My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

Citizen of the World
My Memoirs
Frederico (Fred) Pacheco
Tower Tower of of Belem, Lisbon Statue of Liberty, NY
NY

Citizen of the World
My Memoirs
5
Frederico (Fred) Pacheco
Bristol
Rhode Island
2011

Citizen of the World - My Memoirs
Copyright © 2011 by Frederico (Fred) Pacheco
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing by the author.
Editor: Diana Botelho Campbell
Cover Design by: Lindsay Green
Printed by: Senco Printing, Inc.
15 Shaw Street, Fall River, MA
To order copies of this book, please go to
www.citizenworldtravel.net
or send e-mail to: fredpacheco@cox.net
Or write to:
Fred Pacheco
555 Metacom Avenue
Bristol, Rhode Island 02809 USA

I dedicate this book to my four grandchildren,
Sara Elizabeth Cabral
Sofia Elena Cabral
Isabel Sofia Brennan-Pacheco
Nicolas Alexandre Alexander Brennan-Pacheco

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ................................................................ 3 3
Preface Preface .................................................................................... 9 5
Introduction ............................................................................ 7
Introduction 11
My Family Story .................................................................... 9
My Family Story 13
My Family’s New Life ......................................................... 39
My Family’s New Life 43
Starting My Own Family ..................................................... 63
Starting My Own Family 67
My Life in America .............................................................. 81
My Life in America 85
My Travel Experiences Around the World ......................... 165
My Epilogue Travel Experiences ............................................................................. around the World 169 243
Epilogue About the Author................................................................ 247 245
About the Editor 249

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My wife, Deodete Raimundo Pacheco
My wife, daughter, Deodete Angela Raimundo Pacheco Pacheco Cabral
My daughter, son, Dr. Paulo Angela Alexandre Pacheco Pacheco Cabral
My son, Dr. Paulo Alexandre Pacheco
Denise Asciola
Denise Louis P. Asciola Cirillo
Louis Dr. Manuel P. Cirillo Luciano da Silva
Dr. Forrest Manuel Edwards Luciano da Silva
Forrest Dr. Edward Edwards Iannuccili
Dr. Marie Edward Knapman Iannuccili
Marie Joseph Knapman Parella
Joseph Professor Parella Rubens D’Almeida Pavão
Professor Joan Prescott Rubens D’Almeida Pavão
Joan Kenneth Prescott Rounds
Kenneth Louis Linda Victorino Silveira
Rounds
Louis Dr. Vassil Victorino and Olga Zlatarski
Dr. Vassil and Olga Zlatarski
Cover design by Lindsay Green
Cover design by Lindsay Green
3

The Modern Magellan!
PREFACE
Frederico (Fred) Pacheco was born in the heart of the North
Atlantic in 1935. The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of
nine islands of volcanic origin. Two hundred million years ago,
the American continent began separating from Europe and in this
process the middle Atlantic ridge gave origin to the nine islands of
the Azores. This is the reason why all of the island have frequent
tremors, earthquakes and even live volcanoes. These geological
conditions have made a great impact on the psychological makeup
of its people. All of the islands are gorgeous, but most of the
people want to emigrate. This is the reason why we find Azoreans
in every country of the world. Their preference is North America
or Brazil. Fred Pacheco’s desire, since he was a teenager, was to
follow the way to the American Continent: drifting toward the
west. He really wanted to come to America. I did not want to
come to America. He enjoyed learning English. I hated it! Yet
we have many things in common.
When his family moved to Angra do Heroismo, the capital of
Terceira Island, he soon managed to find work in the American
Air Force Base at Lajes in the same island. He became an expert
translator, attained an official position and even won scholarships
to come to the USA to take special courses in Human Relations.
He realized that if he ever migrated to the USA he would need to
know the English language well. He was smart to make this
decision for when he finally immigrated to this country; he had no
difficulty starting any kind of job. His many business successes
and his community activities permitted him to attain fulfillment of
life in this great country. His qualities of leadership together with
his dynamic personality made him an outstanding American citizen
5

of Portuguese extraction. He has become a true example that you
can be a good immigrant and at the same time become a productive
American citizen. Fred Pacheco can also be proud of his
achievements honoring his family, his country of origin and also
his adopted country, the USA.
I have accomplished many things together with Fred Pacheco. His
cooperation has always been most important to me. We have had a
common interest in helping the Portuguese-American community
in cultural and historical activities. I am proud and pleased that
Fred Pacheco has been one of my most faithful friends for more
than forty years.
For more than twenty years he has wanted to publish this book
about his travels and the story of his family. I want to be the first
one to congratulate him on this achievement. He has written this
book with enthusiasm, passion and patriotism! It is a humble and
honest autobiography. It records his odyssey as an immigrant and
I foresee it will become an historical reference for generations of
immigrants to come!
My warmest congratulations to Fred on this inspiring work,
describing his many trips, together with his wife, when they visited
more than one hundred countries all over the world. We are made
jealous by the so many wonders of our planet that they have seen!
Fred has been indeed a modern Magellan!
Manuel Luciano da Silva, M. D.
Physician and Historian
Inducted into the RI Hall of Fame
6

INTRODUCTION
I was born and raised on a small island in the Azores, Portugal in
the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. As I grew up, I was always
fascinated by people’s autobiographies and memoirs, their stories,
their heritage, customs and their life before television, computers,
GPS, and cell phones.
So as I have lived in many different places, traveled to 104
countries and gone through many of my own difficulties, failures,
disappointments and successes, I feel that I have a story to tell, so
that my children, grandchildren and others might learn from my
experiences.
Over the years, I have collected newspaper clippings, photographs,
artifacts and made many notes of my neighborhood experiences
and career, during my lifetime, from my beginnings until
immigrating to the United States, at age 32 with a wife and two
young children, where I started my life all over again in a totally
different environment, which gave me the chance to attain the
“American Dream”.
This is my story, which I share with you and others who may one
day be inspired to write their own memoirs. After all, anyone who
physically and emotionally emerges through childhood has
something about which to write.
I chose this anecdotal approach, sometimes out of sequence, as I
recollected the episodes and experiences of my life. These are the
pieces of the puzzle that constitutes my legacy.
7

The Kidnapping of My Mother
MY FAMILY STORY
My father was Manuel da Ponte Pacheco, Junior. He was born on
August 4, 1900 in the Parish of São Roque. My mother was Maria
da Encarnação Moniz. She was born on March 25, 1913 in the
Parish of Sāo José, both in the county of Ponta Delgada, Island of
Sāo Miguel in the Azores, a group of nine islands in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean. The islands were discovered by the Portuguese
Navigator, Gonçalo Velho Cabral in 1432. They are located
approximately 800 miles from the mainland Lisbon and 2000 miles
from Boston.
My father was thirteen years older than my mother. He was a
young businessman, an entrepreneur, with a reputation as a bon
vivant, known for an extravagant life style, which was not very
common in those days, especially on such a peaceful island.
My father making a speech at the Governor’s office
9

In addition to the age difference, my maternal grandmother did not
approve of my father’s lifestyle or her daughter’s courtship with
my father. He was considered an experienced “fox” for his time.
Nevertheless he loved my mother very much and devised a plan to
run away with her. According to my beloved mother, he
convinced her to wait for him early one morning on the day that
she was supposed to put the garbage out. He told her to wait for
him to pick her up and that they would run away together.
And that’s exactly what happened. My father drove his nice car,
very unusual because there were very few cars in the Azores at the
time. He picked her up and took her to his mother’s house in Sāo
Roque,
Rogue, a little town a couple of miles from my mother’s house in
Rua dos Capas, No. 4 in the center of the capital city of Sāo
Miguel, the largest island in the Azores archipelago, with a current
population of approximately 130 thousand people -- more than half
the population of all the other eight
islands put together. The total
population of the Azores
Archipelago today is about 242,620
people.
The year was 1934 and in those
days, my parent’s created a terrible
scandal! Naturally my father’s plan
was to sleep with my mother,
regardless of the gossip and the talk
of the town, but my paternal
grandmother Conceição Roque,
who was a “saint”, would not allow
them to sleep together until they
married, which they did a couple of
months later in the Church of São
10

Roque. During that whole time, there was no communication
between my maternal grandmother and my mother.
My Childhood
Nine months after my parents
married, I was born in house No. 20
in Praia dos Santos (Beach of the
Saints) at the edge of town, a few
houses from where the famous
Pedro Pauleta, the international
soccer celebrity was born in 1973.
In later years, whenever my sisters
and I talked to my mother about her
kidnapping adventure, she always
remarked, very angrily and
defensively, “I was never alone with
your father. It’s not like today. Nor
did I have any sexual relations with
him before marriage. I always slept in the same bed with your
grandmother. This is the reason why you were born nine months
after we were married, on March 26 th , 1935.” So the story must
have been true!
I was baptized in the same church and town as my father and was
given the full name of Frederico Manuel da Ponte Pacheco. My
father was so upset with my maternal grandmother that he did not
include my mother’s maiden name, Moniz, in my name, which was
customary at the time. He used his two last names Ponte Pacheco
instead.
About a year after my birth, the family moved to the Parish of São
Pedro in Ponta Delgada, where my sister, Manuela, was born on
December 28, 1937, in a house across the street from a cheese
11

factory, Loreto. Shortly after that we moved again to Rua dos
Capa, a 5-minute walk from the center of the city, where my
younger sister, Adriana, was born on April 7 th Capas, a 5-minute walk from the center of the city, where my
, 1943. I also had a
brother who died two months after his birth. His name was Álvaro.
My parents were devastated by his loss.
When I was very young, my parents sent me to a pre-school that
was located near a marketplace called, a Praça. The market was
where families went on weekends to purchase their groceries for
the week. It was the supermarket of the day, but more like a
farmers’ market. The goods were always fresh, sold by the village
farmers who came to the city to sell their produce, which in those
days were always organic. There was also a meat market called,
Açougue da Carne, where people would wait in long lines to
purchase their meat for the week. Meat was a luxury for most of
the population, and so usually it was the rich, the professionals,
and businessmen that could afford it on a regular basis. Today the
same Praça still exists, but is much more modern with a parking
garage beneath it, but still selling fresh produce. Today, in the
Azores, most people live much better than in those days. There are
large supermarkets and the average families can afford to live
much more comfortably since the April 25 th , 1974 revolution and
the admission of Portugal into the European Union.
Family Vacations
My father’s grandparents lived in the village of Ponta Garça,
which is thirty-three kilometers from Ponta Delgada. The village
overlooked the Atlantic Ocean, which created a beautiful vision of
contrast between the very blue ocean and the very green pastures
of the village. The road along the coast was very mountainous and
steep, giving the appearance of a long lizard!
12

