Un buen dia

So I've been jumping back and forth between San Sebastián and Donostia without any explanation. Everything in Basque Country has 2 names--1 in Euskera and 1 in Spanish. San Sebastián is officially Donostia-San Sebastián. I'm really interested in this because it shows the struggle between the 2 cultures and what they're doing to compromise. The only problem is people who don't speak Euskera can sometimes have problems finding places. Some names are similiar-Bilbao is Bilbo- but some have no connection--Pamplona is Iruña. I think the focus on my documentary is going to be bilingualism and how it affects people in the community. It's a central theme that I can use to look at politics, culture, and identity.

I had a request for an explanation as to how I'm communicating with people and how I'm meeting people. I'm talking to everyone in Spanish. Most of the people I speak to can speak in Euskera, but they speak in Spanish as well. The only Euskera I know right now is "kaitxo" (pronounced kai show) which means "hello" and "agur" which means "good-bye" and "yes." Interestingly, even Spaniards in the area say "kaitxo" and "agur." In regards to how I'm meeting people, some manners have been more official than others. As I mentioned in my last blog, I've been visiting Euskaltegis and talking to people. I've gotten a number of good leads and now I have a few interviews lined up with some pretty important people. In terms of my non-expert/official connections, my first connection was with an Australian guy in the apartment I was evicted from. He introduced me to a German girl, Anna, who then introduced me to all of her German and Italian friends. They then introduced me to more Australians, Americans, French, and Spaniards. I met one woman through my friend in Madrid who is the best friend of my dad's high school ex-girlfriend (crazy connection). And I met Anna's señora when I was evicted from the apartment. Some of these people are helping me with my documentary and others are just fun people to hang out with and great ways to meet people who can help me.

A great example of how these connections are helping me is last night. I went out with some friends to a bar and we met some of their friends. One of them was a girl from LA, Jessica, who is now living in Donostia with her Basque boyfriend. She had already heard about me from my other friends (wicked cool!) and told me her boyfriend and his Basque friends would love to help me with my film! On top of that, her boyfriend is part of a Basque gastronomic society. Gastronomic societies are Basque men's clubs that are based around cooking. Women are not allowed to join or be involved in any of the cooking, they can only be guests at the dinner. Jessica is going to be in Italy for the next dinner, which is tomorrow. Her boyfriend said he would take me so I can meet people, try authentic Basque food and film it all! This is an insane opportunity! This one dinner will give me so much information on culture, customs, food, relationships and language. I am so unbelievably excited!

I will try to take some good photos tomorrow and post them soon. Feel free to comment on these posts or email me. Hasta luego! Agur!