Es complicado

Pamplona used to be walled. Some of the walls are still in place and they've built nice parks around them. Also, some of the walls are raised so you can climb on them for nice views of the mountains. Walking around the parks today seemed like a good idea, a nice relaxing way to end the trip and the museums are closed anyway. Except that it's raining. And the bag check at the bus station was abandoned. I still did the park thing, in the rain and carrying my backpack, but it wasn't quite the same. At one point I was starting to worry that I'd gotten lost, in the rain and carrying my backpack. Then I walked over this trench that I'm choosing to believe used to be a moat and through what looked like a castle entrance, and was back in the old town. Old cities are great for stuff like that.

Not that I really expected it to, but a week in the Basque Country didn't clarify too much the separatism issues. It is different here: It looks different; the language is completely different; the people are kind of different, I guess. I know the Basques were really repressed under Franco, and that kind of repression always has consequences. But I still don't get the burning desire for independence. Never having had my own culture, language, or identity repressed, maybe I'm not really capable of getting it. I never felt unsafe or anything, but you do get the impression that autonomy-related issues are hotter topics here than in Catalunya. San Sebastian and Pamplona both had some streets full of sketchy-ish looking bars covered with separatist paraphernalia (maybe I just missed those neighborhoods in Bilbao). Most public spaces either had signs saying No fijar carteles (Don't hang signs) or were covered with political posters. Basque flags are everywhere, and in San Sebastian there were signs all over that said (in English): "Tourist remember. You are not in Spain or in France. You are in the Basque Country." It all just seems a little more extreme than in Catalunya. One thing that surprised me, though, is that the Basque language is nowhere near as pervasive here as Catalan is in Catalunya. I haven't seen much of anything written only in Basque, things tend to be in both Spanish and Basque or Spanish only, whereas in Catalunya if something is written in only one language (signs, menus) it's usually Catalan. Catalan is certainly less alienating than Basque: Anyone who speaks some Spanish or French can kind of figure out written Catalan, whereas if you don't speak Basque you won't understand it spoken or written, period. I also haven't heard people speaking Basque that much, but one of the cider house Basques told me it's because I've been in cities, and that in smaller towns everyone speaks Basque. Unintelligible as it is, the little bit of Basque that I've heard sounds nice.

Anyway, I like the Basque country. The food is good, the wine is good, the people are nice, the politics are complicated, and the bathrooms are perpetually out of toilet paper. I'll leave you with some Basque words, so you can see how different the language is.

Ez erre: No smoking
Irekita: Open
Itxita: Closed
Sarrera: Entrance
Irteera: Exit
Sagardoa: Cider
Ardoa: Wine
Zuritoa: Beer
Donostia: San Sebastian
Iruña: Pamplona

The cider house Basques also taught me to say "I speak a little Basque," but now I forget how. Probably for the best, since it's a complete lie.