Once a year, our family took a vacation to Ponta Garça. It was a
big Once deal, a year, and our my family mother took would a vacation take days to to Ponta plan Garça. and prepare It was for a
big
the trip.
deal,
In
and
those
my
days,
mother
very
would
few
take
people
days
took
to
vacations
plan and prepare
away from
for
the where trip. they In lived. those days, very few people took vacations away from
where they lived.
We drove to our vacation home in my father’s old Model T Ford.
To We start drove the to car our my vacation father home used a in crank my father’s start handle old Model that would T Ford. be
To
inserted
start
in
the
a
car
hole
my
through
father
the
used
grill
a crank
area in
start
front
handle
of the
that
car.
would
And,
be
of
inserted course, we in a had hole to through stop several the grill times area along in front the way of the to car. put water And, of in
course,
the radiator
we had
to cool
to stop
the
several
engine.
times
We always
along the
had
way
to carry
to put
a few
water
jugs
in
the of water, radiator even to cool though the the engine. trip was We only always thirty-three had to carry kilometers. a few jugs If
of
we
water,
didn’t
even
have
though
the water,
the trip
the
was
car would
only thirty-three
stall and wouldn’t
kilometers.
climb
If
we up the didn’t hills have even the in water, first gear. the car Those would old stall model and cars wouldn’t did not climb have
up
fuel
the
pumps,
hills even
so sometimes
in first gear.
going
Those
up
old
the
model
incline
cars
of a
did
hill
not
would
have
fuel make pumps, the car so go sometimes backwards going because up the the gasoline incline didn’t of a hill reach would the
make
engine.
the
My
car
father
go backwards
would have
because
to let the
the
car
gasoline
roll down
didn’t
to the
reach
bottom
the
engine. of the hill. My father Then he would would have get to out let of the the car car roll and down use to the the crank bottom to
of
start
the
the
hill.
car
Then
again,
he
this
would
time
get
pressing
out of the
down
car
on
and
the
use
accelerator
the crank
so
to
start the car the could car again, climb steadily this time to pressing the top of down the hill. on the accelerator so
the car could climb steadily to the top of the hill.
Our family stayed in a large country house on a farm that belonged
Our to my family father’s stayed great in uncle a large who country was a house very on tall, a farm educated that belonged man. Tio
to
José
my
Leite
father’s
was
great
well
uncle
respected
who
in
was
his
a very
village.
tall,
At
educated
night using
man. Tio
the
José light Leite from a was petroleum well respected lamp, because in his village. there was At no night electricity, using the he
light from a petroleum lamp, because there was no electricity, he
13

taught the village children to read and write after they had spent
the day helping their parents on the farm. Children were not
required to attend school, so there were a large percentage of
illiterates in the village. My uncle was such wonderful giver and
unselfish human being.
Tio José Leite was a well-to-do farmer. He grew corn and wheat
that was baked into bread weekly. I loved to eat that bread with
butter as it emerged, still hot, from the wood fire kitchen kiln.
There were no bakeries in the small towns or villages. I also
remember that my uncle’s backyard was full of flowers, especially
beautiful daisies and had a huge apple tree full of red apples, which
were absolutely delicious. I feel nostalgic just thinking about the
wonderful peaceful times my family spent on vacation every year.
My family spent a month on vacation, which was different from
other families, especially those that faced the difficulties of having
to depend on the land and the farms that they rented and worked
for their subsistence.
Most of the farms belonged to wealthy magnates to whom the
farmers paid rent. That was how they supported their families,
providing only the minimum necessities required to feed
themselves and their children. There was no plumbing in the
houses; water was carried on their heads, on their backs in barrels
or on top of young donkeys to their homes for cooking and
bathing. But in spite of all these difficulties, that we in the city
took for granted, people were very happy with what little God
provided to them.
Living in the city, my sisters and I had no knowledge of how to
farm. My uncle would teach me and my cousin Rubens how to
plant and pick the vegetables that he planted on his farm. My uncle
also raised cattle and other animals that we enjoyed feeding and
playing with. Back in the city, the only animals we had was a little
14

poodle dog, named Niza, and an aquarium with fish. The
experiences and knowledge I learned during my childhood
vacations taught me to appreciate all that God has given to me and
my family
These are great memories for me. The people were incredibly nice
and kind to me but have long ago passed away. Whenever I travel
to the island of Sāo Miguel I make a point to drive to Ponta Garça,
to knock on doors to talk about people that still exist in my
memories from my childhood. They were beautiful human beings
that I keep in my heart, as very precious memories of my
childhood.
The Beauty of the Azores Islands
The Azores Islands were classified by National Geographic
Magazine as the second most beautiful Islands in the world. They
are a real paradise. In my travels to 104 countries, my wife and I
have seen and visited many islands all over the world and we have
yet to see any with such beautiful landscapes, greenery and
panoramas facing the beautiful blue sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
15

Recently I learned that the Azores Islands were once again rated
the Most Beautiful Region of the European Union. How marvelous
to say that I was born on such a beautiful Archipelago.
All the islands are of volcanic origin, beautiful and different. There
are a total of nine islands, with a semi-tropical climate, rich in
vegetation, beautiful trees and exquisite flowers, rare birds, crops
of all kinds, pastures with fine cattle, dairy products, fish, sugar
and tobacco factories. The island is home of the only Tea
Plantations in Europe. The sand on the beaches is very dark, much
like on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Each island has its own characteristic. The island of Sāo Miguel,
for example, where I was born, is called Ilha Verde, the Green
Island. It is largely covered with fields and meadows in the
lowlands. Its ancient laurasilva forest has mostly been replaced by
cultivated fields and imported trees and plants. There is a town
named Furnas, where there is still an active volcano in the form of
hot springs. There are three exceptionally beautiful lakes named
Sete Cidades (Seven Cities), Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake) and
Lagoa das Furnas (Caves Lake). It is not unusual for the people to
often feel the island’s tremors. The people of Sāo Miguel are very
industrious and hard working. They are most proud of their
Pineapple Plantations and the incredible taste of their pineapples.
The pineapples are grown in green houses, taking about two years
to mature enough to be consumed. The pineapples grown in Sāo
Miguel have a very distinctive taste, compared to those grown in
Hawaii, the Caribbean and South America. The Pineapple
Plantations with its greenhouses are a popular stop for tourists that
visit the island.
16

Procession Procession of Santo of Santo
Cristo Cristo in Ponta in Ponta
Delgada, Delgada, Azores Azores
“Sete “Sete Cidades” Cidades” Lake Lake in São in in São Miguel, Miguel, Azores
Azores
Volcano Volcano Crater Crater on on
the Island the Island of Corvo of Corvo
in the in Azores the Azores

My Grandmother’s Cherimoyer Tree and Other Memories
I have great memories of my neighborhood in Rua dos Capas, of
going to my grandmother’s house, climbing her fruit trees. My
grandmother grew a fruit called Anonas, a tropical fruit originally
from Peru, called in English, Cherimoyer. It is heart-shaped with a
scaly exterior, green on the outside and white on the inside with
black seeds. It’s very sweet and my favorite fruit. Unfortunately
it’s not easy to find it in North America. Once in a while, I find
this fruit at a supermarket or in New York City’s China Town.
Whenever I see it, I immediately buy it. It’s quite expensive, but
worth every penny.
My maternal grandmother Maria da Luz also had a fig tree in her
backyard that my cousins and I would climb to pick the nice big
figs that we call in Portuguese, Figos de Mel (honey figs). She got
very upset with us when we picked the fruit from the trees, because
she needed them to sell at a small market near her house in Rua da
Canada called, a Barraca do Senhor Manuel.
My grandmother was a very intelligent lady, but very tough and
stubborn. Both my grandfathers were deceased before I was born.
Although my grandmother only had four years of elementary
school, she was a great help with homework for her grandchildren.
Four years of grammar school, in those days, was quite advanced,
even compared with today’s high schools in both Portugal and the
United States. Back then many children, especially in the villages,
did not go to school because they needed to help their parents on
the farms. That’s the reason there was a great deal of illiteracy in
Portugal at that time.
17

Jardim António Borges
I have great memories of playing with my friends in a park named,
Jardim António Borges, a beautiful park that was just a short walk
away from my house, where everyone went to spend time during
the summer. The park was filled with lots of vegetation, beautiful
trees, small lakes and long underground caves, which we called,
Furnas. The caves were built by the monks who lived in Sāo
Miguel centuries ago. It was a lot of fun for my friends and I to
play in the caves because they were very dark and deep, and made
for a good adventure. The caves were long and extended up to a
church named Igreja do Colégio about a kilometer away.
In the park, there was an outside Theater/Cinema, where they
showed movies and held theater performances. I remember seeing
a very popular Portuguese movie entitled, Fado which in English
means destiny or predestination, with the famous Amália
Rodrigues, the Dean of the Portuguese Blues, at least 10 times. She
was the most famous Portuguese singer, known around the world.
There were also theater groups featuring local performers, with
talents for acting and singing. I remember one performance in
particular called, Os Papagaios, which means The Parrots. It was
wonderful. During intermission, the audience could visit booths
that sold fish cakes, French fries and boiled potatoes with lots of
pepper. Back then, there were no potato chips. I usually could
only afford a small bag of French fries, which cost 50 centavos,
equivalent to one penny today.
The Coliseum
In addition to the outdoor theater in the park, there was also a large
theater, the Coliseum, where we would go to watch American
movies with sub tittles, featuring Gary Cooper, John Wayne,
Harold Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Marylyn
18

Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Tarzan and Zorro. Across the street
from the Coliseum, there was a beer factory Melo Abreu. Before
the movie, I would visit the beer factory called, Cervejaria, with
my good friends Eduardo São Bento Furtado, George Bradford,
João Luis Albergaria, Albano Viveiros, Chico Alvares Cabral and
others to drink a mug of beer before the movie. In those days,
there was no age limit to consume alcohol. My favorite movies
were Westerns, especially Zorro.
Sometimes my friends and I didn’t have enough money to get into
the movies, so I would suggest that one of us buy a ticket, and once
inside, open one of the many gates on the side of the building, so
that the rest of the gang come in and see the movie for free. My
close friends called me “street smart” and quite a leader in that
kind of adventure.
Senhor José Bento’s Dancing School
Dancing was a very common way for people to pass the time in the
city of Ponta Delgada. Many young people of my generation
attended Senhor José Bento’s Dancing School, to learn how to
dance to the music of those days, like the Tango, the Fox Trot, the
One Step, the Passé Double, the Quadrilha, and other dances
typical of our generation. Unfortunately the young people of today
don’t enjoy ballroom dancing very much. In addition to the
dancing classes, my friends and I liked to watch the exceptionally
good dancers perform on special occasions. Senhor José Bento
would use these performances to show off to the parents. The
dancing lessons and the dances were where we got acquainted with
one another and perhaps flirted with a girl that we had a crush on.
The girls sat around the large room and the boys, approached them
to ask them to dance. Most of the time, the girls would say yes, but
sometimes they preferred someone else and would say no. This, of
19

