Saturday, February 23, 2013

Cultural Differances


The Basque people do not consider themselves to be a part of Spanish culture.  They are seen as separate and mysterious, with an entirely different language and culture. 
Some of the most prominent differences between Spanish and Basque culture are in arts and music, language, sports, and food.  Music in the Basque Country involves singing as a choir, playing of the tambourine, drums, tixistu (flute) and txalaparta (xylophone.)  When it comes to art, working with metals, especially gold and silver, has been practiced for a long time.  Additionally, work with leather and fabric is valued.  Basque sports focus on demonstrating strength ability through exercises such as stone lifting and dragging as well as log cutting.  Because of the Basque’s long history will boat constuction, longboat regatta races are also popular for sport.  Basque cuisine is heavy with seafood, including cod, bream, hake and squid.  Besides seafood, the Basque people prepare a lot of stews, especially with lamb, steak, mushrooms and beans.  There is a tradition in the Basque County called “txikiteos,” which involves eating pintxos (similar to hors d’oevres) and drinking tixikitos (wine) at different locations throughout the night.  However, the most obvious difference between the Spanish people and the Basque people is their language.  While Castilian Spanish is spoken throughout the rest of the country, the Basque language is extremely dissimilar.  

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