Sodupe is a small town of less than 3000 people but very old history. The town is so old that its language almost died and it is now coming back with force. That means that the language is being taught in schools for the first time in a long time. The amazing dynamism of language in town is that there is a host of new immigrants to Sodupe from a host of countries such as Ukraine most recently, Kenyans, Nigerians, Moroccans, Pakistanis and Nigerians. The Nigerians and Pakistanis have already opened food businesses importing food from their home countries.
The population of Basques population is declining and the local government is offering generous incentives for families to have children. The Basque region is hunting for numbers in its population in order to have enough people to qualify for self rule.
It will be interesting to see the culture of the town changing in real time but also observing how that change is being largely influenced by global events happening thousands of miles away from the sleepy hamlet largely due to problems related to the empire building that started almost 600 years ago. While the Spaniards explored distant lands, disrupting those communities and enslaving many as free Labor, some of those communities are proving to be a lifeline in their very reverse migration. I wonder how it will all play out as the future town, and the country at large, becomes darker in hue but also in culture.
I thought about rapid change at a local tiny vegetable shop that was probably the forerunner of the modern day supermarket when the attendant pointed out that they preferred that I don’t touch the vegetables. The protocol is that I should have pointed out what I wanted and the attendant picks it for me, weigh it and pack it for me. The supermarket just across the street has already moved to the free style shopping where everyone can pick their vegetables.
The changes in linguistic landscape also marks an even greater change in culinary landscape. It would be an interesting discipline combining linguistics and culinary and how they influence each other. My hosts speak 5 languages in a house of 3. Here is one city in need of a food literacy campaign to move consciously towards a future that is convoluted in serious ways. It’s an issue that they will need to address sooner than later. But one thing is for sure, they will have to face and balance diverse interests.