course, was embarrassing to be refused in front our friends.
Naturally the pretty girls would be more difficult to approach for a
dance for the average adolescent boy. The girls would only agree
to dance with the most handsome boys. I definitely was not one of
those, and when a girl refused to dance with me, I would get upset,
but I would try somebody else and enjoy the rest of the evening
dancing with whoever did accept me.
Clube União Sportiva
Another place where I have great memories is the Soccer Club,
across from the Coliseum, called Clube União Sportiva. There
were only five teams in Sāo Miguel: União Sportiva, União
Micaelense, Micaelense, Maritimo and Santa Clara. Today there
are dozens of soccer clubs all over the islands of the Azores, even
in small towns outside of the cities, who compete in a regional
league, traveling to each of the nine Azores Islands. Clube União
Sportiva, close to my house, was the only club with a croquet court
that many of us played. This croquet court is an English sport and
was one of our favorite pastimes. Later the croquet court was
changed into a hockey rink named, Estádio Margarida Cabral,
where roller skating tournaments were held. The Portuguese
National Hockey team was and still is one of the best in the world,
having won many world championships -- a significant
accomplishment for a small country with ten million people.
Unfortunately, this stadium no longer exists.
The Circus
As a child, another form of neighborhood entertainment was a
circus organized by the children, complete with clowns, handwalkers,
magic tricks, high-wire walkers and other feats that we
copied and learned from the well-known circus, Circo Maravilhas
that came to perform in the Azores. We used a large garage in Rua
20

dos Capas that belonged to the parents of one of my friends. I was
usually in charge, deciding how much it would cost to watch our
performances. Naturally it was kids’ stuff, but I always had an
inclination to make money, so we charged fifty Portuguese
centavos, which was equivalent to a penny today. What a beautiful
camaraderie and fun we had!
I also remember going to Mata da Doca, a large parcel of land,
where today’s Ponta Delgada airport is located, named after Pope
John Paul II. That’s where I went to play soccer with my friends.
We also played soccer on the street. In those days, we didn’t have
real soccer balls, which were only used at the organized clubs, so
we used rubber balls and sometimes balls made out of old socks or
our mother’s stockings.
Unfortunately, when I played soccer on the street I never tied my
shoes properly; they were always loose and untied. One particular
day, when I was shooting the rubber ball, my shoe flew off my foot
and broke a window of a house that belonged to a famous lawyer.
I was caught. Dr. Hugo went to my house and made my father pay
for the damage. Of course I was spanked and told not to do that
again.
In those days, kids were spanked more often than they are today.
They would get a slap or a kick in the ass. Most parents used to say
it was the best way for us to learn as long as it was not brutal.
Today no one dares to spank their children, because the laws are so
strict. Children today have it easy, which sometimes leads to
becoming misbehaved adolescents and end up in irreversible
conduct and big trouble in the future. When I was growing up, it
was always important for us to respect our elders. We were taught
to stand up and give our seat to a lady or an elderly person who
was standing on a bus. When walking on the street, we always
gave the inside of the sidewalk to the ladies or elderly persons. It
21

was mandatory in high school to attend a special class for Moral
and Civic Education. I remember the teacher of that particular
class showing us the proper way to wipe our nose, to fold our
handkerchief before putting it back in our pocket for good hygiene
purposes; how to use silverware and the proper way to sit at a
table, and to never wear a hat at the table, especially as a guest in
someone’s home. These were the signs of good manners that
today, even in Portugal, sadly are seldom followed.
Respect is so important to the Portuguese people that it is even
found in our language. Unfortunately, even in our language, the
intention of respect is often ignored. There is a difference, for
example, between the meaning of an English expression and word
and its usage in the two different languages, especially in the part
of the USA with a predominant population of Portuguese
extraction. As an example, the English personal pronoun, “you”, in
Portuguese has two very distinct meanings. When addressing a
friend, you say “tu”, but when addressing an elderly person or
someone you don’t know well, you must never use “tu”; it is
considered to be very rude and impolite. One should always say “o
senhor” or “vocè”. That is good etiquette and good manners.
Today, children often call their parents by “tu” in Portuguese,
which when I was growing up was considered to be impolite, rude,
and unacceptable. There are other ways where language is used to
illustrate respect. The word “education” in English, for example,
is used to mean an academic education and for the nice manner in
which people present themselves. In Portuguese, we have two
different words: “instrução” refers to school education, but
“educação”, implies that a person has good manners and behavior,
not necessarily with a good academic background.
When I was a young boy, I was very hyper, always up to
something and never standing still. I was known by my peers to be
somewhat of a troublemaker. Many times I was punished by my
22

mother and confined to the house for an entire weekend. But as
always, I would find a way to get out. I would go up to our house
attic, open the skylight on the roof and jump out into the street so
that I could play with my friends. In spite of my behavior, I was
very lucky. I never got into any big trouble and always had lots of
friends, good school colleagues, and teachers for whom I always
had a great deal of respect.
Dona Laurinda Pavão
One person that was very important
in my life was my elementary
school teacher, Dona Laurinda
Pavão. I was very fortunate to have
her for a teacher. In those days,
there were only four years of
elementary school education and the
same teacher would continue to
teach the same pupils as they
progressed from the 1 st to the 4 th
grade. As a result, today I always
use good grammar, proper sentences
and the idiomatic expressions that
she taught me. She was tough, but a driving force in my life and
the person who had the biggest impact on my future education.
The elementary school that I attended was called, Escola do
Campo. It was located in the square named, Campo de São
Francisco, where the Convent and the Sanctuary of Santo Cristo is
located. My teacher, Dona Laurinda, was not only a fantastic
teacher, but also a very tough disciplinary. At the time, I felt it
was my misfortune that she lived across the street from my house,
where as my neighbor, my school performance and behavior was
always under the microscope. My mother knew every time I did
well or badly in school.
23

Escola do Campo de São Francisco
Escola do Campo de São Francisco was the jumping board for
many famous people in Portugal: Dr. João Bosco Mota Amaral,
was first President of the Regional Government of the Azores and
former President of the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon; Professor
Rubens de Almeida Pavão, my first cousin and former
Superintendent of Elementary Education for the Islands of São
Miguel and Santa Maria. Today, Rubens is a famous author and
historian. Many others who attended that school also became well
known not only on the mainland Portugal in the field of Education,
Politics and Business, but also throughout the world.
Liceu Antero de Quental
After elementary school, I went to the only high school on the
Island of Sāo Miguel, called, Liceu Antero de Quental, named after
a famous Portuguese-Azorean poet. Teachers were very strict at
the high school and you had to be a very good student to pass the
courses every year. About 25% would flunk out of high schools,
which in those days was equivalent to a couple years of college in
the United States. Anyone graduating from high school acquired a
great deal of knowledge and an excellent foundation to enter any
University. I had a French teacher named, Dr. Armando Cortes
Rodrigues, who was not only a great teacher, but also another
famous poet and author of many books that became Portuguese
movies.
There were many scholars and famous people that attended Liceu
Antero de Quental, because it was the only high school on the
Island of Sāo Miguel, including Dr. Mota Amaral, Dr. Jaime
Gama, current president of the Portuguese Parliament; Dr.
Alexandre Linhares Furtado a famous surgeon and professor at
the University of Coimbra who was also a pioneer of Portugal’s
24

organ transplants, performing the first organ transplant in Portugal,
coincidentally on the same day that Neil Armstrong landed on the
moon, July 21 st , 1969. He was my contemporary in high school,
walking an hour from his home in Fajã de Baixo in the suburbs of
Ponta Delgada twice a day, to and from school. For me, school
was only a 5-minute walk from my house. In those days, there
were no school buses, so everyone walked to school, except the
rich and affluent who were driven to school by a chauffeur. One of
the rich students, I particularly remember was António Costa
Santos, the son of Sāo Miguel’s governor, Aniceto dos Santos, a
good friend of mine. His colleagues gave him the nickname,
Bezêrro de Ouro, the Golden Young Cow. When I was growing up,
everybody had a nickname. Mine was Beicinha, because of a cut
that I suffered when I was playing roller skates hockey. One of the
wheels came off my skate and I fell down cutting my upper lip. I
looked funny and my friends and colleagues gave me that
nickname. The reason for António Costa Santo’s nickname was
because his maternal grandfather belonged to one of the richest and
elite families in Sāo Miguel. In addition to becoming the owner
and president of the tobacco factory, he was a former mayor of
Ponta Delgada and a former Secretary of Commerce to the Azores
Autonomous Government. He was an incredibly beautiful
colleague and human being. In fact, he is the Provedor, which
means, in English, the person responsible for the most popular and
important religious festivities in the Azores, the Feast of Santo
Cristo. In addition to being a powerful businessman, he was a very
humble and great philanthropist whom I visit whenever I go to my
birth place on Saint Michael’s island.
Another part of my life in Portugal that I remember from the
forties, fifties, sixties and the first half of the seventies is that life
was very difficult for the lower and middle classes. Only five
percent of the children attended high school, because most parents
could not afford the tuition. The political machine of Dr. António
25

de Oliveira Salazar, our Prime Minister-Dictator, whose regime of
forty years, failed to provide the children of Portugal with a free
high school education.
Salazar’s first priority was to accumulate bars of gold inside the
country’s treasury and to sell wolfram (tungsten) to the Germans
during the World War II. During the war, Portugal was a neutral
country, so Salazar could negotiate with both the allies and Hitler
at the same time. The country was wealthy with bars of gold from
the Portuguese colonies in Africa, but the rich became richer and
the poor became much poorer. A feudalistic system was instituted.
Salazar was, in my opinion a fascist-dictator, like Mussolini in
Italy and Franco in Spain.
Generally speaking, under Salazar, only the elite could afford to
enroll in high school. This was especially true for children from the
villages and towns who could not afford to move to the city, to pay
for the tuition, the room and board and the other expenses that they
would have had to incur to live outside their parent’s homes. Those
whose parents were financially able to send their children to high
school, rented rooms in the city, but their parents had to send
baskets of food every week, so their children wouldn’t starve.
Fortunately, my father was a businessman and could afford the
tuition, books, and other expenses necessary for my education. He
owned a gas station, a fleet of taxi cabs, and the first driving school
in the Azores Islands to have cars with two steering wheels. He
also represented a pharmaceutical company. He was a very
generous man with a big heart for charity -- always helping the
needy. When I was in high school, I had an inclination to become a
lawyer. That‘s a dream that I would have loved to pursue, but
destiny decided otherwise.
26

The Education System in the Azores, Then and Now
When I was growing up, after four years of elementary school,
there were only three high schools in the Azores Islands. They
were located in the capitals of each district of the nine islands of
the archipelago: the island of Sāo Miguel; the Island of Terceira
and the Island of Faial. A high school education took five years
to complete and seven years, if you intended to pursue higher
education. There were no universities or institutions of higher
learning in the Azores, except the Catholic seminary on the island
of Terceira. The students that completed the 7 th year of high
school had to pass an entrance exam and move to continental
Portugal to attend a university. Today it’s a totally different
system. All adolescents attend high school, free of charge, and are
able to commute to the other Islands, from any town or village to
the cities. Today, all children are mandated by law to attend
school until the age of sixteen.
The most important improvement to the educational system was
the creation of the University of The Azores, located in the city of
Ponta Delgada with satellite campuses on the islands of Terceira
and Faial. The opening of the university became possible only
after the April 25, 1974 revolution when the Salazar regime was
peacefully deposed. Today’s tuitions are reasonable and those who
cannot afford them can apply for government assistance. Today’s
system is far different from the old days when only the rich and
powerful could afford to go to college or university. Today, life in
the Azores is heaven, compared to the times under Dictator
Salazar. High school graduates can choose to attend the
University of the Azores or one of many Universities in
Continental Portugal. People in Portugal today are very well
educated. There are few illiterates, (today’s literacy rate is 95%).
In fact, many of the younger generation can speak two or three
languages in addition to their native Portuguese, including English,
27

