euskalkultura.eus

Donostia-San Sebastián. To conclude four testimonies that we announced, we now present Alfredo Laborde (Argentina) and Laura Moreno (Uruguay).  After overcoming obstacles imposed by the pandemic, eleven Latin American students began this year with a Barnetegi in Lazkao, using their vacation days, or requesting a two-month leave of absence from work.  All this with the aim of completing training that allows them to teach Basque in their own Basque clubs as part of the Euskara Munduan program organized by the Etxepare Basque institute.

Just before they left for their respective countries, we visited with four of them and asked them to tell us a little bit about their realities, explaining how they started learning Basque, what are their motivations to learn and the feeling that this language and its country in Europe gives them. In short, we wanted them to tell us about the strength and commitment that lead them to dedicate themselves to the Basque language in their respective countries, their hopes and weekly hours of their lives. The translation from Basque is ours.

Alfredo Laborde (Argentina)

In my opinion, it isn’t the same thing to learn Basque as any other language.  Euskera is an ancient language, which has mathematical logic, and that does not happen in others.  It is also a very beautiful language.

Euskera changed my life.  I always said that Basque enriches us, and I say it because I really believe it does.  I am clear that today I am not the same.  Now I look at things differently, and I seem them in an “enriched mode.” I don’t know if that makes me special, but the truth is that Basque has given me something special.

A curious bit of information.  Unknowingly, my family and my work environment have also changed with me.  I like to be recognized as Basque.  I don’t want to be tiresome, but what I want to say by all this is that I really like Basque a lot.

I felt necessary to learn it, as well as teach it, and I don’t want it just for me, I want to share it and not be stingy.

This is my first stay in the Basque Country.  I am not objective, and I’m sure that my feelings can be, but the trip has been incredible as if I had met my ancestors.  In my Argentine environment, I usually don’t have the opportunity to practice Basque, and I don’t have family members that have been born here for some time.

Maybe that is why this opportunity to handle myself in Basque both at the Barnetegi and in the streets has remained with me, to be able to overcome that initial blockage and shyness.  Even the simplest things, like talking to people on the street have been a beautiful experience for me.  I know they are small details, but they have moved me.  The mere fact of talking with someone at the kiosk when I bought a book at Lazkao and the satisfaction I felt being able to make myself understood in Basque. 

I am progressing little by little but the process that brought me here has been long, but I have enjoyed it.  I won’t stop here.  I want to thank my family.  I have no regrets and would do it again.  I would like to point out that in this increasingly globalized world it is important to find your own place and be able to find your own path, braking with uniformity.

Laura Moreno (Uruguay)

My mother has Basque ancestors but never interacted with the Basque world.  I don’t know where my family came from, or when they came or who came from the Basque Country.  The only time I remember my mother mentioning our Basque roots and feeling close to them in some way, was the time she said, “I’m Basque and this is not going to beat me.”  Until “day zero,” that is what the meaning of “being Basque” was for me, having a stony will, which I, by the way, did not have.

And I say, “day zero,” because my life changed the day I began learning Basque.  I was on a bus and at one of the stops, I saw a poster that said “Learn Basque – Free Classes.”  I reached out and they told me the schedule and I enrolled, but since I couldn’t change my schedule, I asked my mom to go for me on the first day because I didn’t want to lose my spot. I was able to rearrange my schedule for the second class and I began learning Basque (my mom didn’t want to go back).  At the end of the first year, my teacher proposed that I join the Euskara Munduan Program, and I accepted right away.  The next year, I began the process of becoming a teacher at the Euskal Etxea in San Nicolas.  For seven years, I have dedicated all of my vacations to Euskera and I have never regretted it because I believe that my debt to Basque is even greater.

I fell in love with Basque from the beginning and I couldn’t imagine that I would have so much to thank it for: I met my better half thanks to Basque, it has given me the opportunity to make many friends and visit many places, and if it hadn’t been for Basque, I would never have had so many experiences that I have had.  Also from the linguistic point of view, it was a revolution for me; it is much fresher, more logical and more beautiful than other languages that I have studied.

Despite this, I did not feel close to my ancestors until I arrived in the Basque Country.  From the first moment that I saw its mountains, I felt transported to the past. I imagined my maternal ancestors walking through those same green mountains that I traveled and I exercised thinking about what their lives would have been like.  It is difficult to know what happened so long ago, but being in the place, knowing the people and their customs helped me.

You ask what “being Basque” means to me.  Euskera completely modified my previous perception.  I do not need to know where my ancestors came from, because they cannot help me to be part of their people.  I am Basque because I speak Basque and arriving in the Basque Country and being able to live in Basque with the Basques made me feel part of this country.

When I go home, I will continue to teach Euskera, supporting this language that I love.  This is how I return to Euskera a small part of what it has given me.  Nevertheless, I won’t do it in a totally altruistic way, but because I believe that as the number of Basque speakers in Uruguay grows, this will give me greater possibilities of living and realizing myself in Euskera.