REVOLUCIÓN DE COLOR MORADO

Un año más llega el 8 de marzo. Se discute mucho el hecho de que haya “El día de …” pero probablemente sea necesario todavía. Por lo menos un día al año, quizá algunas miradas se posen en las imágenes de mujeres maltratadas, quizá en algunos oídos resuene la palabra respeto. Puede que algunos olfatos perciban aires de justicia social y en algunos paladares se caten los sabores agridulces de la duda por lo que una misma aporta en esta lucha.

A través de estos sentidos, en alguna zona de los cerebros se activa entonces una sutil revolución de tintes morados. Una revolución que, como si se tratara de la limpieza general de primavera, revisa ideas cómodamente instaladas y las lleva a una zona de inconfort en la que se cuestiona su vigencia y oportunidad.

En este incómodo limbo, las ideas sufren pequeñas y constantes crisis que solo se resolverán avanzando. Algunos cerebros buscarán para sus ideas el camino de vuelta al hogar pero no será posible. No se puede andar hacia atrás en el tiempo, las ideas nunca volverán a ser las de antes. Cuando menos, estarán contaminadas por esa exposición al componente lila. En el mejor de los casos, se producirá una importante transformación que llevará a su vez a la recolocación y evolución de ideas vecinas.

Este año la campaña de Emakunde aboga por el valor Social de la Igualdad y la vincula a conceptos tales como el Respeto, el Conocimiento, el Bienestar y la Democracia. IGUAL ES MÁS.

Hay muchas y diversas formas de contribuir al logro de este reto global.

Desde esta reflexión, podría hablar de la responsabilidad que tenemos las Organizaciones de integrar en nuestra cultura las claves de la igualdad de oportunidades de mujeres y hombres, como un filtro transversal por el que pasen todas las políticas de gestión.

O podría insistir en la oportunidad que nos brinda la vida en pareja o en familia para trabajar valores como la corresponsabilidad.

Mi pincelada rosa para este El día Internacional de la Mujer va a ser la reproducción de la letra de una canción de Rubén Blades que precisamente iba escuchando en el coche mientras pensaba cómo escribir este artículo. Se titula VIDA y creo que Rubén Blades podría estar de acuerdo con el lema de Emakunde de este año.

Nadie escoge a su familia o a su raza cuando nace;
ni el ser rico, pobre, bueno, malo, valiente o cobarde.
Nacemos de una decisión donde no fuimos consultados.
y nadie puede prometernos, resultados.

Cuando nacemos no sabemos, ni siquiera nuestro nombre
ni cual será nuestro sendero, ni lo que el futuro esconde.
Entre el bautizo y el entierro, cada cual hace un camino.
y con sus decisiones, un destino.

Somos una baraja más de un juego que otro ha comenzado,
y cada cual apostará según la mano que ha heredado.
La vida es una puerta donde no te cobran por la entrada,
y el alma es el tiquete que al vivir te rascan cuando pagas.

En cada paso crea una huella, y cada huella es una historia,
y cada ayer es una estrella, en el cielo de la memoria.
En la marea del tiempo lleva y trae nuestras contradicciones
y entre regreso y despedida, cicatrizan los errores.

Y cada amigo es la familia que escogemos entre extraños,
y entre la espera y el encuentro uno aprende con los años
Que solamente a la conciencia, nuestro espíritu responde
y que una cosa es ser varón, y otra es ser hombre.

Nadie escoge a su familia o a su raza cuando nace;
ni el ser bueno, malo, lindo, feo, inocente o culpable.
Del nacimiento hasta la muerte, toda vida es una cuesta
de nuestra voluntad depende la repuesta.

Sueño con un mundo diferente,
Donde nuestro amor nunca se apague.

Donde nunca desechemos la razón de los demás,
Donde nunca olvidemos dar la mano, a quién?
al que se ha quedado atrás...

Sueño con un mundo diferente,
Donde nuestro amor nunca se apague.

Festejar a nuestra tierra mejor que cuando a ella entramos
Como muestra el cariño, con la esperanza del niño, clarito como el verano

Sueño con un mundo diferente,
Donde nuestro amor nunca se apague.

Los blancos huesos de un muerto pueden ser de cualquier raza.
Si la muerte no discrimina, entonces, que la vida tampoco lo haga.

Luche por un mundo diferente,
Donde nuestro amor nunca se apague.

Donde lo que dices, piensas, haces, sientas, te den la felicidad.
Sin que tu alegría se apoye en el mal de los demás.

Luche por un mundo diferente,
Donde nuestro amor nunca se apague.

Esta verdad es muy sencilla, hasta un chiquillo la sabe
Si en tu vida nunca hubo ritmo, en tu muerte no habrá clave.

Ole, le, le...
Pura vida...
pura vida...
pura vida...

Feliz VIDA de la Mujer.