French and Spanish. In fact, we hear more Portuguese music on
Portuguese radio stations in the United States than on the radio in
Portugal
My Pastimes and Recreation as an Adolescent
During my adolescence, when I wasn’t in school, I have great
memories of playing billiards. In those days, our billiard tables
didn’t have pockets, so everybody played French Billiards with
only three balls, one red and the other two white. Although I was a
fairly good player, there were others who were much better than
me. To play French Billiards, one player played with one white
ball while the other player played with the other white ball which
was marked with a dot. No one was allowed to play with the red
ball. A player would score by hitting a white ball so that it moved
to touch each of the other two balls. That would constitute one
point, called a carambola. The objective, depending on the quality
of players, is to attain one hundred points or carambolas. It is a
very precise game. A player would continue to play, provided that
he hit two balls with each turn. It was a good test of geometry.
Only a few players were able to score a large number of points. I
usually could score twenty or thirty points in a row, but I was far
from being an excellent player.
About forty years ago, when I moved to Bristol, Rhode Island, I
searched for a French Billiards game. I heard that a Canadian-
French priest in the city of Woonsocket, RI, owned one. I
contacted him and purchased it. It was one hundred years old – a
masterpiece, but in terrible shape. I contracted a good Portuguese
cabinet maker to completely restore it. It took me many years to
find it, but now I own a beautiful antique French Billiards table.
The problem, of course, is finding someone to compete with me,
because there are only a handful of people who know how to play
the game. Only people who are close to my age know how to play
28

it. In most cases, I have to give a handicap of 40 points to my
competitors.
Another pastime of mine when I lived in Ponta Delgada was
playing ping pong. One of the reasons I was somewhat popular in
high school, was because I was a fairly good ping pong player. Of
course, soccer, or futebol as it is called in Europe, was my favorite
sport. Each year’s school classes had a team, and we would
compete among students of the other classes and many times with
students from the only vocational secondary school in Ponta
Delgada called Escola Comercial e Industrial of Ponta Delgada.
Tennis was another sport that I loved to play. Back then, golf was
only for the wealthy, but my rich friends let me try it. Frankly, I
found golf to be boring. I was terribly uncoordinated and
impatient, so I gave up golf.
As for soccer, the king of sports in Europe, there were many
organized amateur soccer teams, especially on the Islands of Sāo
Miguel, Terceira and Faial. Each had their own leagues and each
year there was an Azorean Championship to determine the Islands’
champion. I had some friends of my age, who were fantastic soccer
players. My former schoolmate and good friend, João Luis
Albergaria, was considered the MVP in the Azores, not just in
soccer, but in roller skates hockey as well. There were others, too,
who went on to compete on mainland Portugal that became
famous, like Mário Lino, João de Deus Macedo and today’s great
Pauleta.
It was difficult for an Azorean to play on the mainland. Distance
and cost for transportation made it very hard. There were no
airlines between Azores and Lisbon. There were only two
steamships, named Lima and Carvalho Araújo, that took five days
to sail the eight hundred miles across the Atlantic Ocean. There
was no television, so the players who were good enough to
29

compete on the professional league, would not be visible and
known to the mainland Portuguese teams. Today there are several
flights daily from the Azores to Lisbon and everyone watches
television all over continental Portugal and in all nine Azores
Islands. Nevertheless, soccer is the best game for all classes of
society, because all you need are a pair of shoes and a ball to play.
Another memory that I have is of the old waterfront of Ponta
Delgada, before the Avenida Marginal (the large avenue on the
waterfront) was built in the 1950’s, where the Portas da Cidade
(Gates of the City) was moved. There was a dock on the
waterfront, but during World War II, it was against the law to use
the dock for security reasons. So during the war, passengers had to
board barges at a pier that was connected to the city center. The
barges would transport the passengers to the steamship that was
anchored at a distance in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
30

Above is a design made in 1933, of the waterfront of Ponta
Delgada of that time, made by a Polish friend of mine, Max
Jankowski, who lived in the Azores as a refugee from the Nazis.
When I was a child, the major attraction in the city was the
waterfront where every time a ship arrived; it was a very special
day in the city. We called the day a ship arrived, Dia de São
Vapor, which meant Day of the Holy Ship. There was not much to
do in Ponta Delgada, with the exception of going to the soccer
games on Sundays or to a movie at the Coliseum, an old landmark
built at the beginning of the 20 th century. The present Mayor of
Ponta Delgada, Dr. Berta Cabral and her administration did an
excellent job of restoring the Coliseum, and opening its doors to
the public a few years ago. Today people can visit and enjoy
famous Portuguese and international performing artists.
31

I also remember the construction of the Teatro Micaelense, the
other theatre/cinema that was built in the 1950’s. At the time, it
cost four thousand contos to build. At today’s exchange rate, that
would be about 200,000 US dollars. It is a beautiful structure that
provides the island’s people an opportunity to enjoy many local,
national and international performances. There were other theatres
and cinemas that showed movies, like the outside space at the
renowned Jardim António Borges, a beautiful botanical garden
with ancient trees.
The Feudalism and Exploitation Practiced by the Magnates
One aspect of my youth that made me very sad was the many
social injustices and exploitations practiced by some rich people in
Sāo Miguel. I remember when traveling with my father around the
island, he would tell me stories about some of these injustices.
Without mentioning names, there were magnates who practiced a
sort of slavery. They would go to the center of the towns, where
the poor workers would gather to seek work for the day. In most
cases, the magnates would only pick the ones with strong muscles;
the others would not be hired and sent home.
There were no 8-hour-day jobs for those who worked the farms.
They worked from sunrise to sunset for a meager ten escudos,
about 35 US cents a day.
Another example of feudalism and exploitation that was shocking
to me happened with the son of one of the slavery lords. This
particular school fellow of mine was not very intelligent. His
grades were always very low and sometimes he would flunk. On
the contrary, the daughter of this man’s maid was very intelligent,
always the best in class. This girl was able to attend high school
with the help of a Good Samaritan benefactor who paid for her
tuition. This wonderful giving man, who was her Elementary
32

School teacher, recognized that she had great potential and
intelligence to attend and complete high school, and to go on to
receive a higher education in Lisbon. She is now a retired medical
doctor.
The social injustice of this story is that because of his jealousy, the
maid was fired by the “slavery lord”, as my father used to call
them. She was poor but her daughter was more intelligent than the
man’s son. How sinful this man was!!! He, sometimes, even had
the audacity to let his oranges fall from the trees on his farm, and
not allow the farmers to pick them up to feed their children. This
type of behavior was very dominant, especially on the island of
Sāo Miguel. There were a few rich families, but mostly the people
were poor. Some of the rich acted without consideration or
conscience for their fellow men. I later heard that the magnate that
fired the poor maid suffered a lot before he passed away, leaving a
lot of money. I don’t tell these stories with rancor, because I
believe that I am a very forgiving person, but people that know me
understand that I usually don’t have a filter between my heart and
my mouth. Even today, in this country, I feel extremely bad about
social injustices!!!
Today, rich magnates still exist. The only difference is that now
they have to pay their workers good money. They were forced to
change their ways, thanks to the April 25, 1974 revolution in
Portugal. After that time, the social injustices stopped to some
extent. The entire system in Portugal has changed. Of course,
there were also other land owners with good hearts who took very
good care of their workers, but they were an exception! There was
always a separation and discrimination between classes. The
workers always had to take their hats off whenever they passed by
some of the rich and powerful.
33

Even today I see here in the United States, how some elderly
people, now on their 70’s and 80’s, taking their hats off to doctors
and other important people. They never lost that habit. This was
what it was like to live in the Portugal under the rule of Dictator
António Oliveira Salazar. He protected the rich and famous. The
rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Those were times
to forget. Such terrible discrimination was based on class.
Everyone was white. The discrimination was not a matter of skin
color, as it is in other societies. The arrogant rich and prominent
always felt they were superior and, perhaps, even from another
planet. Respect for others was not part of their character. But I still
have faith, lots and lots of faith, that God does not let those who
practice those terrible actions live forever. They die, they suffer,
like anybody else, but their money and fame cannot buy health or
happiness. Certainly, they can get the best doctors and hospitals,
but they still cannot stay on this earth forever…BECAUSE IN
LIFE, EVERYTHING IS TEMPORARY.
The Famous Feast of Santo Cristo and the People’s Devotion
Another vivid memory I have is of the feast of Santo Cristo, which
is the most important religious celebration in the Azores. Today
thousands of people, not only from the island of Sāo Miguel, but
from all the other eight islands and from the four corners of the
world come for this beautiful celebration. Dozens of airplanes
arrive from the United States, Canada and continental Portugal to
be present. Many come especially to make their promises and walk
behind the beautiful statue of Santo Cristo, in the procession that
always takes place on the 5 th Sunday after Easter. It stops at every
convent in the city and takes approximately 6 hours to complete.
The statue of Santo Cristo is unique and fascinating. Its face looks
so real that anyone, even a non-believer, finds it to be very
remarkable and emotional.
34

The statue, according to tradition, was given to the Azores by Pope
Paulo III, the same Pope that founded the only Diocese in the
Azores in 1534, almost five hundred years ago in the city of Angra
do Heroísmo, the capital of Terceira. The statue was given to two
religious nuns from the Order of Clarissa who went to Rome to
ask the Pope for the Bula Apostólica, a Papal Letter for the
Convent to be built in Caloura, in the county of Lagoa, a few
miles from Ponta Delgada.
Caloura was constantly under attack by pirates during the time
around 1541. Some of the nuns ran away on the Holy Ghost
Sunday to the safety of the Convent of Santo André in Vila Franca
do Campo and the other nuns moved to the Convento de Nossa
Senhora da Esperança (Our Lady of Hope Convent) in Ponta
Delgada. The Statue of Santo Cristo was placed at Nossa Senhora
da Paz (Our Lady of Peace).
Before the famous Madre Teresa da Anunciada, the Statue of
Santo Cristo did not have much of a special devotion from the
people. It was this nun, Madre Teresa da Anunciada, born in the
town of Ribeira Sêca, in the county of Ribeira Grande, and her
devotion that brought the attention and veneration of many
Catholics, starting in 1697, when the statue was placed at the
Chapel of the Convent of Esperança, which was built for that
purpose, using donations from the community. Today the statue is
beautifully decorated and located in a very special place that is
constantly visited and venerated by millions of people of faith from
all over the world.
The first procession involving the statue took place on April 11,
1700. At the end of the XVII century, there were many
earthquakes that scared the population of Sāo Miguel
tremendously. After a month of panic, the villagers ran away from
their houses to the farms praying for divine protection. A
35

