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In hopes of facilitating enrollment and include the largest number of participants possible, the Zingirako “Euskaldunak in Chascomus has postponed the deadline for enrolling in Udaleku 2016 to this weekend. The summer camp that will be held on January 5-9, is aimed at children between the ages of 12 an 16 and includes a surprise this year linked to a musical activity. While waiting for this first activity of 2016, the Basque club in Chascomus welcomed the Olentzero to its clubhouse. 

Chascomus, Argentina.  As every year, the city of Chascomus will again be the site for Argentina’s Udaleku.  Organized by the local Basque club, the Basque summer camp will take place January 5-9 and will provide participants a varied program of activities lined to music, sports, mythology and Basque cooking, among others.

In regards to musical offerings, Udaleku 2016 will include a wonderful novelty for participants and for the general public of Chascomus as well.  As camp organizers have told us, the Basque group “Piano bat bertsotan” will perform a show of improvised Basque songs accompanied by the piano.  “It hopes to show how to improvise with music like a bertsolari does, but with the main goal of having the audience participate 100% in the show.  How?  It will be the audience who decided the songs and the musicians have to perform them or improvise them during the concert, writing the Basque song on paper that they want to hear and sing.  Apart from the audience and the musicians, the intention of the show is to create a close and cozy concert that includes the audience making them sing with us,”  musicians Joan Ortega, Sebastian Ustarroz and Jagoba Astiazaran explain “Piano bat bertsotan.”

As in prior editions, Udaleku activities will take place at the Basque club, Pelota club as well as in the laguna.  Participants will be accompanied at all times by chaperones from Argenitna as well as one from the Basque Country.  The deadline to enroll has been pushed back to this weekend in order to include the most people as possible in this experience.  The price of the voucher should be requested via email: udalekuchascomus@hotmail.com and once the payment is made, a deposit should be made into the following account:

-Account.: 6942-7322/8
-CUIT: 30665097524
-CBU: 0140331001694200732282

More news about Udaleku 2016 will be provided on Facebook Eusko Hazia Chascomús. For more information call:02241-15690373.

Olentzero, coal, candies and jokes

The Olentzero came to Chascomus last Sunday and found a large number of children waiting for him in front of the Basque club.  Before he arrived, the smallest painted pictures of mythological characters including acting out mythic figures that they heard about while listening to a traditional story.

Nevertheless, the most exciting moment was the arrival of the Olentzero when they jumped for joy when they spotted him.  But the Olentzero played a joke on them. “When he arrived he began passing out coal to the smallest children.  They began to complain that that wasn’t the gift they deserved and so the Olentzero finally realized that he had grabbed the wrong bag, - the coal was for another Basque club – and returned with the candies that the children were waiting for,” Paula Berasain explained to EuskalKultura.com.