euskalkultura.eus

Ziortza Gandarias is from Galdakao and is 27 years old.  She has a degree in Philology and had a pretty secure position as a teacher at well known school in Donostia when she decided this summer, “now or never,” and jumped ship with a scholarship to move to the US to begin a Ph.D. 

Joseba Etxarri.  After four years teaching in Donostia, Ziortza Gandarias Beldarrain was comfortable in her job, and had reached certain stability, after graduating in 2009 with a degree in Basque Philology and completing a Masters in Applied Linguistics a year later at the University of the Basque Country.  Now that is all water under the bridge, since she moved to the US a month ago, “9,000 kilometers from home,” starting a new phase of her life as a Ph.D. student, something that will take at least four years to complete.

-With the current situation in Euskadi, there was a certain risk in leaving your job and become a student again.

-I really enjoyed teaching and I was set to continue but the truth is that sometimes there comes a turning point in your life that requires taking a risk to move forward.  What is life about otherwise?  I had always wanted to get to know this country and during my undergrad a professor told us about this opportunity to do a Ph.D.  So that is why I decided this summer to make, what had been only a dream, a reality.  I didn’t think about it too much.

-Do you already know what your thesis topic will be?

-I’m planning to work on the contribution of Basque writers and intellectuals in exile, after the Civil War, and above all in Latin America. Sharing Etxepare’s view that in order to enhance and ensure the future of Euskera they had to grow it in its written form, and subsequently by translating and publishing the most significant and Canonical titles in the world into Euskera analyzing the echo that it had on Basque literature after the war.

-You’ve been at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) for a month.  How were you welcomed?

-The first day when I woke here, I said to myself, “Ai ama, what have I gotten into!”  But to tell you the truth everyone around me has done everything they can to make me feel at home.  At first I  thought I was going to feel a kind of afraid of the cultural shock, but all I have to say is that all the students, professors and the administrators that I have dealt with have been really nice.  On the other hand, the atmosphere invites you to concentrate on your studies and research.

-You live in student housing on campus.

-I share an apartment with an American girl whose ancestry is Italian and Irish and we get along well.  I try to apply the saying “When in Rome…” and so far I’m adapting well to the life here.  The schedule starts before it does in Euskadi.  At 6am people are already up and about.  I prefer this schedule, begin sooner to end sooner.  On the other hand, people are very independent, they are friendly and correct, even though many times it doesn’t go any deeper than that.  That’s ok, you know what to expect.

-What has been the biggest surprise for you so far?

-The concept of distance and to see they use a car for everything.  I like the climate, and of course we haven’t had anything other than sun, and this, coming from Euskadi, with the summer that we’ve had is very welcome.

-Reno is known for gambling.  Have you been to a casino?

-I did look into one, out of curiosity, and I was impressed to see people playing.  There were many seniors who seemed like zombies, with a glazed-over look, compulsively playing the machines.  I didn’t like it.

-Have you heard anything about the European economic crisis?

-The newspapers and the news deal more with what is happening here and Europe seems far away.  The worst part of the crisis passed through here some years ago and I don’t know what the consequences of that were, but the Reno downtown area, where the casinos are, seems sad to me.  It’s shocking to see so many homeless people living in the street.  It’s a contrast to the idea that this is supposed to be a modern and civilized country.  It’s also a huge contract to the idyllic landscapes that surround the city, with mountains, lakes and beautiful nature that gives you a feeling of freedom.