Canonical License was obtained for a procession of the Ecce
Homo, already known by the people of Sāo Miguel as Santo Cristo
dos Milagres (Holy Saint of Miracles).
Today, the procession is preceded by a full week of festivities
every year, beginning on a Friday, at the Campo de São Francisco
Square. The square is illuminated with thousands of lights on the
façade of the Church and the Convent as well as all over the large
square. There is a lot of music and booths selling food, beverages
and entertainment. All philharmonic Bands of Sāo Miguel, and
many from the other islands, come for the celebration. On
Saturday, the statue is transferred from the Convent of Esperança
to the Church. Sunday is the day of the great procession, which
passes through the main streets of the city of Ponta Delgada. All
the streets are decorated with flowers arranged as beautiful
mosaics, looking like an authentic art piece. Each family takes
pride in exposing their best embroidered bedspreads called,
colchas, hanging from the verandas of their houses along the route
of the procession. Every family, even the poorest, buys new
clothes for that special occasion.
A special note: Humberto Moniz, a cousin of mine from my
mother’s side, with his crew, have been donating many weeks of
work, free of charge for many years, to the beautiful decorations
and the illumination of the façade of the Santo Cristo Church, the
Convent and the entire Square.
36

My Father’s Bankruptcy
My father was a very
generous and wonderful
man, but he was often led by
his heart instead of his head.
As such, he was not a very
good businessman when it
came to handling finances.
He was a big spender and
always ready to give credit
and to co-sign loans for
everyone, to the point where
he could no longer meet his
obligations to the oil
companies, like Shell Oil,
and other creditors. One day
in March 1951, he came
home and told my mother,
my two sisters and me that he had lost everything; he had declared
bankruptcy. He told us that our lives were going to change
drastically from then on, due to his business failure. Portuguese
laws of those days were totally different from today in the USA
and even in Portugal. When you declared bankruptcy, the creditors
went after not only your business, but also your private property,
furniture, etc. Naturally, my mother who was used to a nice house,
a live-in maid, cars, and beautiful clothes, was completely
devastated. We all cried and my father said that he was moving to
the Island of Terceira, where he had a friend who was going to
help him to get a job at the US Air Force Base, located at Lages on
the island of Terceira in the Azores.
There is one special person from that difficult time in my family’s
history that I cannot forget for his generosity and help. My
37

deceased uncle Manuel Moniz, my mother’s brother who had his
own business, sent one of his employees every week to the grocery
market to purchase food to feed our entire family during the twelve
weeks before we moved to the Island of Terceira to join my father.
Without his help, we would have starved.
My family, a few days days before before moving to
Terceira Island in 1951 to join my father
38

MY FAMILY’S NEW LIFE
After My Father’s Bankruptcy
Two weeks after my father declared bankruptcy in March 1951, he
left for Terceira Island in the Azores to seek work on the US Lages
Air Force Base. Three months later, I finished the school year, and
my mother, two sisters and I moved to join him. It was June of
1951.
We traveled on a small boat called the Santo Amaro to the city of
Angra do Heroismo, the capital of Terceira. From the city of
Ponta Delgada, it was roughly 105 miles, and the journey took
about eight hours. It was an agonizing trip. The weather was
terrible and the boat rocked so much that we thought we were
going to die. At the time, the only other option was a tiny fivepassenger
commuter plane that would depart from the island of
Sāo Miguel. But since we had no money, we were forced to travel
by boat.
When we arrived in Terceira, we docked at Porto das Pipas where
my father and his friends were waiting for us. They took us to a
house in the town of Santa Luzia which was not far from where the
boat landed. The accommodations my father had arranged for us
consisted of one room with a couple of mattresses on the floor.
There was no plumbing and no electricity, and my mother could
not stop crying. I was sixteen.
The next day, I went with my father to the base where he worked
as a cashier in the Officers Club. I went to the Civilian Personnel
Office to apply for a job - any job - so that I could help my family.
During the interview, the man at the desk asked me how old I was.
39

When I told him that I was sixteen, he replied that I could not be
hired until I was eighteen. I almost cried. I told him my family
story and that we had lost everything. I told him that I needed a
job to help support the family. My face must have conveyed my
disappointment because he finally said, “From now on, you are
eighteen and your date of birth is March 26, 1933. This is only
temporary. When you turn eighteen, we will adjust the records
back to March 26, 1935.” What a beautiful human being!
My First Job Experience
My first job was as a checker for an American construction
company, Frederick Snare Corporation, which was in the process
of rebuilding the Lages Air Force Base. My assignment was to
check the material that was arriving at the port of Praia da Vitoria,
5 kilometers from the base. All the workers unloading the
materials had to travel by barge from the shore to the cargo ship as
there wasn’t a dock big enough to receive a vessel of its size. The
waves were always very rough, which meant I would usually be
seasick before even reaching the ship to start my job. My task was
to make sure that the contents of each crate matched the cargo
manifest. My 12-hour shift began at 8 o’clock at night and ended
at 8 o’clock in the morning. I had never worked before in my life,
so, after my first 12 hour shift, I arrived at home half-dead with
fatigue. My mother was asleep with my sisters, all recuperating
from the voyage from Sāo Miguel. It was dark. There was no
electricity. I started to cry as I saw my whole family sleeping on
the floor. But life had to go on, and over the next few days I began
to get used to my new lifestyle. At the end of the week, I was very
happy when I received my first pay check. It was 150 escudos,
equivalent to $42.00 US, for 72 hours on the night shift.
In spite of the long, exhausting hours, I immediately found a
private tutor to help me prepare for what remained of my high
40

school education. I completed the final two years of requirements
in twelve months, and, once that happened, the company promoted
me to a better position in the warehouse. I worked for a wonderful
man, António Rodrigues, who was in charge of operations. Born in
Fall River, Massachusetts, he spent his youth in the United States,
but he returned with his parents to Sāo Miguel in the 1930’s during
the Great Depression. We developed a rapport and I eventually
became his protégé. He encouraged me to improve my English
because, as I realized soon enough, in order to be a successful
employee of an American company, I would have to be able to
speak English perfectly.
So, I immediately began reading books in English, building upon
the grammar lessons I learned in school. I always carried a small
notebook with me to jot down vocabulary words, phrases and
idiomatic expressions used by the Americans around me. I have
never been shy or soft-spoken or reluctant to engage in
conversation, so I was constantly asking people, “How do you say
this? How do you write that?” And most people were very patient
with me. Most were more than happy to show me how to say this
and write that. After six months, I even started to dream in
English, as opposed to Portuguese! That’s how much I was
obsessed with learning the English language.
I applied myself diligently, and in one year I was speaking English
fluently. I was promoted to the position of Purchasing Agent,
responsible for all purchases of merchandise and materials from
the local suppliers on the island. It was a great challenge and
considerable responsibility for a nineteen year old, but I did well
thanks to Mr. Rodriguez - a person I will never forget.
Speaking of language, there was an incident at the Frederick Snare
Corporation that I remember involving a dirty dog. The office
employed a lot of women. One day a very dirty dog managed to
41

get into the office. In addition to the women, there was another
man who worked there who was born in the U.S. but had returned
to Portugal with his parents during the Great Depression hit. His
name was Sylvester and, since he was born in America, he thought
he was an expert on the English language. Well, when one of the
women told him to get this filthy dog out of here, he immediately
approached the dog and said, “Get out of here! Go take a douche!”
Naturally, all the women started laughing hysterically and started
making fun of him. He got very upset and asked, “What are you
laughing about?” So I explained to him that the word “douche” in
English means to bathe in a bidet, a kind of sink, where the water
goes up instead of down. He got mad at me and said, “Hey, I was
born in Tiverton, Rhode Island and I know what I’m talking
about!” So I explained to him that while the word “douche” could
be used to mean “shower,” in Portuguese it has a completely
different meaning from the English word. I find this an interesting
story because many times people will use words that can signify
different things depending on the language, and it can easily lead
to misinterpretation. The word ‘douche’ is actually French. Well,
Sylvester finally learned the proper usage of ‘bath,’ ‘douche,’ and
‘shower.’
My new job required that I travel to the city several days a week in
a pickup truck with a driver. I started to meet many wonderful
merchants and friends. It was interesting to me that people on the
island of Terceira were so different from the people of my own
island of Sāo Miguel (with the exception of my close friends that I
mentioned before). Perhaps it’s because of the Holy Ghost
Festivities and the street bullfights that the people are much
friendlier and receptive to strangers. There was always a feast,
every week, somewhere on the island. An amazing place to live!
At that time, my income was fair and I found myself helping to
support my entire family. My mother had never worked before in
42

her life. She was used to being a housewife with a terrific lifestyle
in Sāo Miguel, but, due to my father’s bankruptcy, she was forced
to work at the Base Laundry and Dry Cleaning Plant. Both of my
parents did not make enough money for us to live. My sister
Manuela was in high school and we needed money to pay for her
tuition. My sister Adriana was starting high school and we needed
to pay her tuition as well. They also had to commute from the base
to the city, 25 kilometers away, where the high school was located.
But life continued and I found a job opportunity to work for the
United States government. I applied for the vacant position as an
accountant for which the pay was much better. After taking a very
difficult aptitude test - and passing it with flying colors - I started
to work for the U.S. government until I was drafted into the
Portuguese military service.
Meeting New Friends, Bullfighting and Other Stories
Before I entered the Portuguese Army, my social life in the City
Angra was excellent. It was always easy to find friends and to be
around decent and educated people. I was so attracted to them
because they always made me feel at home. I would travel to the
city every chance that I had. Through them, I started loving the art
of bullfighting. Before moving to Terceira, I had never seen a
bullfight in my life. But the first time I visited a farm owned by
my friends’ parents, specifically where wild bulls were raised, I
fell in love with the Festa Brava. I remember many of the
aficionados and ganaderos - José Parreira, Gaspar Baldaia,
Henrique Parreira, Ricardo Jorge, João Luis Pamplona dos Reis,
José Albino. I was even sent to Lisbon to contract a famous
Portuguese bullfighter by the name of Diamantino Viseu for an
arena bullfight that took place at Praça de Sāo João in Terceira.
That was what really led me into the city society, which opened its
arms and doors to make me feel even more comfortable. I was
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admitted into several associations which would have been
impossible for me to enter on my own if I were back on the island
of Sāo Miguel. The high society of Sāo Miguel was comprised of
local snobs who thought they had blue blood, always enjoying
their segregation from others who were not allowed to mingle with
them. On the other hand, the people I found in Terceira were
wonderful! I would travel to the city often to be with friends and
get involved with civic organizations like the Lawn Tennis Club
(which is similar to the country clubs in America) and the Clube
Musical Angrense. These places were frequented by people who
were essentially recognized as the cream of the crop on the island,
so it gave me strength and faith to return to the good life that I had
enjoyed in Sāo Miguel (before my father’s business failure).
The island of Terceira is sometimes referred to as the “Island of
Fun” for its many feasts and events. There was always something
going on, whether it was the Festas do Espírito Santo (Holy Ghost
Feast), the distribution of sweetbread, milk and meat called Bôdo
de Leite, religious processions, Mardi Gras (called “Carnaval” in
Portugal) where the dancing would begin at 9 o’clock at night and
continue until 7 or 8 in the morning, or the bullfights in the street
that took place from May to September in many villages. During
these events, the girls would watch from the windows and
balconies, giving the eye to the boys on the street. Many U.S.
military and civilian personnel from the base would go to watch
the bullfights. Some of them didn’t realize how dangerous the
wild bulls can be and they would end up in the hospital after too
close an encounter with a bull.
Although I enjoyed the street bullfights, I preferred the arena
bullfighting. It was real art, watching the bullfighter in front of the
massive, wild bull. In Portugal, the matador is not allowed to kill
the bull like they are in Spain or Mexico. Instead, he would
simulate the killing with a bandarilla - a pointed stick – instead of
44

