasoning, these fish run a high price but are delicious and cooked right before your eyes - literally.

The cobblestone street wound past the restaurant and through a stone tunnel that is part of the church above.  Grammy and I peaked into one of the altars that is hidden in the tunnel behind a thick rod-iron gate.  As we entered the church, we marveled at it, although it was very plain.  The stained-glass windows were beautiful and some newer than most and this modernity mixed nicely with the engraved wooden pews.  From the hanging boat to the engraved whale catching on the benches, Getaria's fishing life was very apparent.

Normally when Joseba and I go into a place or pass thorugh a tunnel or basically anywhere that would have good acoustics, he tries out a song for me.  He mentioned that he had seen a 4 person accapella concert in that very church a few years back and that the sound was amazing.  Although he is not shy to sing his heart out with me, I wondered if he would be to do it for Grammy and Cathy, but when I asked him to sing us something, he thought about it for a minute and then the performer inside of him took over and he started to seranade all 3 of us with 'Moon River'.  The acoustics were perfect, the church was empty and Joseba's voice filled it.  The smell of the incense that had been burned for morning mass still hung in the air and the chill from the stone church couldn't overtake the warm voice that we were hearing.  Cathy managed to get it recorded on video and probably will use it as evidence that Joseba seranades me which means her husband should do the same ;)

We thought that Joseba's singing had earned him some food so we headed up to our favorite bar in the town to wow Cathy and Grammy with some specially ordered pintxos.  You see, each pintxo bar has a million pintxos up for grab on the bar, but what some visitors miss are the even-more tasty ones that have to be ordered.  With Joseba as an expert, we got a smorgasbord of hot pintxos to accompany our grabbed-from-the-bar variety and txakoli.  With huge mushrooms, ham croquettes, shrimp in a garlic sauce and txopitos, the 'onion' of the sea (which, Grammy I hate to break it to you, really was breaded and fried squid - they were delicious though right?!), we all had happy tummies. 

After a quick stopoff for Cathy to buy some Haribo Gummy Bears, her fave treat that she couldn't believe she had found, we headed up the hill even more afterwards to see the Elkano monument.  From here you could see everything along the coast, and had it been sunnier you could have even seen more!  The cloud were rushing in though and rain soon started to pelt us on the back and so we hurried off to the car, only after stealing one more glance of the gorgeous seaside panorama.

We took the coastal highway on the road home and made a stop off at the grocery store in Zarautz where we stocked up on yummy stuff for dinner, and Joseba gave a Basque cheese tutorial to Cathy.  With all of the stuff Cathy and Grammy needed to whip us up a tasty dinner meal, we headed home, but had one more stop on the agenda.

While Joseba grew up in Orio, his mother and her family grew up on a lovely farm right near the town of Zarautz.  We took a little detour to show Cathy and Grammy a bit of Joseba's past and they loved it.  The white walled farm is accented with red shutters and doors and the flowers around the house and all over the property and happily cared for by Joseba's uncle, Ricardo.  Grammy once even sent hiim a packet of American flowers which he currently has growing in his garden!

We dropped the ladies off to allow them a little bit of time to wind down and start thier dinner sensation and came back later in the evening, ready to be dazzled.  The meal started out with the tasty Basque green peppers that we had served at our house a few days before along with the finger foods - cheese, crushed black olives and whole colorful olives, and foie - to accompany our wine.  We sat together looking out the bay window of thier apartment to the rainy day outside and the poor folks walking with their umbrellas.  After almost finishing an entire bottle of wine, we moved onto the second part of the meal - a scrumptous salad.  Soon after came the homemade spaghetti sauce, complete with meatballs and big mushrooms!  It was all just too good and by the last bite it was almost impossible to be a clean plate ranger, but I managed to accomplish the feat.

When it came time to say bye, Joseba was the only one bidding adeiu, as I was staying over to have a girls-night slumber party!  While it sounds crazy, we were pretty stuffed and relaxed from the wine and pretty much just hit the hay soon after.  All in all, for a rainy day, we made the most of it!

Muxu!
Amanda

The Outstanding Out-of-Towners (Part 5)

After the monumental day of meeting the family and learning the concept of a Basque ''lunch'' (noon-7pm) we decided to get back to the sightseeing track for Friday and headed across the border.  The Spanish/French border is only about 25 minutes from our place, and we decided that the adorable little beach towns on the French side deserved a visit.  With St. Jean de Luz as our destination, we hoped the clouds and rain would hold off long enough for us to see the city and that it did.

We parked, although a bit of confusion accompanied this process, but finally got situated and headed to the town market.  Although in France, we were still in Basque Country, so the town market's sign was in Euskera.  The market however was all too French - counters selling cheese of every kind imaginable, adorable breads with thier smell wofting through the air, delicious meats and sausages every other counter, vividly colorful fresh veggies and even a nice salesman who happened to speak some English.  Because of his jolly  manner we decided his stand was where we would buy the foie gras we have been looking for.  A few steps out of the market and we crossed another one, yet this one was outdoor.  With more cheese and veggies for our eyes to feast on, this time we got what my cousin calls 'nibbles' - little snack foods of olives!  A colorful array of choices made the decision difficult but with a few free tastes Cathy and Joseba decided on a mixed selection and some crushed black olives for later!  Yummy!

