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Elko, Nevada, US. As Franzoia pointed out, the Udaleku will be marked with fire, since the first night will be the ‘fun gaua’, or fun night, with kids and instructors enjoy together Agate Deuna (Saint Agatha) and the Solstice od Donibane Gaua, with “a little sua (bonfire).” This is a very popular tradition in the Basque Country, where people make a fire when the sun comes down to celebrate the shortest night of the year. Also, on the 4^th of July, the last event of the Udaleku will be the ‘Txupinazoa’, or starting shot. “A starting shot in the last day of the Summer Camps?” one might ask. Yes, because that very same day Elko will start its Annual Basque festivities.

As usually, more girls than boys gave their names to attend Udaleku, “but not many more,” in the words of Franzoia. The attendants will come, mostly, from California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming and will spend the two weeks with 20 host families. As the organizer said, “no kids have applied from outside the country this year,” meaning that there will be no campers from Euskal Herria as has happened in other editions.

Nevertheless, three of the instructors will come from Europe: Jexux Larrea and Eneko Mujika, dance and txistu teachers respectively, from Donostia and Vitoria-Gasteiz; and Eztitxu Hariñordoki from Baigorri in Baxenabarre, that will be aiding others. She has been teaching Basque and Basque Culture at the Kern County Basque Club, in Bakersfield (CA), since January. Besides them there will be 12 more instructors and 3 other volunteers, in total, to teach Dance, Txistu, Euskara and Basque songs, Pilota, Kultura, and Mus.

Most of the activities will be held at the Basque House, but there are at least two trips the organizers planned for the kids: a visit to the Lamoille Canyon, a nice natural and scenic mountain spot; and a visit to the mines. “It can very interesting for the kids −said Franzoia− since most of them are not from Elko, an area well known worlwide for its gold mines.” Barrick Gold Mine and Newmont Gold Mine are the companies that will help the crew with the tour; the young Basques will be able to see “how big is everything there.” In fact, a tire of one truck is higher than an adult, as Franzoia explained.

It’s been eight years since Elko hosted its last Udaleku, so hosting back an Udaleku is a reason to be happy for Franzoia, who believes that this type of Summer Camps “are great for the kids to experience different Basque communities and to see how other Clubs work.” “Ultimately the goal is to give them tools to feel comfortable to go there (the Basque Country), and taste it first hand,” stated the 2014 NABO Udaleku coordinator.