a real sword. I developed such an interest for the Tauromaquia
(the art of bullfighting) that, a few years later, I was one of the
founders and the first treasurer of the Tertúlia Tauromáquica
Terceirense (The Bullfighting Association) which still exists today.
I am very proud to have my name on a plaque in front of the
building, next to the Bull Ring along with the bullfighting
celebrities, aficionados and the owners of Ganaderias - the large
parcels of land where the wild bulls are raised. My friends from
Terceira used to tell me that it was ironic and incredible that
someone from Sāo Miguel, a place where people neither care or
know anything about bullfighting, became so passionate and
involved in the sport. That is another reason why the island of
Terceira will always remain in my heart!
Old Portuguese Laws That Make you Laugh
Portugal had a few interesting laws that I remember from my
childhood. One such law that I remember from my youth was that
people had to obtain a license to use a cigarette lighter. The reason
for the law was because the government owned the match factory.
So in order to protect its own business monopoly, anyone caught
without a license to use a lighter, had to pay a fine and there were
actual inspectors all over the place solely for that purpose. Can
you imagine?
Another interesting aspect of life during the Salazar regime was
the legalization of prostitution. There were many establishments
open to the public and many patrons who frequented them. Many
young girls who came from the villages were very poor. They
would initially work as maids for the rich and famous, but
oftentimes ended up in prostitution after being abused by their
employers. By law, the prostitutes had to be inspected by health
services once a month, to ensure that they did not have venereal
disease. The madams of the houses were required by law to
45

display a certificate from the Health Department stating that they
were free to operate, just like restaurants today in Portugal and the
United States.
My Military Service
There was a time in Portugal when everyone had to serve in the
military. In March 1956, at age 21, I was drafted into the military
service and reported for basic training at the 17 th Infantry Battalion
in Angra do Heroismo. It was located in Monte Brazil, a beautiful
mountain overlooking the city harbor. After completing three
months of basic training, I went to an Army Training Center in
Continental Portugal, not unlike the Officers Training Camp in the
United States.
All candidates with a high school education, who lived outside
mainland Portugal, had to travel to Lisbon before reporting to the
Instructors Training Center
which was located in the city
of Tavira in the province of
Algarve in southern Portugal.
I was very excited because I
had never been to continental
Portugal. I stayed in Lisbon
for three days before reporting
to the Training Center. Most
people in the Azores had never
been to the mainland, because
it was about 800 miles away
and the only means of
transportation to the mainland
was by ship. The voyage took
5 days and was not bad at all.
46

When I arrived at the capital city of Lisbon, I was amazed with its
beauty - the buildings, the architecture, the historical Torre de
Belem (The Tower of Belem) from where the Portuguese navigators
set sail to discover two thirds of the world; the beautiful Avenida
da Liberdade (Liberty Avenue) in the heart of Lisbon, the Rossio
and Restauradores Squares, the Jerónimos Monastery, Praça do
Comércio, which faces the beautiful Tegus River and where motor
boats would transport people to the other side of the river. Today,
Lisbon has two bridges, one named the April 25 Bridge, named
after the Coupe D’État revolution of 1974, when Portugal changed
from a dictatorship to democracy, and the Vasco da Gama, named
after the famous explorer.
After spending three wonderful days in Lisbon, I took a train to the
city of Tavira, a very historical city where the Infantry Military
Training Center was located. After graduating from the noncommissioned
officers’ training (6 months), my peers and I were
promoted and sent to another base to train young recruits
elsewhere in the country. It was a wonderful experience for me
because I was a young man with no responsibilities in a new city in
southern Portugal.
The Algarve was beautiful, but relatively poor; in those days, the
future did not look very bright for a young man from that region.
Many would go to Lisbon, Porto, or to any of the other larger cities
up north in search for a better job opportunity because, in the
Algarve, apart from the beautiful white sand beaches, there were
only fish factories and agriculture - fig, orange, almond and olive
trees. For this reason, there was a ratio of seven young women for
every man which, for me personally, was not a problem. The girls
believed we had all come from well-to-do families and, while this
may not have been entirely true, we all had a good time.
47

Algarve also has the best weather in all of Portugal. It is located
about 300 kilometers south of Lisbon, so the weather is much
warmer than it is up north. Today, the Province of Algarve is a
popular tourist destination in Europe. It’s full of five-star hotels,
resorts, fantastic golf courses, beaches, and all kinds of
entertainment such as gambling casinos, tennis tournaments and so
on. Today, you will probably hear more foreign languages being
spoken in the Algarve than you will hear Portuguese, due mainly to
all the tourists from Great Britain, Germany and the Scandinavian
countries.
I had an experience in Algarve that I believe is worth telling:
One day, it was my turn to be on duty as Sergeant of the Day. As
part of my responsibilities, I was not supposed to leave the base.
But as it happens, my friends had planned on crossing the border to
Spain for a dance event to be held in the city of Ayamonte, a few
miles across the Vila Real de Santo António. Naturally, I had to
join them. We took a train to the border, and then a rowboat across
the Guadiana River (which cost us a few cents each), and we were
at the dance in no time. As always, there were a lot of girls from
the Algarve province and from Andalusia. Once we arrived, I
marveled at the beautiful dance hall before asking a pretty Spanish
girl to dance. The evening lasted until two in the morning and I
spent the entire evening dancing with the same girl. I did not know
much Spanish, but since Portuguese is somewhat similar, we were
able to understand each other fairly well.
After the dance, we all returned to the base. I could not enter
through the main entrance because I was supposed to have been on
duty for the entire night, so I jumped over the wall to avoid being
seen. I went to bed, very relaxed and pleased by how the evening
turned out. The next morning, an army private approached me
after breakfast and informed me that the company commander,
48

Captain Joaquim Barros, needed to see me at headquarters.
Immediately, I was concerned that it would pertain to my
adventures of the night before and what may have transpired in my
absence. Nevertheless, I went to the commander’s office. Right
off the bat, he asked me, “Did you have a good time in Spain last
night?” I started mumbling something, but then he remarked, “In a
few months, you will be commanding a platoon. Is this the way
that you are going to be as a non-commissioned officer?” I
apologized and tried to explain that nothing critical happened
during my absence and that I returned to the base on time to make
sure everything was in order. At this he replied, “This is not your
only problem! Not only did you violate the Army’s rules, but you
spent the entire night dancing with my girlfriend!” I was shocked.
I responded that I didn’t know that she was his girlfriend. I
apologized and promised it would not happen again. After a
moment, in a very rude and arrogant tone, he said to me, “Since
you are a good student, I’m going to give you a choice, either ten
days in jail, in which case you will flunk the course and become a
private instead of an NCO, or you can choose to have all your hair
shaved off, your grades reduced considerably, and you probably
will not go back to the Azores to finish your 1½ year service
(which was your first choice after completing the training).”
Naturally, I decided to have my hair shaved off completely. The
highest possible grade was 20 and the lowest passing grade was 10.
At the end of the course, I received a grade of 12, which brought
my record down from 18. Moreover, I did not get my first choice,
and instead of being assigned to a unit in the Azores, I ended up in
the 11 th Infantry Regiment in Setubal, a fairly large city 30 miles
from Lisbon.
I had been looking forward to being assigned to the Azores, but I
was equally happy that I was going to live in a beautiful city with
beautiful beaches near Lisbon. Fortunately, it ended up being a
good assignment, and not just because I ended up loving the city of
49

Setúbal tremendously. While I was at Setúbal, I received the news
from my friends in the Azores that all my colleagues from the
training center (who got their first choice assignment to be
stationed in the Azores) had been mobilized to India where a
problem had erupted in the Portuguese colonies. Apparently,
Prime Minister Neru decided to invade, and most of my colleagues
had to spend three additional years in Gôa, Damão, and Diu, the
three territories that had been occupied by the Portuguese since
they were discovered in the 15 th Setúbal tremendously. While I was at Setúbal, I received the news
from my friends in the Azores that all my colleagues from the
training center (who got their first choice assignment to be
stationed in the Azores) had been mobilized to India where a
problem had erupted in the Portuguese colonies. Apparently,
Prime Minister Neru decided to invade, and most of my colleagues
had to spend three additional years in Gôa, Damão, and Diu, the
three territories that had been occupied by the Portuguese since
they were discovered in the 15 century.
th century.
Giving military instructions to new recruits
with other instructors. I am #4.
I was so lucky! My punishment and the lowering of my grade
worked out very well for me. I was not sent to India. I danced
with the commander’s girlfriend all night in Spain and I avoided
spending additional time in the service.
In Setúbal, I was an instructor of recruits in one of the more
interesting areas of continental Portugal. My duties consisted of
having breakfast with the recruits in the morning and giving them
50

military instructions from 8am to 1pm. I did not reside on base
because it was more convenient to live elsewhere. I could dress as
a civilian and interact with the city’s people more often, and that
generally provided more freedom for other activities. The noncommissioned
instructors also had access to the Officers Club, so
we were served very good food, and we were given afternoons and
the rest of the day to ourselves.
My fifteen months in Setúbal were terrific. It’s a large city, one
hour from Lisbon, surrounded by the beautiful River Sado, the
beaches of Figueirinha, Arrábida, and the peninsula of Troia,
which is a large parcel of land with white sandy beaches many
kilometers long. In those days, there were few (if any) buildings.
Today Troia is a famous vacation destination, very crowded with
many five-star resorts and hotels.
We went to Troia and spent long hours in the afternoons. We
rented a row boat to cross the River Sado, where we would buy
fresh sardines. We rented a kerosene stove to fry them and
purchased a variety of fruit, especially the oranges which were the
best in the country.
Meeting Girlfriend “Aldinha”
One day, when walking down Avenida Luisa Tódi (named after a
famous musician), I noticed a beautiful young lady. I looked at her
and she looked back and smiled. Without so many words, that was
the beginning of our relationship. She became my girlfriend, and
although I was not planning to get too involved, I realized I liked
her a lot as time went on. We went to feasts and dances together,
and we were together for about a year until I finished my service in
the Army.
51

