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Organized by the Etorritakoengatik Basque Club in Puerto Madryn, the second meeting of Euskal Etxeas in Patagonia gathered representatives from the Basque clubs in Viedma-Patagones, Comodoro Rivadavia, Neuquén (Comahue Euskal Etxea), San Martin de los Andes and the local club.  Participants made a positive evaluation of the activity and planned the next meeting for April 2017, in Neuquen. 

Puerto Madryn, Argentina.   Even if the invitation extended for the entire weekend, September 23-25, the main activities of the second meeting of Euskal Etxeas in Patagonia took place on Saturday the 24.  In addition to the members of the hosting club, there were also representatives from Beti Aurrera Euskal Etxea from Viedma and Carmen de Patagones; the Comahue Euskal Etxea, in Neuquen, Euskal Txokoa from San Martin de los Andes; and the Euskal Echea Associaton, in Comodoro Rivadavia.  The Mendiko Eusko Etxe that did attend in June in San Martin de los Andes, wasn’t able to attend due to a conflict of events.

At the meeting, representatives revisited themes discussed at the first meeting, always in hopes of advancing activity development that is so important to the Basque clubs in Patagonia.  In this context, the Euskal Txokoa in San Martin de los Andes presented the Udaleku that they will host in the beginning of 2017.  According to a representative of Etorritakgoengatik, Diana Lleonart Albertd, they continue to work, as at the first meeting “in the areas of strengthening regional ties.  In reality, each Basque club is very similar, since each is separated from the others by hundreds of kilometers across Patagonia.  We count on the meeting to bear fruit from our common effort. That is why we have planned another meeting in Neuquen in April of 2017.”

Basque Dinner in Patagonia

To welcome their guests, the hosts organized a dinner for their members and guests.  The local sukaldaris prepared garlic shrimp and hake, with ice cream for dessert.  To give the dinner a touch of color, the dantzaris from the Euskal Echea in Comodoro Rivadavia, performed after travelling expressly for this purpose.

The Etorritakoengatik Basque Club was very satisfied with the event.  In the words of Diana Lleonart Alberdi, “the organization of this meeting took a lot of effort on behalf of the Euskal Etxea, and they knew how to do so well, and did the event justice.  We would like to especially thank the dantzaris from the Comodoro Rivadavia Basque Club for having danced at dinner and the Galician and Spanish Associations for allowing us to use their facilities where we held the meeting and the dinner.”