John Arrechea is a Basque-American living in Oxford, Mississippi. His farther emigrated from the Navarrese town ofNarbarte, and our protagonist and his wife decided to take the family (two daughters, their husbands, and five grandchidren) to visit the Arrachea homeland.
An image of the Navarrese town of Narbarte, where John Arrechea’s father left from to “hacer las Américas” (do the Americas) (photo by Rufino Lasaosa)
The Oxford Eagle has published a three-part diary of this family’s trip through the Land of the Basques, which they did in two vans over the Christmas holidays. They spend Christmas Eve in Pamplona and Christmas Day in Olite, through a snow-covered landscape worthy of those dates.
Their visit wasn’t limited to the Southern Basque Country. They crossed the border from Spain in France, that same border that separates the Northern and Southern Basque Countries, and indeed Navarre and Lower Navarre. That let them get to know the part north of the Pyrenees, and to enjoy some magnificent view of the Bay of Biscay.
It’s a beautiful story of going back to discover one’s roots, and we hoped it helped the Arrechea family to better understand their origins in the Basque Country, a nation with its own culture, traditions, language, and history. It’s a small nation whose natives have had a starring role in many “big” and “small” stories that have taken place all over the world, just like his story and that of many other Americans who can trace their ancestry here.
We hope they’ll continue to visit us, and that they’ll keep the roots that connect them to the land of their ancestors alive and well.
The Oxford Eagle – 22/1/2017 – USA
A family trip to Spain creates memories, friendships
Our family of 11 left Dec. 18 to visit where my father was born, the Basque area of northern Spain. Lois and I visited there in 1997 and wanted our five grandsons to see where their great-grandfather was born.
After enjoying our Basque tour, we drove to Narbarte, population, 300, where my father was born, a Spanish Basque, July 29, 1884.We didn’t find the house; however, we did find the church, San Andres Apostle, where he was baptized. This area is about 18 miles, as a crow flies, to the Pyrenees, the international boundary between Spain and France — beautiful country with whitewash buildings and red tile roofs.
And now, as Paul Harvey said, “This is the rest of the story.”Having enjoyed a couple of days in Pamplona, we bid our hotel hosts a “Thank You,” and left for Olite. Driving south on Christmas Day, we glanced through our right windows at snow-capped mountains, glistening in the sun. Recently, I read in my mountainous map of Navarre — Sierra del Perdon has an altitude of 6,056 feet.
