[Gocamino] The Basques

[Rosina]

Hi Wendy and all,
Several etymological studies, and Valverde's "History of the Verb" assert that "Euskadi" is the oldest language in Europe with an established and uniform grammatical structure.? While spoken the language sounds rather harsh, when it is sung at weddings, christenings and the regional "song" contests that they have?all over the place it sounds gentle and quite pleasing to the ear.
Franco tried to unify the country by creating one "national" language, an endeavor that goes back to the days of Queen Isabel when she, at last, succeeded in expelling?the Moors after their 700 years of military, religious and cultural occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.? (While it has become politically fashionable nowadays to laud the achievements of the Moors and the civilized heritage?with which many believe they endowed the peninsula, in the Basque country? the?indicia of the cruelty and, often, barbarism of the Moorish occupation in ubiquitous.? In the Pamplona Cathedral there is a bone-chilling etched mural that depicts the Moors wrestling babies from their Spanish mothers and throwing in the air to catch them with their scimitars.... The?grills of the Cathedral's glorious cloisters were forged from the chains with which the Moors kept their Spanish captives enchained, etc... etc... etc..)
Franco made illegal the teaching and official use of all regional languages other than Castilian.?Even in his native Galicia the Gallego language was proscribed.? (Mussolini attempted the same linguistic unification in Italy with far greater success).? Franco seems to have had no more success that Queen Isabel's husband, Fernando, who, after her death, in an effort to be more Castilian than the Queen, threatened with death all those regional rulers who did not succeed in imposing the Castilian language over all regional?dialects, including his native Aragonese..
Well, today we need only turn the TV in Spain to a local channel to find (often to our chagrin, when we don't understand) that the local dialects are alive and kicking.
Personally, I love everything about the Basque country...... except the?running of the bulls for the San Fermin feast.?
But in cities outside Pamplona, like Estrella, they also "run" the bulls..... except that the bovine in the run are cows with the tips of their horns wrapped in woolen guards and they are not made to?run to a bull-ring where they will be slaughtered..... After the run??the cows?are taken back to the farm to run another day.? That is nice.... Many of the participants in those runs are women,?and while some have been trampled, no one has been seriously hurt.
Lastly, most pilgrims that I know who have walked, or bicycled the French Camino agree that, by far, the most impressive and profoundly beautiful part of it is the "Aragonese" portion,?that is, the section from Somport to Puente La Reina.? I myself could not agree more..... And Leyre? That is a miraculous?pilgrimage windfall.
If you read what is, in my opinion, the best book ever written about the Camino, bar none: Linda Davidson's "The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago" you will see that when she writes about the Aragon part of the Camino Frances she waxes extraordinary.? With all the reason in the world, methinks.
Hugs!
Rosina,?



-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn Jilek <guha2005 at hotmail.com>
To: wendy.morris at ecu.edu.au; miriam.martinez at pb.com
Cc: gocamino at oakapple.net
Sent: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 1:45 pm
Subject: [Gocamino] The Basques




Wendy,


I too was and am still enchanted by the Euskadi (Basques). Euskara, the Basque 
language is unique and totally different from Spanish.  I met some older Basque 
pilgrims in Navarette, and they took me to a party at the home of some Basque 
friends who moved there.  It was very lively with food, drink, singing and 
dancing, and the most memorable experience of my two Caminos.  You know that 
Franco tried to stamp out the language making it illegal.  It was kept alive in 
the confines of the family, and now you will see TV quiz programs where the 
object of the game is to show your knowledge of Euskara.  The only thing that I 
learned of the difficult language is that something that sounds like "Vay" means 
ok or yes. It is also said (by the Basques themselves) that the Basque people 
are so virtuous because when the devil came to corrupt them, he could never 
master the language and went away.

 

Oh I also learned about Pacharan (paxaran) that sweet Basque alcoholic treat, 
which try as I might cannot find in the USA, but will try to bring back next 
time.

 

Glenn
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