Gobierno Vasco

Gobierno Vasco is the institution behind the call informing the Narrator that she has been awarded the Euskadi Prize. Its presence links a formal public honor to a period when motherhood has largely absorbed her attention, and the award brings her family to Vitoria, where the Narrator first visits Armentia.

The Award Call

In the autumn, after the Narrator had struggled to bring Erik into the third weight percentile—the boundary she describes as normal—she received an unexpected telephone call during the family’s usual twenty-minute morning nap. Expecting a telemarketer, she answered irritably. Instead, a nervous voice said it was calling on behalf of Gobierno Vasco’s Department of Culture to tell her about the prize. Her startled response did not derail the caller, who continued with the practical details.

The Ceremony and Its Formalities

Accepting the award meant attending a press conference and, a few weeks later, the presentation ceremony. The Narrator was also expected to make a speech and pose for photographs; the lehendakari and the Culture councillor would be present, followed by a small reception. Both official occasions were to take place in Vitoria. The Narrator’s immediate question was why she had been given the prize for that particular book, a question that shifts the exchange from administrative arrangements to the work being recognized.

The Vitoria Visit

In November of the year of the events, the award brought the Narrator, Niclas, and Erik to Vitoria. Niclas changed his afternoon classes with a colleague so they could attend as a family. The Narrator’s father travelled separately and arrived later; her mother could not find an affordable flight. The Narrator reassured her that the ceremony was only a formality and that they could celebrate on her next visit. Before the ceremony, despite the heavy rain, the Narrator persuaded Niclas to make a brief visit to Armentia. Gobierno Vasco’s award thus supplied the immediate reason for a journey that also became the Narrator’s first encounter with the neighborhood.