Seattle Euskal Etxea-Upcoming Events

Oct 20, 2010 by guerrica

Kaixo Lagunak:

Please take a minute to check out a brief review of what has been going on with SEE and what we have coming up in the near future.

SEE Summer Picnic Recap-9/11
Last month SEE successfully celebrated its summer picnic with the support of members from throughout Washington. Those who came shared food, stories and in some cases played mus. In honor of our gathering Mother Nature did her part and provided great weather along Lake Sammamish. Only darkness and the police brought the festivities to a close (it’s oks; they closed the park because of dusk…not us . This year, we held a 50-50 mus tournament in which seven teams played in two brackets. The championship match paired the Ciganda’s of Moses Lake vs Gaizka Mallea (SEE Treasurer) and me (Joe Guerricabeitia; SEE President) channeling the skills of our father’s home town of Munitibar, Bizkaia. After initially swapping chicos Gaizka and I were victorious against the gracious Ciganda’s. In addition to the standard NABO mus tournament in the Spring we intend to continue to hold a mus tournament in the summer and are looking to hold more regular mus events in the Seattle area throughout the year (see below).

I was happy to see several SEE regulars as well as a few new faces wanting to find out about SEE and our activities. Hopefully, we can continue to grow from the success of the annual Spring & Summer events and hold other smaller events throughout the year (see below).

Amongst our guests were documentary filmmakers Brent Barras and Amaya-Oxarango Ingraham who are working on documentary of Basques of the American West. You may have seen them completing the Basque festival circuit this summer and you can catch a taste of the final product here:

NABO Meeting-10/9 in Rocklin, CA

I, Joe Guerricabeitia, attended NABO meeting in Rocklin, CA hosted by the Iparreko Ibarra Basque Club. Many things were discussed and a two-and-a-half page summary of notes can be found here:

http://www.seattleeuskal.org/2010/10/11/nabo-fall-meeting-oct-9th-lincoln-ca/

A few notable highlights:
Basque TV & Radio-Euskal Telebista has great online streaming for TV and Radio located here: www.eitb.com; Use links for EiTB, Canal Vasco, Radio Euskadi, Euskadi Irratia, Radio Vitoria, Gaztea and EiTB Musika

-TBD when ETB via satellite will be coming to the US West coast

Udaleku-Basque Music Camp

SF 6/18-7/2; Two one-week camps; $250/child; Ask club for $50

Mus-

i. New website: www.GlobalMus.com

ii. NABO Tournament 2011 in Fresno, CA

iii. International Mus Tournament 2010;

1. Came in under budget @ 22K;

2. NABO hosted players and visiting delegates;

3. Tourists paid $1200 for 9-10 days

iv. NABO Tournament 2012 Vancouver, BC

v. Jr Mus-Gina Espinal; Ages 12-17; How to attract more players 12-17?

vi. Mus cards: NABO mus cards still available for sale through SEE $5 a pack

j. Kantari Eguna-in absentia: 2011 tentatively in Gardnerville

k. Facilitator’s Report-John Ysursa

i. ”.eus” Internet domain “.eus” is being worked on. Cataluña successfully lobbied for “.cat”; www.puntueus.org

ii. Aukera (choice) = Being Basque today is more a question of choice as generations become more removed from the 1st generation. In order to continue to “market” and brand Basqueness to the masses a couple of individuals and their websites have been contacted to support “Basqueness”

1. Pedro J. Oiarzabal; www.euskalidentity.com

2. Blas Uberuaga; www.buber.net/Basque

Mus-Playing at an etxea near you!-10/22 7pm 2602 NW 59th Street, Seattle, 98107; RSVP/Contact Gaizka @ treasurer@seattleeuskal.org

A few of us have started to play on a sporadic time table at various people’s houses, but now that we have garnered a loyal following we’d like to see if there are more players who are willing to play and potentially host a more regular game. Initial thoughts were potentially playing twice a month. Care to play? Join us on Friday and/or contact Gaizka Mallea at: treasurer@seattleeuskal.org, about getting on our mus e-mail list.