During the Mardi Gras season (“Carnaval” in Portugal), I met a
colleague who had spent fifteen months with the 11 th Infantry in
Setubal. He became a good friend of mine who is well known
today, Dr. João Carlos Abreu, former Secretary of Culture and
Tourism of Madeira Island. There were only two instructors from
the two archipelagos, João Carlos Abreu from Madeira, and me,
from the Azores. The rest of the instructors were from Continental
Portugal. Since we had so much free time, we always enjoyed the
nightlife. As I had worked at the American base on Terceira
Island, I brought many 45 rpm records with me, so I used to go to
clubs and associations and let them use the music for dance parties.
Back then, records were very rare and expensive, but as I was able
to buy them much cheaper on the base, I had a good collection of
dancing music from the Platters, Nat King Cole, Doris Day,
Rosemary Clooney, Pat Boone and many other artists.
I remember one incident, in particular, that happened at a party.
There was a young lady named Rafaela who liked me a lot. She
asked me if I would be interested - along with anyone else from the
base - in having a dance party at her house using my 45 rpm
records. I told her of course, and I invited many of my colleagues.
She had a beautiful home with many rooms, and the party started
very well. Everyone was having a good time, but there was a
problem. I only liked her as a friend, yet she seemed to think
otherwise, and she was bragging to her friends that she was my
girlfriend. Unfortunately, she had also invited Aldinha, the girl I
really liked. When the music started, Rafaela immediately came
and asked me to dance, and I wanted to be nice to her, so I agreed.
But afterwards, I asked Aldinha for the next dance. It didn’t take
long before Rafaela became very upset and jealous. She
eventually decided to end the party, turning the lights off and
throwing everybody out of the house. João Carlos Abreu, who
always had a great sense of humor, gave her the nickname “Pulga
Eléctrica,” which means “Electric Flea,” because she was such a
52

nervous girl to the point of hysterics. Today, every time I go to
Madeira Island, he always recalls that evening.
In those days, the Portuguese Army didn’t have the greatest
equipment. One day, in 1957, the base commander called the
NCOs and the officers and explained that Queen Elizabeth II of
England would be visiting Portugal for the first time. Our
Regiment was going to be the one marching before her in Lisbon.
Suddenly, we were very busy training the soldiers, particularly in
the art of marching with style. When the day finally came to travel
to Lisbon to march before the Queen, a problem arose - there were
not enough white gloves for all the soldiers! The Base
Commander told all the instructors that it was not a problem, that
some of us would wear the gloves while the others would simply
wear white socks on their hands. After all, at that distance, no one
would be able to tell the difference. The most important thing was
to march well – and we did. We marched with distinction before
the Queen who was sitting inside a very nice glass pavilion built
specifically for the occasion at Terreiro do Paço, one of the most
important squares in Lisbon. She was surrounded by military and
civilian dignitaries. I don’t know if any of them noticed that some
of our soldiers were wearing socks instead of gloves, but it was a
story that I knew I wouldn’t ever forget. Of course, today, the
military service is very much like the American military. It is a
professional military - without a draft - and they use much better
and more modern equipment than we had in the 1950’s.
Starting My Career with the U.S. Air Force
When I returned home from the Portuguese Army, I once again
went to the Civilian Personnel Office at the US Air Force Base at
Lages to apply for a job. There was an opening for Assistant
Placement and Employee Relations Officer. I was accepted and
given the classification of a GS-5, according to the U.S. Civil
53

Service. All civilians working for the US Government are
classified with grades which go from 1 to 18. My job was to
recruit personnel for various departments on the base. A few
months later, I was promoted to GS-7 because I spoke English well
and because my education was above average. I immediately
enrolled to take courses in Public Relations and Management at a
satellite office of the University of Maryland located on the base.
In addition to my job at the Personnel Office, the Commander of
the base asked me to be the official interpreter whenever there
were VIP visitors on the base. It was rather difficult, but it was a
task that I enjoyed and gained a lot of experience from. I was even
granted a secret clearance from the US government due to the fact
that I had to translate many classified documents. As part of my
job, I started a newsletter entitled O Foguête - which means The
Rocket - that was distributed to all Portuguese employees to inform
them of important issues and activities that were happening on the
base.
An Experience I Will Never Forget
Brigadier General William Brandon called me one day to say that
the Shah of Persia (present-day Iran) was stopping in Terceira and
I was needed to be the official interpreter for an important meeting
that was to be followed by a banquet at the Officer’s Club. I was
extremely nervous, as it was indeed the most important task of my
life - serving as interpreter for the Shah of Persia, his beautiful
wife Soraya, and many US and Portuguese officials and diplomats.
There are no words to describe the honor and pleasure I felt to
have met that historical couple.
My First Taste of America and My Studies in the United States
The Base Headquarters sent me to Alabama to take various
college courses in Public Relations, Psychology, Philosophy and
54

Management. I left Lages Field on a military propeller plane and
arrived at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey about 10 hours
later. From there, I took a bus to New York City where I arrived at
the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I was hauling three pieces of
luggage with me, and I had to go down to a lower level to get out
onto the street. I encountered something I had never used before –
an escalator! -- I grabbed my luggage and jumped on. As I was
going down the escalator, one of my suitcases got away from me.
It barreled down the stairs and hit a person at the bottom. He was
furious! He called me all kinds of names, from A to Z. I
apologized, saying that I had just arrived in the U.S. and that it was
my first time using an escalator. He looked at me very strangely
and I proceeded out onto the street. I took a taxi cab to the nearest
YMCA and stayed there a couple of nights so I could tour the Big
Apple.
It was fascinating to see that huge city with all its lights, Time
Square, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the
skyscrapers that many people only dream about. I remember going
to a night club called Latino Quarter where I spent a very
lonesome evening feeling so small in such a monstrous city. Two
days later, I took a Greyhound bus to Montgomery, Alabama, and
then changed buses to go to Birmingham, where the university was
located. When I boarded this bus, I took a seat in the back, at
which point the driver told me, “You are white, so you must sit in
the front of the bus.” Although I knew there was considerable
prejudice in the United States - especially in the south - I was
shocked!
The University was enormous with thousands of students. It was
difficult at first to be totally immersed in the English language, but
from what I had already learned in secondary school in Portugal
and the courses I took at the University of Maryland, I was able to
55

follow the curriculum fairly well. I loved the subjects of every
class I was taking, and I passed every course with good grades.
I also experienced some of the effects of the civil rights marches
that took place in Alabama, particularly in Selma and Montgomery.
Often times, a curfew was implemented and students could not
leave the campus after certain hours. With my accent, I was
obviously a foreigner and most people were very friendly, perhaps
because they knew, even though I was white, that I was not
responsible for the racism that existed in the country. At times,
though, I would force myself to speak with more of an accent than
usual so that I would be better accepted by anyone of any skin
color.
I borrowed a car and took a drive around town. I ran out of gas
and the car stopped in a black neighborhood. When I got out of
the car, several people surrounded me and asked what I was doing
there. I told them, with a little extra foreign accent, that I was a
student at the University and that I had come from Portugal. They
said, “You mean Puerto Rico?” I explained to them that Portugal
was a small country in Europe and that I needed help because my
car had run out of gas. One of them went home, brought an empty
can to me and said that there was a gas station around the corner. I
walked with the can, filled it with gas, and wondered if the car
would still be intact when I returned. Of course, everyone in that
neighborhood was African-American. They were all very nice to
me, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the reasons for all the
discrimination, and I could not help but become irritated by the
prejudice they were subjected to by the white people of the south.
There were separate places for the whites and blacks to wait for the
buses. The water fountains had signs that read, “Only for White
People” or “Only for Black People.”
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But I also remember that Alabama had the most beautiful flowers
and watermelons. It was a shame to watch segregation that was so
common, and the white people who acted and behaved on its
behalf. It was something I had never experienced before and I
hope to never experience again.
Returning Back to the U.S. Air Force Base
When I returned from the University of Alabama, I was promoted
to Supervisory Employee Development Specialist, GS-11, which I
believe is equivalent to the rank of Major in the US Air Force. I
had a staff under me comprised of two GS-9 and four GS-7
specialists. The program for the entire base consisted of
approximately 2500 employees which included the full range of
manual and technical skills represented by over 200 different
occupational fields. It also involved on- and off-the-job training in
the areas of procurement, personnel, medical, engineering,
recreation, laundry and dry cleaning, communications, food
services, and so on. I was personally responsible for the training
testing program for the entire base, including aptitude, language
and typing tests. At times, I would also serve as Liaison Officer
between the United States and Portuguese governments.
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My staff at Lages Air Force Base
In those days, there were only three GS-11 and eight GS-9
Portuguese employees on the entire base. My position required a
great deal of work and responsibility, but I enjoyed the challenge
so I worked very hard to attain the highest rank among all
Portuguese employees on the base. I was 25 years old. The only
problem was that the salary of Portuguese employees was in
Portuguese currency and based on a different table than the US
Civil Service employees. Although I was in charge of the entire
training program and supervised American employees who had
lower classifications than me, the Portuguese Government did not
allow any Portuguese employee’s salary to be compatible with the
US personnel. When I contacted the Portuguese Department of
Labor to discuss the huge wage difference between the Portuguese
and American employees with the same classification and
responsibility, they replied, that if we were paid on the same scale
as the Americans, then I would be earning more money than the
Prime Minister of Portugal.
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The salaries in Portugal at the time were very low. For example,
my wife’s starting salary as an elementary school teacher was
1,500 escudos per month. At the exchange rate of 28 escudos per
dollar, this was the equivalent of roughly 50 dollars per month.
My salary - because I was Portuguese - was one-fifth of what my
American subordinates received. I had, indeed, a very good salary
compared to most Portuguese people living outside the base, but I
still found it to be unfair. I remember that my salary, at the GS-11
rate, was 6000 escudos a month. This was the equivalent of 200
US dollars. My responsibilities were substantial, and, because of
this terrible disparity in compensation, I had always dreamed of
coming to the United States. I would become an American citizen,
return to Portugal, and continue working on the base where I
would finally be compensated fairly for my job classification.
English Conversation Course on the Radio
I was always thinking of something else to do, and I created a
project called, The People to People Program of the United States.
It was an incentive program for an employee to create and improve
- in any way possible - the best education and life for the
community at large. My project was to write and prepare an
English Language Conversational Course, free of charge, to be
broadcast over the nine Azores Islands. I invested many hours of
my time preparing the cassettes to be presented and donated to the
Radio Club of Angra (RCA), one the most powerful Portuguese
Radio Stations in the Azores. There was no television in those
days, so radio was the only medium besides newspapers.
The program was very successful and I was very proud of it
because it was the first of its kind. For my volunteer work, without
monetary compensation, I received an award for Outstanding
Services from the US Government.
59

Presenting the English Conversation Course tapes to Antero Cruz,
Presenting the President English Conversation of the Angra Course Radio Station tapes to Antero Cruz,
President of the Angra Radio Station
In addition to my regular work, I was able to get a part-time job
with In addition the U.S. to Air my Force regular Institute work, I teaching was able a Portuguese to get a part-time Language job
Course with the to U.S. the civilian Air Force and Institute military teaching personnel a Portuguese on the base. Language
Course to the civilian and military personnel on the base.
Teaching a Portuguese class to U.S. military and civilian
Teaching personnel a Portuguese for class U.S. Air to U.S. Force military Institute
and civilian
personnel for U.S. Air Force Institute
60

