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TAPE
MINUTE SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Tape 1
Side 1
0-5:00 Marcelina’s mother was a Laka, from Amoroto, Bizkaia. She was born in 1924, and has 5 living siblings and 3 deceased (she lists where they currently live). Marcelina is the third eldest child in the family. She went to school until the war began; her teacher became a nurse for the combatants and the school was closed. Her baserri’s name was Elorraran, but no one lives there anymore. The family used to rent the farmhouse, but since the owner died, the new owner refuses to sell the house to be renovated. If the baserri is not repaired, Marcelina is afraid the house will fall down (no one has lived there since 1971). During her school days, Marcelina went to class in the morning and her sister went in the afternoon, so that an older girl would always be at home to help care for the children and tend to the cows. Her mother was always at home working. When they were old enough, Marcelina’s brothers worked in a sawmill. Her first job outside the house was as a maid in Elorrio for 4 years, then again in Bilbao for 14 years.
5-10:00 In Elorrio, Marcelina worked for the Alegria family; the man of the house was president of the Alvarez-Gallastegui manufacturing company. She went to Elorrio when she was 16. With 8 children in the family and a baserri that could not support them all, everyone had to start their careers early. Marcelina says she did not grow up in times where pets roamed the house; the floors had to be shined by hand! In Bilbao, she worked for the Ormazabal family for 3 years, and they lived behind the ultra-chic Carlton Hotel. She cooked, cleaned house, and took care of two newborn babies. This proved to be too much work for Marcelina; she fell ill, and left the family. She was 35 when she finally got married—39 years ago on 1 August 1998.
10-14:30 After her marriage, Marcelina lived in Amoroto for a bit, then moved to the US in October of the same year. Her husband was a 1st generation American Basque; his parents were from Amoroto. The couple bought a dairy farm, and Marcelina worked there all the time—more than in Euskadi, she quips! She’s sure her sisters back in the Basque Country had an easier life. Marcelina and her husband used to have 100 cattle, about a quarter of which were dairy. The couple’s initial plan was to stay in the US for 5 years and return to Euskadi, but plans soon changed. When she first came to Idaho, Marcelina thought she had come to a jail! [Throughout all this, she laughs periodically—she can obviously look back at all that work without bitterness]. Her husband had a sister who ran a boarding house in Boise, and a brother in Ontario. He also had an uncle in Gooding. Marcelina came to the US in October, and by mid-December, she moved to her new ranch in Dietrich. They lived 12 years on the dairy, the sold it, then spent 19 years in Wendell before finally buying her current home in Twin Falls 8 years ago.
14:30-19:00 Marcelina understands quite a bit of English today, but she never really needed to speak it much. Even though there are fewer now, there used to be many Basque people in her area. There were even some good family friends there from Amoroto. During the first few years, she brought English-speaking friends with her to doctor appointments and such, but after a while, her doctor hired an assistant of Basque ancestry who spoke Spanish. She always went to the store with her husband, who was an American, and therefore spoke English. If it weren’t for all this help, her life would have been very tough. Marcelina was pregnant when she traveled to the US, and it was not a pleasant journey for her. She discusses her very long and difficult first childbirth. Eight years later she had another daughter, in Shoshone.
19-24:00 Marcelina’s family used to have dinner around 6pm, then they would go over to other families’ houses to play cards, drink chocolate and socialize. She particularly enjoyed the company of her family friends from Amoroto, the Urrutias, as well as the Gogenolas (who returned to Spain). Marcelina also had people over at her house. There were no organized picnics at the time. She liked to visit friends in Gooding, but was not a member of the Basque club there. The number of Basques in her valley is dwindling. Since she always spoke Basque with her daughters, they are fluent today. When they went to the Basque Country 3 years ago, the family for whom she had worked as a maid picked them up, and Marcelina’s daughters spoke Basque to them quite nicely. She quips that her daughters speak better Spanish than she does—she’s always confusing Spanish and English vocabulary. Marcelina points out her parents’ baserris in Amoroto, as well as the one belonging to her husband’s family. She made her first trip back to the Basque Country in 1972, for six weeks, with her daughters. The second time was in 1978, again with both daughters. In 1995, she went for the last time, with her youngest daughter. Marcelina telephones her family in Euskadi for special occasions.
24-30:00 Marcelina has never learned how to drive, because she never needed to. She goes to church every weekend. The family used to go to Spanish mass, but now they go to English mass, even though she doesn’t quite understand it. She finds it easier to read printed text that English handwriting. Marcelina used to sew her own clothes. When she owned the dairy, she was always working in the dirt; now her chores are a bit less messy. She discusses Edurne Gabiola, her friend-and-sister-in-law, who recently died of a sudden heart attack.
Side 2
0-10:00 Marcelina discusses some of her friends and looks at a few pictures. She talks about her relatives and her husband’s—she only had one blood relative in American when she first arrived, but has made many ties since then. Marcelina compares life in the Basque Country to life in Idaho, and concludes that the latter’s tranquility is perhaps better for raising children.
10-16:00 Marcelina has friends from Gooding who returned to Lekeitio after many years in the US, but feels she is better off just staying in the US. She gives instructions to Begoña’s next interview. Marcelina talks about a big dinner her area used to have, and all the massive amounts of Basque food she helped cook.
NAMES AND PLACES
NAMES:
Alegria: family for which Marcelina worked in Elorrio
Gabiola, Edurne: Marcelina’s sister-in-law
Gogenola family: Marcelina’s friends
Laka: Marcelina’s maiden name
Ormazabal: family for which Marcelina worked in Bilbao
Urrutia family: Marcelina’s friends
PLACES:
Alvarez-Gallastegui: manufacturing company in Elorrio
Amoroto, Bizkaia
Bilbao, Bizkaia
Boise, Idaho
Carlton Hotel: chic hotel in Bilbao
Dietrich, Idaho
Elorraran: Marcelina’s childhood baserri
Elorrio, Bizkaia
Gooding, Idaho
Ontario, Oregon
Shoshone, Idaho
Twin Falls, Idaho
Wendell, Idaho
THEMES:
Baserri life
Boardinghouses
Childbirth
Clubs and organizations, Basque
Cookery, Basque
Education
Immigration
Language acquisition
Language and languages
Picnicking
Ranching
Religion
Sewing
Spanish Civil War
Travel