This week on the Hella Basque YouTube channel, I’m talking about Udaleku, the North American Basque Organizations’ summer camp for kids ages 10-15. Udaleku is at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco, CA this year. I thought that would be a good opportunity to talk about the program and what makes it so important in perpetuating Basque culture in the United States.
If you’ve been following Hella Basque on social media this weekend, you would have seen some footage from the 47th annual Kern County Basque Club picnic / North American Basque Organizations’ Convention in Bakersfield, California. I just got back home yesterday night so I haven’t had much of a chance to process or write anything about the event. But I wanted at the very least to share with you today some of the photos I took over the weekend.
With the new year coming up next week, I’ve been thinking about what direction to take Hella Basque in 2019.
And it occurred to me that the best people to consult on this issue would be you, the readers!
Because if left to my own devices, Hella Basque would just be a collection of rants about my Aita and the Basque news articles I’m reading.
I mean, I can still do that if you want.
But I figure you might have more varied interests than I do that could make Hella Basque better. More engaging, more interesting, and more helpful to the Basque American community online.
So I came up with this survey to condense all of my thoughts on what types of content to create in 2019 and ask you directly what you think.
Please take a couple of minutes to fill it out. I want to make this website better for you.
A couple of weeks ago, a new Basque documentary was uploaded to YouTube: Basques in the West. It already has more than 1,700 views!
My parents religiously watch Family Feud every night after dinner, but for one evening last week, they allowed my sister to connect her computer to the TV and put on this film. Our first family movie night in years!
And it was well worth it. The documentary features lots of interviews with Basque immigrants and their descendents around the American West, with a particular focus on Idaho.
You know I love interviews. There’s nothing better than first-hand accounts to learn about Basque immigration.
So I’m excited to share that today we have the opportunity to hear from Basques in the West’s co-director, main producer, and writer, Amaya Oxarango-Ingram.
I wanted to learn more about the documentary and how it all came together. I also especially love learning from creative people about what motivates them, and what the process is like to go from having an idea to creating an amazing piece of work that benefits the community.
What follows is an interview I conducted with Amaya about Basques in the West.
The holidays are fast approaching, and maybe you’re wondering what to get the Basques in your life.
Or maybe you just want some Basque-themed goodies for yourself this year!
I’ve put together a list of all of our most popular products so you can see what others in the Basque community are buying this holiday season.
