Tximeletak hondartzan

Adela’s mother made her way from Colombia to Hernani, a small town in the Basque Country, pregnant and all on her own, and since then mother and daughter have lived in a room in an apartment they share with another family. During the day, Adela spends her time in school and playing outside, and at night she huddles with her mother in their single bed.

The summer after Adela turns eight, her mother overrides her protestations and takes her to Zarautz, where she has a job at Izaskun and Asier’s beach house. On her first afternoon there, Adele meets Ane and her artist grandmother at the waterfront.
They’ll spend five unforgettable days together, and Ane’s digital camera, a gift from her grandfather, will be witness to the friends’ adventures: the blind man, the vineyards, the treasure hunter with the metal detector, the box for Adela’s father…

Two butterflies appear in one of Ane’s photographs. The beach becomes a great desert for the two friends, who fly over it, towards the shoreline. When the two girls are engulfed by the roar of the waves, they look to the poor butterflies with fear, but the butterflies continue playing at the edge of the infinite ocean.

This story has been woven from two threads; the warp comprises the experiences of my students, and the weft is based on four paintings by Carmen Miranda: painter, art lover, founder of the Gerediaga Association and the Durango Fair, and traveling companion to Leopoldo Zugaza during all the projects they’ve embarked upon together.

The two threads were woven together little by little, using carefully chosen words to create a very special fabric: Adela’s and Ane’s story.