As we wandered through the little streets, we couldn't help but admire the gorgeous houses that lined the road.  All of them were built in the Basque style called 'iparralde' which means North in Euskera.  The houses in the French side of Basque Country often decorated thier white homes with red or green wooden frames and shutters which adds a gorgeous pop of color and character to them.  If I were to have a home here, I would love it to be decorated like that - hopefully someday!  Since it differs so much from the more grand and stone-worked style of Donostia, we were all in happy admiration as we maintained our Basque stroll speed throughout the town.

And who can pass up shops with shoes galore, gorgeous flower shops and the most dangerous of all - chocolate stores!  Being chocolate lovers all of us, we just had to stop in one that looked too tasty to pass up.  It was there that we had a lot of samples of a chocolate spread and gazed as the chocolate fountain and tasty little chocolate bits all over the store.  Turns out my name is pretty close to the word for almond in French - Amande!  It was almost enough for me to justify a purchase, but alas reason took over and with one more free sample I was good and we set off.

We reached the beach and when the sun decided to grace us with its presence, we were in heaven.  The buildings had so much personality - each one special in its own way.  From one with colored balls around its tower to the houses that had walkways directly to the boardwalk, each one was fun to look at.  I especially like the ones whose patios turn into front doors with the little bridge over the street below so they have direct beach access.  Genius!  I tried to imagine having one of those houses in the summer and how amazing it would be!  Not only were the beach bridges convenient, but they houses were so pretty and very Basque.  One even had stone sculptures of the ubiquitious Basque amona eta aitona (Grandma and Grandpa).  These faces are carved in so many things - wooden dressers, souvineers, and here even a house!  What's funny is that it's true, they really look Basque.  Nothing can make your home more authentic than a couple grandparents on the front!  Ha!

Weaving through the little streets we got to the little port, that on a cloudy Spring day wasn't too active but made for good pics.  Directly next to the port is a lovely large square with trees that soon will be blooming like crazy and a little covered area in the center of the plaza that was covered with flowers.  From all sides you can plop down and enjoy a meal at any one of the adorable café terraces.  In fact, when Cathy and Paul came to visit Joseba and me last time they had breakfast in one of these little cute places!  With a threat of rain overhead though, we decided an indoor lunch would probably serve us better and headed off to find something for our bellies.  Although not French in the slighest, we couldn't pass up the packed restaurant that was all Spanish-style!  After sitting down here we were, 3 Americans and a Basque in the French part of Basque Country eating a Spanish paella and listening to weird rock music!  But, with good food, good company and good wine, there were no complaints!

With our time ticking on the parked car, we soon after returned and headed back to the Spanish side to the coastal town of Hondarribia where I used to work.  The change between France and Spain is so slight that you only cross a bridge over a small river and voila you're in a different country.  What to us is more like crossing states is here changing countries!  In Hondarribia we were lucky to have my old workmate, Sean, come up and unlock the academy where I used to work to show Cathy and Grammy a bit of what I have been doing these last 4 years.  With bright green and orange as the color theme and 3 classrooms and a little 'cinema', I don't think it is exactly what they were expecting, but seeing as we don't really have language academies at home, I don't know what there would be to expect.  Seeing as it made up such a big part of my life until this year, it was nice to share it with them.

We set off to the Old Part to explore this gorgeous medieval and walled-in city but were caught up in the rain.  That didn't seem to be a problem though as we popped up our umbrellas.  Sean, just like his father did to me when I visited them in Scotland, took Grammy by the arm and began an afternoon-long personal tour!  Him holding the umbrella over them both, it was adorable to see her be given this special tour around the city - she was just too cute!  Eventually the rain got the best of us and we popped into a café for a beer/wine/cider.  Grammy and Cathy had taken very easily to the Basque drinks - txakoli (a young and refreshing white wine) and sidra (the somewhat sour cider that Basques have been making for years).  Over our drinks we chatted away and later jumped outside to see that Easter procession take place - which was part of the reason we came on this exact day.  Normally the Roman soilders parade through the street and soon after come big displays of Mary and Jesus carried by the churchpeople on thier shoulders.  Since it was so rainy though, the famous couple didn't 'rise' to the occasion, but the pink-tighted men paraded around for a bit for the umbrella-clad crowd.

When Sean's girlfriend Elena showed up we headed down to the newer part of town where a few 'iparralde' style houses line San Pedro Street in one of the most iconic parts of the town.  On a sunny day you can find Basque men seated on the benches all in almost identical clothes and thier boina hats.  And although it was rainy cats and dogs (that is according to me, Grammy said it was just sprinkling!) there were still Basque men out strolling and drinking wine.

Our destination was one of the best pintxo bars in the town - Gran Sol.  This place has won numerous pintxo contests with thier creations, one of which Joseba, Sean and Cathy tried - the Jaizkibel.  If it rings a bell it's because it is the name of the mountain that is near the city, one that Joseba and I went hiking on a couple weeks back.  Anyways, the pintxo was a huge mushroom topped with Spanish ham and a garlic mayo sauce that was to-die-for.  Accompanied with a glass of wine, you couldn't wish for anything more!

After darkness fell we had one more drink but after such a long and eventful day had to part ways.  With so many pintxos and drinks we weren't even hungry enough to have dinner and dropped Cathy and Grammy off at home.  However, they told me that they got home and had another glass of wine and some of the 'nibbles' we'd gotten at the market!  Good for them - living the vacation life to the max!

Muxu!
Amanda