Basque Oral History Project

Chronicler: Interviewer: Location: Date:	Florentina "Flora" Sabala Laragan Daniel and David Chertudi Twin Falls, Idaho 20 August 2002

	Flora was born 31 October 1919 in Twin Falls, Idaho, to Francisco Sabala and Florentina Yrazabal. She details the lives of her parents, and discusses their immigrations to America. Flora was young when her mother passed away, but her father refused to put his children up for adoption, instead running a boarding house by himself to support his family. She paints a vivid picture of the eventful childhood she had at the house, where she learned Basque and attended many dances. After school, Flora worked at her father's boarding house, then at a local laundry with her brother, before finally going to Ketchum to work at a dry cleaning operation there. It was around this time that she met her husband Joe, and the couple was married in 1946. She then helped him with his wholesale gas and oil company until their retirement. Today, Flora remains active in Idaho Basque culture. She and her husband have made two trips to the Basque Country, and she describes her emotion at seeing the house where her mother was born. Flora feels both strongly American and strongly Basque.
Florentina Laragan	Read the interview summary