In this section of my blog, I'll be sharing life stories as I create the drafts.
The Basque Country
My maternal grandmother, Antonia Alberro was of Basque descent. I heard stories about her roots all my life, but actually traveled to Argentina in 1997 to verify the name of her town. Thanks to my Aunt Josefa, I was introduced to my grandmother's brother's family on my Aunt's 85th birthday.
Aunt Josefa and I traveled to Camey by cab from Mar del Plata which was a short ride. Once we arrived in Camey, I met Aunt Josefa's cousin called affectionatly, "Pepa." She was a formidable woman with a thick build and high cheekbones like my mother.
Her son, named Jorge, seemed to know quite a bit about our family history, and Pepa lost no time in digging up family photos from a previous generation. She admitted she really had no idea who the individuals in the photos were, but she wanted me to have them anyway. One photo in particular stood out among the rest. It featured three children, two on horseback, and one facing the horse. The girl bore a strong resemblance to me, and she wore a Victorian eye-let lace dress, and tie-up boots. Her shoulder legnth hair was tied with a white organza bow.
So in my mind I started speaking to the unknown Basque girl in a turn of the century photo:
Face to face with equus, waiting turn-
two tawny boys mounted grasping reins
birch trees bend all around you,
my little, unknown Basque girl, my mystery relative, soul in a past ife
you are clad in white eyelet lace dress,
lace up boots, dark hair blowing and embellished in organdy bow,
hands flowing past the realm of this present world,
through an abandoned landscape in Balcarce, my mother's town
among creaking lanterns lighting your way
along paths of red earth,
heard your laughter in the eucalyptus groves
away far beyond a persimmon sun
a world of horses and longings
My sister, my child
the land embeds itself in you
"Who is she,?" I said. Pepa tried to search her memory, but nothing came to mind. My family history on the Basque side began slowly unfolding, and I learned that my grandmother's family was from a province in Spain called Guipuzcoa.
According to encyclopedia Britianica, Guizpucoa has a rich history. "Guizpucoa is a small provicne located on the Bay of Biscay between Vizcaya (Biscay) province and the French frontier. With Álava and Vizcaya, it became one of the three component provinces of the autonomous region of the Basque Country in 1980. The name was used as a geographical entity from the end of the 10th century, and as a county Guipúzcoa was unified with Castile in 1200. Its chief towns were founded or resettled during the 13th and 14th centuries. Its central position among the three Basque Country ."
