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First Basque Studies Summer Session Abroad by Jon Bilbao This past summer we held our first Basque Studies Summer Session Abroad. The program was housed in the modern and comfortable Landagoyen facility which is located in a scenic rural setting in the French Basque Country near the town of Ustaritz. The twenty-two American students who participated included nine from Idaho, five from Nevada, three from California, two from Montana and one each from Alaska, Wyoming and Ohio. Some scholarship aid was provided for four of the participants. Miss Miren Rementeria of Boise, Idaho received a scholarship from the Oinkari dance group of Boise, Idaho. Miss Diana Lecumberry of Winnemucca, Nevada and Miss Rita Byrnes of Columbus, Ohio received scholarship aid from the Basque Studies Program and Ms. Mary Leonard of Boise, Idaho received scholarship aid from private donors in the Idaho area. Five French Basque students joined our group with room and board scholarships provided by local academic institutions. Classroom instruction consisted of three courses: Elementary Spoken Basque, Old World Basque Culture and Basque Literature. Each student was allowed to take two courses for university credit but was free to audit the third. Many did so. The Elementary Spoken Basque course was taught by Professor Jon Oņatibia of Oyarzun (Guipuzcoa). Professor Oņatibia is the noted author of the grammar which was used in the course. Old World Basque Culture was taught by Professors Jon Bilbao and William Douglass of the Basque Studies Program. Basque Literature was taught by Professor Eloy Placer of the Department of Foreign Languages of the Reno campus (University of Nevada). The courses lasted for five and one-half weeks. Classroom instruction was supplemented by lectures by noted Basque scholars and personages such as the social historian Julio Caro Baroja and the Canon Onaindia. All classroom instruction and lectures were given in English. During the evening hours the students participated in a full schedule of cultural events directed by Professor Oņatibia who is an accomplished musician and txistulari. Many evenings were spent in learning popular Basque folk songs and dances. Young people from the surrounding towns frequently attended and joined in the festivities. Other evenings were devoted to performances by some of the most famous artists in the Basque Country today. These included Michel Labaguerie (composer and singer), Manech Pagola (composer and singer), Lourdes Iriondo (composer and singer), Xavier Lete (poet and singer), and the Patxorrak chorale of Bayonne. On still other evenings the students traveled to attend public performances such as the Oldarra Basque Ballet in Biarritz, a festival of Basque songs held in Bayonne, and a presentation of Basque folk dances and a Bayonne, and a presentation of Basque folk dances and a world champion jai alai match both held in St. Jean de Luz. Each weekend there was an excursion to some point of interest in or near the Basque Country. The excursions were planned to give the student first hand knowledge of the geography and history of the Basque area. The first Sunday we visited the rural villages of Sare and Echalar to sample the flavor of rural Basque life. Our second excursion took us to the famous religious shrine of Lourdes. On another excursion we visited the high Pyrenees including Roncesvalles, site of the destruction of the rearguard of the army of Charlemagne, the battle in which the Basque slew Roland. On another excursion the group attended a popular festival, the Baztander Biltzarra, in the valley of Baztan where we saw a parade, a performance of the ancient Mutil Dantza and participated in an open air banquet and street dance. A two day excursion took us to Xavier, Navarra the birthplace of Saint Francis. From Xavier we traveled to Olite to visit the palace of the kings of Navarra. We spent the night at an inn in Tafalla and then went on to Pamplona the next morning to see the famous festivities of San Fermin. The day began with the running of the bulls through the streets of the city. At noon we had a typical meal of fried sardines and marmitako (a soup prepared with fresh tuna fish) and in the afternoon we attended a bullfight. After our final exams we left Landagoyen for a five day excursion through the Spanish Basque provinces. Our route took us to Loyola (birthplace of St. Ignatius), the fishing villages of Guetaria, Lequeitio, and Bermeo, and the town of Guernica where we saw the sacred oak. We also visited the cities of Bilbao, where we took a boat trip on the Nerviķn River, and Vitoria, where we visited Roman ruins, a dolmen, and saw athletic events such as stone lifting and woodchopping. We spent the final night at the monastery of Aranzazu where the monks sang a mass in Basque in our honor. The next morning we were received by the mayor and city council of Oņate and were treated to a sumptuous banquet. Once our studies and excursions were over the students began two weeks of independent travel. Some stayed in the Basque Country while others traveled throughout Europe. On August 10th we returned to the United States on our group flight. I have only been able to touch upon the highlights of our trip. Actually our experiences were too numerous to describe all of them at this time. Those of us who organized the program believe that it was a complete success. We have received letters from our students which, without exception, speak highly of the summer. We wish to take this opportunity to thank the many persons, both here and in Europe, who contributed so generously to the success of our program. Above all we wish to thank our students. It was a real joy to work with such a marvelous group of people. Their enthusiasm has encouraged us to organize a Basque Studies Summer Session Abroad for the coming year. |
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