Aurkene Redondo Ikazuriaga

Directora de Enbor Kontsultoreak - Urune Hotela

Atorras and lamias of Mundaka, the Basque carnival

They say that the night of the carnival everything is possible…That is why we wear masks on that day. The celebration of this festivity goes back to the pagan times when special events had been held in honor of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine. Nowadays, there are hundreds of ways to represent this custom all over the world, from Brazil to Bolivia and from Venice to Mundaka… Yes, today we are going to a tiny village of the Basque Coast, proudly overlooking the entrance to the Urdaibai Estuary. Carnival in Mundaka also called arratustes is undoubtedly one of the most curious samples of this festivity in our region as the stone streets of Mundaka resound with traditional songs and guitar chords of atorras and vibrate with lamias’ mesmerizing dancing on its main square.

But who are the atorras and the lamias?  According to the local legend, the neat attire of atorras, consisting of a skirt, a blouse, a pair of white trousers, a pillowcase over the head and a red scarf was first used by the local count Anton Erreka, a well-known local character, who once came back home after a few drinks, hastily dressed his wife's petticoats and inadvertently hit the streets to escape the broom of the angry wife. The neighbors thought it was another eccentricity of the first local authority and set out to celebrate a great pilgrimage in their new outfits that did not end until the beginning of the Lent. In this singular way Erreka popularized unwittingly the apparel that, over time, has become the landmark of the carnivals of Mundaka.

Every year, the atorras begin their walk around Mundaka, opposite the house of José María Egileor, one of the promoters of this event during the Civil War and in the years of the dictatorship, playing guitars and signing the most emblematic songs referring especially to the event. Local people usually follow the group from bar to bar joining them in the chorus while tasting an occasional glass of txakoli (a kind of a Basque white wine). The celebration ends late in the evening with lamia dancing on the main square of the village.

As for lamias, according to the Basque mythology they are creatures related to water. They are fairies of the Basque folk, nocturnal beings that look like humans apart from their chicken like legs, goat hooves, a fish tail and a female sex, with long hair, usually blonde, beautiful, noble and powerful.
They live on the sea shore and on river banks, for example, in caves and wells. During the day, they try to hide (as the sun kills their power) and submerge in water when humans approach them. At night, they wash their clothes in the river and comb their long hair with a golden comb. They usually help those who concede them an offering during the night in their daily work. Lamias reward generously the aid of both men and women. The comb symbolizes their power and although they are of a kind nature and they usually grant favours (coal that turns into gold, bacon that turns into silver, ashes that become money, etc.), they can cause damage in some cases. The attraction and the ambition of humans to own the comb causes the wrath of Lamias and some legends say that if humans possess these combs, they will receive a great deal of misery until the combs are returned to their rightful owners.

Lamias form Mundaka wear a black robe, a white wig, a scarf on the head and they paint their faces white, the lips red and their eyes are circled with mysterious black shades.

This year, men and women of Mundaka will come out on the streets on the Sunday of carnival, February 10^th, at about midday, to pay tribute to their customs and traditions.

Photo above: Taken from www.mundaka.org

You are welcome to join us in Mundaka! 

Marta Anna Sadowska 

URTE BERRIA

Egunak joan, egunak etorri … eta konturatu orduko 2013. urtean sartu gara eta urte berriari ongi etorria ematean konturatzen gara nola pasatzen diren urteak, eta bizi gogoa pizten da. 

Esan beharrik ez dago, gainera, garai hauetan izaten dela promesa gehien egiten den sasoia, batez ere, norberaren buruari egindakoak: osasunari begira, itxurari, familiari tartea eskaintzeari … denetarikoak entzun izan ditugu denok, ziur aski.

Promes egite hau, urte bukaeran egindako balantzearen ondorio ere izan daiteke. Atzera begiratu eta urte osoan zehar bizitakoa gainbegiratzen dugu, poztasunaz askotan, tristuraz batzuetan eta gehiago egin daitekeenaren sentsazioaz besteetan. Horra hor gauzak aldatzeko beharraren promesa!

Baina nire zalantza hurrengoa da: noiz arte gogoratzen gara egin dugun promesa "finko" horretaz? Egun batzuk, asteak, hilabeteren bat agian… askoz gehiago ez, udaberria heldu orduko beste buru hauste batzuk izaten baititugu buruan. Ez al da ba errazagoa izango urte osoko promesak ahaztu eta egunerokotasunean zentratzea? Egunerokotasunean izaten dugun jarrera hori aldatzea? Bizitzaren aurrean jarrera positiboa izatea? helburuak ezarri, epe laburreko urratsak zehaztu eta lorpenen jarraipena egin aldiro. Xedea buruan argi izan beharra dago eskuartetik ihes ez egiteko.

Itxura batean hain beldurgarri bihurtu duten 2013. urte honi aurre egiteko beharko dugu zerbait eta zer hoberik jarrera positiboa geureganatzea baino; bizitzari begi berriekin begiratu eta urteari aurre egiteko: lanean, familiartea, lagun artean,… Urteak gauza on asko baititu gorderik guretzako baina horiek ikusteko gai izan behar gara, bestela, nor ohartu aukera ondotik pasatzen den momentuan?

