Keep it in Basque!

Every time I go back to Euskal Herria (BC), I have to re-educate myself in language activism. 🔥

In Miami, I mostly communicate in Spanish in stores or social life since it is a city predominantly Spanish-speaking, which becomes a bad habit.

This summer, I decided to challenge myself and started talking only in Basque to every business worker I ran into. I was encouraged by the project @mantincelcatala (I keep it in Catalan).🗣

The trick here was to keep speaking in Basque even though they answered "¿qué?" ('what' Sp.). Sometimes, they didn't understand Basque, but often, it was just that they didn't expect Basque in that moment, and then they switched. Those were the victories I'm taking with me.

During the festivities of Algorta, I went to grab some drinks to the Old Port, a neighborhood that has become very touristic. It is very folklorized. However, Basque is often forgotten. This time, I decided to ask for service in Basque. The waiter didn't understand me, and I insisted. He asked in Spanish, I insisted. The second time, he asked a coworker to come and assist me, who spoke in perfect Basque to me. 🤝

I don't know if I felt empowered to do that because of my family roots because I saw that Basque was left aside or because I felt the need to show that we exist. In any case, I feel like I sent a message that night. 

SEE POST-VICTORY IG STORY BELOW:

When I went out to Gipuzkoa (where Basque is highly spoken), my local friend @sararanburu asked for directions in Basque, and when she realized that the other (quite young*) couldn't understand her, she just said "she not from here" and desisted. I thought that was impressive. I would have just switched to Spanish or assumed that she was from the Spanish-speaking population.🤷‍♀️

I also managed to change the language of some friendships to Basque. Long story short, we realized that we wanted to preserve Basque and were up for a change. That also encouraged our surroundings to embrace its presence.⚘️

Minorized languages won't revitalize themselves, so we know what to do. Meanwhile, borrokak darrai (the fight continues).

Eskerrak @anna.argazkiak for encouraging me to talk about it! 🫶

Do you challenge yourself?⁉️

I READ YOU BELOW! ⤵️ 💬

Original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwDoqc9RLqj/?igsh=MXRtMzFkY29oN3BwdA==