390 Sunday practices, 2 trips to Euskal Herria, 9 Trailing of the Sheep Festivals, 2 group camping trips (which was plenty), 1 trip to Washington DC, 2 Winnemucca festivals, 2 Elko festivals, 1 Seattle Folklife festival, too many Gooding festivals, 10 Homedale winter and summer festivals, 2 Jaialdis, 3 NABO meetings, 100+ Chorizo booth shifts, 14,269 jotas... Where did the last 10 years go?

Culture is a difficult idea to grasp. For every group, it means something different. Some have prominent culture that they work hard to consciously propagate. Other groups allow their culture to develop in a more instinctive manner. But culture is what makes groups of people unique.

Summer is the best part of being an Oinkari and this year’s summer tour was gearing up to be a good one…

If seeing the word Lambpage doesn’t fill you with joy, excitement, and anticipation for race day, then I can only assume you haven’t hung out with us for this awesome 5K yet.

I have this theory.  Every time I have ever heard a Basque person sing, whether it be at a concert, on the radio, at a random bar in the middle of a tiny town, or my Amuma’s kitchen, the voice is always good… I would also like to extend my theory to include the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand.

As a newbie to the Oinkari’s I haven’t had the chance to perform very much, but this one was one to remember! 

 In 2014, I spent a semester abroad in Bilbao studying Spanish.  During my time, I danced with the group in my cousins’ town, Berango.  I really valued my experience learning and dancing with my new friends in Bizkaia, so much so that I often wrote about them in my blog-of-the-time.