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Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The II Basque-Brazilian week had a very Basque flavor, especially Bizkaian and Argentinean, that resulted in a successful collaboration and understanding among Basques from different parts of the world.  This week’s festivities that included activities such as mus, film, food and music left everyone involved with a great taste in their mouths.

The festivities began on Monday the 17 with a talk at the Tremembé Cultural Center and the inauguration of the mus tournament that was played during the week.  The winning team was Jesus Collado and Thiago Parddal Stella.  On Tuesday the Basque club held a talk on Basque culture at an area school, and on Wednesday there was a movie screening in Tremembe.

Visit from Argentina

On Thursday the 20 a delegation from the Villa Mercedes Basque club in Argentina arrived, lead by its president Julio Vicente Esnaola.  The group enjoyed a welcome dinner at the Alcazar restaurant.

On Friday the 21 there was a lunch prepared by the students at the Restaurante Escola (Restaurant School) of the Municipal Chamber of Sao Paulo located in the Anchieta Palace.  “Jose de Anchieta was a Basque Jesuit who founded the city of Sao Paulo,” Oskar Goitia, president of the organizing Basque club explained to EuskalKultura.com.  “This project welcomes underserved youth and provides scholarships for them to study gastronomy.  In the afternoon, the visiting Bizkaian chefs gave a lecture to the enthusiastic students at the Restaurant School.

Concert by the Camerata de la Luna

At night the Argentinean choral group, Camerata de la Luna, part of the Euskal Etxea in Villa Mercedes gave a magnificent concert at the Cathedral da Se.  “The audience was amazed by the high degree of professionalism and beauty of their repertoire and interpretation.  There were classic religious pieces as part of their program as well as Brazilian, Argentinean and international music including various songs in Basque,” Goitia said.

The president of the Eusko Brasildar Etxea was honored with a coat of arms of the city of Villa Mercedes, made out of leather, on behalf of the choir.  The evening concluded with a typical Brazilian dinner and then attendees went on their way to “enjoy the night life of the big metropolis of Sao Paulo,” according to Goitia.

Closing Dinner

The week concluded with a closing dinner in which the entire Bizkaian delegation participated as well as representatives for the Town Hall of Bilbao, that were on a trade mission in Brazil.  The four chefs and the sommelier who accompanied them were in charge of the dinner: Daniel García (Zortziko), Ricardo Pérez (Yandiola), José Miguel Olazabalaga (Andra Mari) and Beñat Ormaetxea (Jauregibarria) and sommelier Mikel Garaizabal.

The delegation was led by the Deputy of Economic Promotion, Imanol Pradales, the Provincial directors of Promotion Abroad, Gabino Martinez de Arenaza, and Innovation, Gorka Estebez, as well as the director of Bilbao Ekintza, Juan Felix Madariaga.  There were nearly 100 people of Basque origin at the event based in Sao Paulo, as well as visitors from the Villa Mercedes Basque club and personalities from the world of economics, and business from the Brazilian city.  The Camerata de la Luna choir also sang during dinner.

During the closing acts, Imanol Pradales thanked the presidents and members of these euskal etxeak “for their important work,” that they did to “maintain the culture, the Basque language and the Basque traditions throughout the world.”  He also urged them to “Become places to boost trade and business relations between Bizkaia, Euskadi and Brazil.”

On Sunday, there was a typical Brazilian feijoada that was the last event of the week, following mass that was celebrated at the cathedral by Cardinal Archbishop of Sao Paulo Dom Odilo.