NABO (the North American Basque Organization) to which SEE is a member has also launched a new website to facilitate teaching of mus in English, French, Spanish and Euskara. Chjeck out www.Globalmus.com A cheat sheet for mus put together by SEE can be found here: http://www.nabasque.org/pdf/Mus.pdf

Basque Dancing for Children-10/24 @ 5pm @ 2309 Warren Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109 (Rosa Urrutia’s); RSVP Toni @ (206-321-2107 or 206-324-4161)

Toni Sabarots Etulain, a former SEE President, and Rosa Urrutia, a former Boise Oinkari, have paired up to get a feel for interest in teaching Basque dancing to Seattle area children. They will be holding a meeting/dance lesson for children this Sunday in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. If you’d like to participate bring your little ones and an appetizer to share. Also RSVP to Toni (206-321-2107 or 206-324-4161) so she can have an idea of how many people are coming. FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ALONG.

A Night with Picasso-11/4 @ 4pm @ Seattle Art Museum; followed by pintxos at Taberna del Alabardero; RSVP Marilou @ board1@seattleeuskal.org www.seattleartmuseum.org ; www.alabardero.com
You may have heard that Picasso has landed at the Seattle Art Museum! Picasso arrived at SAM 10/8 and will be on display through 1/17/11. This extraordinary collection comes from the largest Picasso museum in Pablo’s native France. Due to a necessary museum renovation these masterpieces have left France for the first (and potentially last!) time and come directly to Seattle to start their world tour.

Although not Basque Picasso has left his mark on the Basques. His controversial piece “Guernica” highlighted the travesty which was the Spanish Civil War and specifically the German Condor Legions bombing of Gernika in 1937. This piece was so controversial that it was housed in the Guggenheim of New York until after the death of Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco for fear it would be destroyed. Mind you this piece is larger than a standard wall in a home!. Basques have long asked for the piece to be moved to the Guggenheim in Bilbo, but for now it remains in the museum “La Reina Sofia” in Madrid. I recommend seeing it in person if you have the chance. It is quite moving.

Keeping in mind that economic times are tough for many, SEE has decided to take advantage of SAM’s “1st Thursday” free admission and meet at SAM on the 1st Thursday of Nov. Both the time and date have been selected to garner a group prior to the later post 5 o’clock crowd while still taking advantage of the waived admission fee. Afterwards we will head to Taberna del Alabardero a great Belltown Spanish bar/restaurant with an interesting social mission and two employees (the Manager and a Sommalier) that trace their roots to Euskadi (with last names like Anasagasti and Oyarzabal you are Basque!).

Euskara Classes-Fall 2010/Spring 2011- RSVP/Contact Amaya @ secretary@seattleeuskal.org
Many of you have asked for an introduction to Euskara and by networking with our fellow clubs and the NABO and Basque government sponsored Basque Language Coordinator, Izaskun Lortazar we are on track to launch local classes via the web assist of HABE Basque language program. The hope is to give individuals who are interested in learning the opportunity to study collectively online with supplemented group meetings. On order to partake in this intial offering please contact Amaya for details.

Olentzero in British Colombia, Canada-December-Details to come
As fall swiftly encroaches it is time again to think about the holidays. Although I was unable to find details at the time of this posting (the Zazpiak Bat BC website appears down) remember that our friends up north traditionally host a a gathering complete with a Basque Santa or Olentzero. Details for this event will be post to the SE website as they become available.

BASQUE GOVERNMENT GRANT APPROVED; YET TO BE FUNDED
SEE was notified that our grant to the Basque government was fully funded for 2010!. Although we have yet to receive the funds we did determine that we were one of the only clubs that had already been contacted with a positive outcome. Although these monies have already been earmarked (they must be spent as indicated in the grant submitted) they free up monies brought in from dues, and funds generated from events. Our goal with SEE is not to “make money” but to hold, and sponsor events celebrating our heritage and unique culture. As a Board we do not wish to become reliant on EuskoJJaurlitza (Basque Governement) money as many other clubs and even NABO have (60% of NABO monies come from EJ!), especially as the fallout from last years political upheaval continues to be determined. However, we appreciate that the EJ has recognized that we are doing some of value here in Seattle. SEE will always continue to look at any opportunity to obtain grants or funds that will allow us to continue to celebrate being Basque.

SEE MEMBERSHIP DRIVE 2011!
It’s that time of year again to begin thinking about SEE membership. Although a formal mailing will be sent with the next newsletter it is never too early to renew It is only with the support of SEE members that we are able to pay the upfront costs associated with hosting major events such as the the spring dinner and summer picnic, musicians, and visitors as well as smaller activities such as UW Language Day, NABO Mus tournaments, Euskara classes (these are coming this spring!), etc.