London Basque Society - Euskal Elkartea

Updates June 2009

Trip to Ivinghoe Beacon...Wonderful day in Beachy Head last time despite the gloomy weather outlook - which proved wrong for the most part. After Beachy Head, the Basque Society is arranging a summer kick-off day trip to Ivinghoe Beacon in Hertfordshire on July 5th, Sunday. It consists of a 7 mile/13 km long circular route (some 3h30) with panoramic views, clear trails, art works, gentle slopes and model aeroplanes taking off on ramps by the path.

We will be leaving by car in the morning from London, ideally do the whole walk round and come back to London by roughly 6 pm. As pointed out on the previous trip, Basque "mintza praktika" (conversation) for Basque students will be included. In order to sign up, email us, and we will contact you. Jaso agur bero bat...

Scholarship for members of the Basque Diaspora...We have been contacted by Eusko Ikaskuntzaren Asmoz Fundazioa. They are letting us know about these grants/scholarships available for members of the Basque Diaspora (Basque citizens or their descendants living away from the Basque Country). We enclose the original message below. Contact us if you are interested but you are having problems understanding this information.

"Eusko Ikaskuntzaren Asmoz Fundaziotik zuregana zuzentzen naiz, Hezkuntzarako Unibertsitate Nazionalak (UNED-ak) eta Euskal Herriko Unibertsitateak (UPV/EHU-ak) antolatutako Eusko Ikasgaietan Aditua: Zientzia Gizatiarrak, Gizatartekoak eta Naturalak Graduondokoaren berri emateko eta informazio hau lehendakari zaren Euskal Etxeko Web-orrialdean argitaratzeko eskaera egiteko...." Gehiago irakurri...

"Me dirijo a usted desde la Fundación Asmoz de Eusko Ikaskuntza con el fin de darle a conocer el Postgrado de Estudios Vascos: Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Naturales organizado conjuntamente por la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) y la Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), así como para solicitarle publique esta información en la página Web del Centro Vasco que preside..." Leer más...

We have also been contacted regarding these two seminars soon to come in London. We thought they might be of interest to many of you.

The Basque Country and Northern Ireland: Self-Determination, Proscription and Human Rights in the EU

They have been organised by CAMPACC, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, Statewatch and Basque Solidarity Campaign. The details of these seminars are:

• Seminar 1: The Right to Self Determination and Conflict Resolution in the EU
  Thursday June 25th, 6.30-8.30pm. Room SGO1, College of Law, 14 Store Street WC1 (Goodge St.station).

  Speakers: Bill Bowring (Professor or Law, Birkbeck College ), Urko Aiartza (Attorney and a member of Eskubideak, the Basque Lawyers Association), Séanna Walsh (Head of Cultural Department, Sinn Fein)

• Seminar 2: Proscription and Human Rights in the EU
  Thursday July 9th, 6.30-8.30pm, Birkbeck College, Clore Building, Torrington Square, WC1 (Russell Square station).

  Speakers: Ben Hayes (Associate Director, Statewatch), Julen Arzuaga (Behatokia Human Rights Observatory, Basque Country), Alex Fitch (Peace in Kurdistan Campaign & CAMPACC).

Entrance is free! All welcome!

Further information: www.campacc.org.uk or estella24@tiscali.co.uk
Tel: 020 7586 5892 www.haldane.org / www.statewatch.org
Basque Solidarity Campaign askida.net@googlemail.com

Trip to Beachy Head - Sunday, June 7th... The Basque Society is arranging a day trip to Beachy Head (Eastbourne) on June 7, Sunday. Breathtaking scenery with high white cliffs overlooking the sea and a beautiful walk along beaten paths and rolling hills. Not a demanding route, while a short stretch leading to the beach may be quite steep (optional). Basque learning individuals are all invited too, Basque conversation or mintza-praktika will be included in the package. We are to leave from London in the morning in cars, get to Eastbourne, do the walk, have a casual lunch and back in the afternoon. Please sign up for the trip by emailing us, and let us know your area in London. Further details will be provided. See you there, jaso agur bero bat!

