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The San Francisco Basque Cultural Center hosted, in September, another mus workshop for beginners. “There are people that didn’t have the opportunity to learn when they were younger but want to be part of the games,” Valerie Arrechea, president of NABO, told Euskalkultura.com. This year, though, they decided to hold classes for five months, until the NABO mus tournament starts.

San Francisco, USA. The Basque Cultural Center has been hosting, similar workshops, every other year, for “eight years, or so,” in the words of Arrechea. “We organize them whenever possible –she added−. This year I wanted to do it in May but it was not possible, so we decided to do it in September.”

These mus gatherings are held at the Basque Cultural Center, every Friday of September and around ten people attended them, for free. “Everybody had such a wonderful time,” stated the organizer. This being the case they will continue the workshops, although just once a month, until February. They will be held on the first Friday of every month, for beginners and intermediates.

“People need to get whole idea; they need to have the big picture. And once they know that, we start talking about strategies,” said Arrechea about their system. And on top of everything, attendants also learn Euskara: “The explanations are in English, but we always use Basque words at the time of play. All vocabulary is in Basque.”

Along with Arrechea, there were other experienced players teaching the beginners. Among them were Anne Marie Chiramberro, founder of the Hella Basque blog and a mus aficionado: “Last year I hosted a mus tournament at my house, and my parents and a few others who wanted to attend weren’t able to because they didn’t know how to play,” said she. And since she’s planning to host in october the Second Hella Basque Mus Tournament, she contacted the Basque club to help set up these adult mus lessons beforehand.