Ondorioz, ongi etorria izan dadila urte berria. Oparotasunez beterikoa izango baita, baina oparotasun horiek ikusteko gaitasuna norberak izan behar du bere barnean.

Izaro Bideguren

A Basque Christmas tale…

We all know Santa, but did you know that Basque people actually have their own version of the most famous beardy guy and who does not look like his usual representation at all! Here comes the story of Olentzero, a kind of a Basque Santa.

The tale of Olentzero takes place in Larraun, Navarra and says that he had so many eyes on his face as days in the year and that he would visit every town every New Year's Eve carrying away children who were awake….

It is surprising to discover that actually many people believe that he could have existed, unlike the red-suited grandfather. However, it is not as strong a belief as the one of Reyes Magos with all the myth of the star and the three kings looking for a poor new born baby in Bethlehem. As a matter of fact, Olentzero has really very little of supernatural power except from the fact that when he dies, a fairy brings him back to life. He is depicted as a rather normal human being, a coalman, a bit gluttonous, slightly drunk and covered with coal stains all over his body.

The story says that a beautiful yellow-haired and bright-eyed fairy lived in the forests of the Basque Country many years ago. Like all fairies she cared for people and was accompanied by creatures like goblins called prakagorri (red trousers, one of the rooms in Urune takes its name after them) who helped her in all her work. One day the fairy was traveling across the mountains and while she was combing her hair by a stream, prakagorris told her that there was something moving among the ferns. The fairy was highly surprised as she did not understand how the humans could have abandoned it. So the fairy told the baby:"your name will be Olentzero, because it is a wonderful thing to have found you.”And I hereby give you the gift of strength, courage and love, as long as you live." Then the fairy picked up the child and took him to an old house at the edge of the woods where a man and a woman who did not have children lived as she knew that they would be very happy to get the baby, she left it by the door so that they could find him.

When Olentzero grew up he felt the urge to help people who needed it. He remembered that in the nearby village there was a house inhabited by children who did not have anyone. For a strange reason, and maybe due to uncertain whereabouts of his own origin, Olentzero felt a strange union with those children and wishing to make them happier, he started the tradition of bringing them presents, a custom that has survived up to our times giving a bit of joy to all Basque children.

But one day, and for some sad reasons that should not be mentioned here, Olentzero died and his fairy friend came to save him granting him the following words: 

"Olentzero, you have been a good man, full of faith and of a good heart. You have dedicated all your life doing things for others, and you even gave up your own life to save others. Therefore, I do not want you to die. I want you to live forever. From now on you will make toys and other gifts for unhappy and abandoned children from all corners of the Basque Country".

And this is what happened. In the middle of winter, at the end of each year, Olentzero visits all the towns and villages of the Basque Country delivering toys to children who do not have parents or grandparents who would take care of them. And in a wider sense, children of all parts of the Basque Country celebrate the arrival of Olentzero singing songs and spreading messages of love.

And should you not believe us, come to the Basque Country on the Christmas Eve night and find out yourself. You might even come across Olentzero himself!

(This is one of the stories I have heard over my 10-year-long living with the Basque people and sharing their wisdom and traditions)

And from hotel Urune, we would like to wish you all the best for the incoming 2013.

Marta Anna Sadowska 

EUSKARAREN NAZIOARTEKO EGUNA

Abenduaren 3an Euskararen Nazioarteko eguna ospatu zen eta ondorioz, munduan zehar hainbat ekitaldi egin ziren egun hau ospatzeko. Ekialdetik hasi eta Mendebala arte, gure mugetatik at, kantaldi, irakurketa saio, bazkari eta edari antolatu zituzten, batez ere Euskal Etxe ezberdinen eskutik.

Gurean ere izan zen bai, ekitaldia nahikoa, hala nola, Donostian antolaturiko “Ika-Mizka” mahai inguruak edo Gasteizen egindako sari banaketa, euskara sustatzen lagundu duten gasteiztar ezberdinei Luzarraga sariak banatuz, alegia.

Lan munduan ere euskararen erabilera sustatzen duten erakundeei ziurtagiriak banatu zitzaizkien azaro bukaeran. Gero eta gehiago izanik Bikain ziurtagiriak lortzera animatzen direnak aurten 121 erakunde izatera iritsi dira eta horretarako ebaluatzaile klubean 320 pertsonek dihardute lanean.

Ondorioz, Euskararen nazioarteko eguna egunero izan dadin lan egiten dugunok gero eta gehiago garela esan daiteke. Guk, Urune Hotelean eta baita Enbor Kontsultoreaken ere, euskarari bere tokia eman nahi izaten diogu eskainitako zerbitzu guztietan euskararen presentzia bermatuz.

Izaro Bideguren