On Friday morning we first set out for Ispaster.  Ispaster is a small town about 3 miles west of Lekeitio.  It is where Benita’s mother’s family was from.   

We have records of over 200 ancestors who were baptized or married in the Church San Miguel Arcangel in Ispaster.  Like many of the Churches, it was locked but we were able to find someone to let us in.

Shortly after noon we headed out to find Mendata and it’s town hall, and that is where the excitement really started.

We went to the town hall to look for a particular marriage record and the people there were all so helpful.  Even the Mayor jumped in to help out.  The record we needed turned out to be one year older than when civil records had started.  We told them of our goals and they found the address and directions to the Mendata town hall for us.  Below is a picture of the town hall and one of the very helpful staff there.

We talked with people in the town square and were able to find a few which shared our ancestors names and which were probably relatives, but fairly far back.  Troy made the comment “You can’t swing a cat around here without hitting a relative.”

One interesting thing to note about the Basque is the importance of their houses (casas, caserios).  The houses themselves actually have names which stay the same, even when the house is sold (see picture below for example).  When we were looking for Jesus Ontathua the day before, we would ask people and they would not be sure where he lived.  But when we told then he lived in the house Zubieta (Caserio Zubieta), they would say “Sure, that house is about a mile up the road, and to the left, etc...”  Benita and all her family were born in the Caserio Urquiza which is no longer owned by the family (there are pictures in the next report), but everyone in the area knows the location of the houses, even when they do not know very well the current inhabitants of the house.

Another adventure in Spain is the parking, especially in the larger cities and villages.  The picture below is not uncommon, as people just gently nudge the cars in front and behind them and fit in spaces that we would never imagine here.

Valerie in Ispaster

Spain Trip - Morning, Friday, May 27