3rd six-side football tournament "Amistad Latina"... We are looking for a eight football players to take part in the 3rd six-side tournament "Amistad Latina". The tournament is organised by "Los Siempre Secos", a chilean-peruvian colective in London, with the intention of promoting fraternity between all nations, specially between Chile and Peru. All the benefits of the tournament go to the Victor Jara's Festival in Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4706799.stm

http://www.elsuenoexiste.com/esefestival.html

Saturday, June 27th 11 AM
Ferndale Community Sport Centre
Nursery Road, Brixton, SW9 8PB

After the tournament, we will meet with the other teams, in the pub, for a public linch of the referee(s).

If you want to participate, please, contact: askida.net@gmail.com

Come along to see the Euskal Etxea Football Team in action. Bring friends, food and drinks. We will make a party of the day.

"A Canterbury tale..." On Sunday the 26th of April, the Euskara ikasleak were invited to Canterbury by their spiritual leader. No, not the Archbishop of Canterbury, but our own St Gorka of Roman, phd. During the pilgrimage to his shrine (home), the ikasleak were treated to a tour of all the sites of that marvellous and wonderful medieval city (the cathedral, canals, chocolate box tudor buildings, etc). Of course, the ikasleak did their very best throughout the day to speak the one and true language, in order to please St Gorka. Later on in the day, as he was pleased with their herculean efforts, he honoured them with his superb barbequing skills. They all feasted and drunk merrily until they were all stuffed and very drunk! Well, maybe not very drunk but definitely very merry! As the day drew to an end, St Gorka decided to drive his flock and his trusted and faithful friend (Elur, the blond mastiff) to the beautiful Kentish seaside resort of Whitstable. There, everybody relaxed and stretched their wary legs on the pebbly beach, whilst taking in the healthy yet chilly North sea air. All in all, it was a joyous day out and all the ikasleak would like to wish Gorka and Iratxe a safe journey back home to Euskalherria and a very happy future. See you both in August!*

*Note by the administrator: The Euskara students will be visiting Euskal Herria this summer on a trip organised by them and the Society's teacher...

More photos of this trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/karregi18/Canterbury2009#

Football 5-A-SIDE, London...Well, it might have been due to this recent Cup final, but we have been contacted about organising a 5-A-SIDE football team. As some of you might know, we used to have a football team playing a London official league quite a few years ago, so it seems to us a great idea to take on that again and help to organise either a 5-A-SIDE team or a full team (11 players), as we used to have back then. Depending on the response, we will see what and where we play.

We are at the moment gathering all the information about this, so If you are interested in getting together with some other people from the Society, or just some friends of ours, to play in a team some local league, please do contact us. Please make the subject of your message "football team" for quick identification.

Summer-time euskara "mintza praktikak"...Now that the academic year is coming to an end, the Euskara students have shown their interest in keeping up with their practicing speaking Euskara, so we have thought of organising some mintza praktikak throughout the summer. There are some ideas being developed at the moment, but it would be interesting to know if any of our Basque people/speakers staying in London would be able and willing to give us all a hand by coming and helping the students to practice with conversation. We all know how hard it is practicing Euskara in London, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Please contact the Society if you can help us organise this an afternoon every 2 weeks or so...

Membership renewal...now open!!! You can help the Society by becoming a member. Absolutely anyone supporting the goals of the Society can become a member and we will be, indeed, glad to have you with us. We are working hard on overcoming the latest problems the Society has been facing and we want to thank you all for your support. Remember, this Society is open to collaborations and we are always ready to work with you...Click here to become a member now!!!

Message board...send us a message so we can publish it on this website!!!...click here to access the message board

Previous updates

Update May 2009 - 2

Update May 2009 - 1

Update March 2009 - 1

Update March 2009 - 2

Update February 2009

Update Winter 2008

Screening of Nomadak TX in Bethnal Green - Nomadak TX-en filme-emanaldia Bethnal Greenen

On December 13th, 2008, a screening of the acclaimed Nomadak TX was held at the Scott Room in Oxford House to good acclaim of the punters despite a slight delay on the scheduled time... click here to learn more

Basque lessons - Euskara klaseak 2008-2009 now on!!!...click to learn more