Our first morning we explored Lekeitio and happened upon our first distant relative, Domingo, in the tourism office.  We share a 4th great grandfather on Benita's mothers side (Barainka).  Our cousin's name is Domingo Goitia Barainka.  

Below is the square in front of the tourist office in Lekeitio, including the Church La Ascencion de Nuestra Senora, where a number of relatives were baptized or married.

We spent some quality time with them, but the Uribarris they knew about were related from the distant past (7th great grand-parent connection).  Like many Basques, he was very proud of his Basque heritage and had plenty of hugs for us when he knew that we were also Basque.  We then headed home plenty tired after a good day.  Little did we know how blessed we would be the next day.

We then set out to find the Church Santo Tomas Apostol in the town of Arratzu (Arrazua in Spanish) where Benita and all her family were baptized.   Benita was born in the township of Mendata, which is about 2 miles south of Arrazua and the Church.  Although the Church in Mendata (San Miguel) was closer to the home of Benita, they were apparently assigned to the parish of Santo Tomas Apostol (Saint Thomas the Apostle).    We found it and below are pictures of the Church Santo Tomas Apostol.

The church was locked but we found a kind lady next door who had the key and she let us in and showed us all around.  Her name was Josefina Uriarte.  Below is the baptismal font where Benita and her family were all baptized.  

Below is another picture inside the church

Below is a view of the Church from the hill in Mendata just above Benita's house (taken 2 days later but I thought I would slip it in here since we are showing the Church).

Josefina even let us look at the baptismal books and we were able to find some more records of our relatives in that.  We told her of our plight and she suggested that we visit with an 80 year old gentlemen named Jesus Ontathua who supposedly new all the local stories and perhaps would know where our Uribarri family was.  He lived a couple miles away and after a bit of search we found his wife.  He was taking his siesta at the time.  Things close down from 2pm-5pm there.  So we drove down to Guernica (about 5 miles away) for a late lunch.  Across the street from where we ate was an outdoor rental shop named after Uribarri (perhaps a relative if we looked back far enough, but they were closed since it was the mid-day).  Everything opens up again at 5pm, although most restaurants do not open for dinner until 8:30 or 9:00pm.

After returning we had a great visit with Jesus and his wife and they were extremely friendly.

Spain Trip - Thursday, May 26

Troy, Domingo, Ramon, Tony , Valerie

Ramon, Josefina Uriarte, Valerie, Troy

Mrs. Ontathua, Valerie, Tony, Ramon, Jesus Ontathua, Troy