Receiving Outstanding Performance Award
from the Base Commander
61

STARTING MY OWN FAMILY
Meeting the Love of My Life
In March 1958, after fulfilling my duties with the Portuguese
military service, I returned home from Lisbon on the ship
Carvalho Araújo. The trip lasted 5 days, taking me on the Atlantic
Ocean to Terceira Island. I had enjoyed the time I spent in Setubal
- where I stayed for more than a year - but I left behind Aldinha, a
pretty young lady who I liked very much. We said we would write
to each other and continue our friendship, but at the age of 23, I
was not quite ready for a commitment.
When I returned to Terceira Island, I was invited to a wedding
reception in the city of Angra do Heroísm, where, from a distance,
I spotted a beautiful young woman
that I had never seen before. I asked
one of my friends who she was, and
he told me that she was a very nice
girl from São Jorge Island who also
happened to be his aunt's godchild.
Knowing me well, he made a remark
that I was not to fool around with
her. I paid no attention to what he
said and persisted to stare at her, but
she did not take any notice of me.
So I asked my friend Jorge Pontes to
tell me where she lived. He gave me
her address and mentioned that she
was only going to be in town for a few more days. She had just
graduated from Teachers College and was leaving for summer
vacation to São Jorge Island.
The next day, I went to her home and waited for hours until she
eventually came out. When she saw me, she asked me who I was,
63

and when I told her, she immediately started to walk away after
asking me to leave her alone. I persisted, continuing to walk
alongside her, telling her, "You are so beautiful, and I am going to
marry you some day!" She responded by telling me that I was
crazy, but I kept walking with her anyway. "I have some books I
must return to a colleague of mine," she said, and I could tell by
the change in her tone that she was getting used to my insistence.
Before long, we were having a pleasant conversation at Jardim de
Angra, a beautiful park in the middle of the city. When she had to
go, I insisted that we meet the next day so that we might get to
know each other a little better, and she agreed.
The next day, I happened to see a large picture of her at a
photographer's window downtown. I went inside the store in
hopes of purchasing it, but the sales clerk said he needed
authorization from the person in the picture before he could sell it
legally. Naturally, when I met with her again, I told her that she
had to go to the photographer's shop to give permission for me to
buy her beautiful picture, which she did. She also told me that we
could meet at the Holy Ghost Feast at Guarita, in the outskirts of
the city. She introduced me to many of her friends, and we had a
wonderful time.
That evening, when I returned home, I took down The Last Supper
(which was hanging on the wall of our dining room) and replaced
it with my new love's portrait. The next morning, my mother
noticed the difference and asked, "Who is that?" I told her that she
was a girl I had met and who I planned to marry one day. "You're
kidding me!?!” she said. “What are you going to do with the
dozens of pictures of girls you have inside the shoe box underneath
your bed?" I told her I was going to throw them all away, and my
mother laughed at me.
The next day was Deodete's trip to São Jorge Island, so I went to
Porto das Pipas pier in Angra do Heroísmo to say goodbye. I
asked her to send me a letter as soon as she arrived. For days I
64

waited and waited, but one never came. I decided to send her a
telegram. Where she lived - Fajã de Santo Amaro - there was no
Post Office or telegraph service. Telegrams were quite uncommon
as well, especially on a small island like São Jorge. So the
telegram arrived at the main office in Velas, where her father
worked as a manufacturer of whaling boats. Unfortunately, the
postman happened to know her father personally and decided to
give him the telegram. Of course, he read the telegram, and he was
very surprised and upset (being the old-fashioned man that he
was). His imagination was probably running wild with thoughts of
his daughter at a faraway school, “What the hell is she doing there?
Is she studying to be a teacher or fooling around?”
Contrary to how things are done today, girls were not supposed to
be in a serious courtship unless granted permission from their
parents. When he came home with the telegram in his hands, he
asked her for an explanation. She told him that she had met me
recently and that I was working for the United States Military
Base. He was furious, saying the people who worked at that Base
were too Americanized, had a bad reputation, and were not to be
trusted.
To make a long story short, Deodete had a terrible summer
vacation in the wake of that telegram. As for me, after waiting a
few more days, I finally received a letter. She told me her father
had not spoken to her in days, and she asked me not to send any
more telegrams. I agreed to send nothing else, but under the
stipulation that she continued to write to me (without her father
knowing).
65

Deodete’s Teaching Career and Our Engagement
Deodete returned from São Jorge and began teaching in Agualva, a
small village about 25 miles from the city. Unlike a regular school
facility, the school was converted from an older house, which
meant it had very little equipment. Deodete rented a room nearby
in another house. She enjoyed teaching very much, but it was a lot
of work dealing with 52 students, ages seven to fourteen, grades
one through four, in one classroom. Many students did not pass
and they had to repeat a grade. That was the system used in many
rural villages in Portugal. In the cities, teachers were assigned to
just one grade in well-equipped classrooms. It is interesting to
note that the students who completed the fourth grade were always
well-prepared, having acquired a very good basic education. In
fact, I sometimes brought my adult American students to observe
Deodete’s teaching and the response from them was that they were
always very impressed with the students’ knowledge of geometry
and mathematics. They even noted that some subjects observed in
Deodete’s classroom were only taught in high schools in America.
Our courtship became very serious and I would see her every
chance I could. Since she was a teacher, she was afforded a
lengthy summer vacation, and a year later I traveled to São Jorge
to ask her father if I could marry his daughter. There I met her
mother, Dos Anjos, her father, João Raimundo, her oldest sister,
Maria Alice and the youngest sister, Bernardete. In those days, in
Portugal, the courtship was usually done by first visiting the girl's
house. She would be inside the window and the boy would be
outside, so they would have to improvise several methods to touch
one another and make the courtship more pleasant. Only after the
engagement could the boy enter the parent's house. But, in my
case, it was a little different because I traveled to another island
where there were no hotels. Thus my future in-laws agreed that I
could stay in their house at Fajã de Santo Amaro, but in separate
rooms, of course. It would be a sin to sleep with a girl without
being married.
66

The entire family warmed up to me (and I to them), even her
grandmother, Maria da Glória, who was a saint. She lived at
Ribeira da Areia, a remote village where she was known for her
charity and as a midwife. She delivered all the babies in that
village, free of charge, and even prepared chicken soup for the
mothers after the babies were born. Deodete's mother and father
gradually got to know me and agreed that I could become engaged
to their daughter. I was very happy with the outcome of my trip
because, although I had always been very vulnerable, I was now
officially engaged. I really felt Deodete was the perfect woman for
me. Not only was she beautiful, but she also had all the qualities I
was looking for in a wife.
São Jorge is a beautiful island full of' Fajãs - parcels of land by the
ocean, at the foot of the mountains, very green and picturesque. It
is also the island that produces the most famous cheese in the
Azores, called Queijo de São Jorge. The cheese is well-known all
over Portugal and even in the U.S. and Canada where many
Portuguese immigrants live. I spent the entire month eating well,
hunting rabbits and sailing. Rabbits were a plague on the island
because they would eat the crops. As a result, they could be
hunted all year round. They were also so overpopulated that we
didn't even have to look for them in the fields or the farms. To
find them, we only had to turn on a truck’s headlights and we
would spot them in the middle of the road. One night I brought
home seventeen wild rabbits, and I’m not even a good hunter! My
mother-in-law gave away some of them and cooked the rest as a
delicious meal. Wild rabbit is a delicacy all over Europe.
I also met a nice family for whom my father-in-law, João
Raimundo, built a boat. The patriarch of the family was the Chief
Supreme Court Justice of the Azores, Dr Albano de Oliveira
Lopes, who was also from São Jorge. He spent his vacations on
the island and became a good friend of mine. In those days, there
were no rental cars, so I asked my father-in-law if he knew anyone
from whom I could rent or borrow a car. Without a car, I would be
67

stuck in the house all day. He knew a man who owned an old 1945
English Austin, and we were able to convince him to let me rent it.
The problem was that the tires were worn, and I had multiple flat
tires during the one month stay in São Jorge. There was no AAA in
the Azores, so I had to change the tires myself, which was
something I did not like to do. Admittedly, I am not very gifted in
the art of repair.
Deodete's house was in a small village, in an incredibly beautiful
location. I used to wake up in the morning and see the majestic
Island of Pico, the second largest island in the Azores and home of
the highest mountain in all of Portugal. The other island I could
see from her house is called Faial. It was indeed a breathtaking
panorama.
Eventually, I had to return to Terceira to my job on the base while
Deodete went to start the new school year. I would still see her
every chance I got and our courtship lasted three years. I lived on
the base while she lived in the city of Angra, about 20 miles away.
Each year she moved to a different village school on the island.
Before I could marry Deodete, I had to comply with a strange law
that existed in Portugal before the 1974 Revolution. The law
stated that in order for someone to marry a teacher, they would
have to meet certain requirements. For example, I had to earn at
least as much money as she earned and have at least the same
academic education as she had. I met all the requirements, so I
was able to present my credentials to the officials so that we could
marry. At the time I couldn’t help but wonder how difficult that
silly law made it for anyone who didn’t have an education to marry
a school teacher.
68

Our Wedding and Honeymoon
I was 27 and Deodete was 25 when we were married on August 5,
1962 at the Church of Bôa Hora, in Fajã de Santo Amaro on São
Jorge Island by Father Manuel Raimundo. From Terceira, São
Jorge is three hours by boat, so the
only people who came to our
wedding were my parents, my sister
Adriana, my Best Man Henrique
Vieira de Melo, his wife Idalina,
Deodete's Mistress of Honor,
Senhora Dona Hermínia, her
husband Victor Serpa, and Deodete's
Godmother, Sofia. On a small island
like São Jorge, there were very few
automobiles, so most of the cars on
the island were used for our
wedding. There was a very elegant
and plentiful banquet in the front
yard of Deodete's home, with a beautiful balcony overlooking it
all. We ate lobster and had one of the finest days of my life.
The morning after, we took a small boat to the island of Pico, one
hour away. When we arrived at Cais do Pico pier, a good friend of
mine, Jaime Tavares, and his family were waiting for us. There
weren’t many passengers on the boat, so I unloaded my own
luggage onto the dock. The Tavares family greeted us very
warmly, and the boat left to another destination. My wife suddenly
asked, "Where is my luggage?" I replied, "I don't know. I have
never been married before! This is my first morning; please give
me time to adjust to this married life!"
The only thing I could say to avoid ruining our honeymoon trip
was, "I promise I will watch your luggage from now on!"
Naturally, she was very sad and upset because she was about to
69

spend her honeymoon without the clothes that she had purchased
for the special occasion. The only clothes she had was a skirt and
a blouse. Back then, the most important priority for a Portuguese
bride was to have a brand new wardrobe, called in Portuguese,
enxoval, which was her pride and joy.
To console her, I told her that as soon as we arrived at our next
destination, Faial, an island half an hour away by boat, we would
go to a store and purchase whatever she liked. Of course, when we
arrived and went shopping, she found nothing that she liked. In
those days, there were very few stores that sold ready-made
clothes. So she wore the same blouse and skirt for the three days
that we spent in Faial. Good thing she brought new underwear in
her carry-on luggage.
We checked in at the only hotel on the island. We wanted a
shower but, strangely enough, there was no water on tap. We were
terribly disappointed. The clerk at the hotel said the only place we
could take a bath would be at a public bath downtown. We went,
waited in line, took a quick shower and immediately looked for
another place to stay. The taxi driver informed us that there was an
elderly lady who rented rooms in a very nice colonial house. He
took us there, and that's where we ended up staying three nights.
From there, we took our planned cruise on the ship Funchal to São
Miguel, the island of my birth. When we boarded the ship, I asked
if there were any stores where we could buy clothes. The cabin
steward told us that there was a waiter who sold contraband clothes
from the Canary Islands. I went looking for him and brought him
to our cabin. His name was Camões, like the famous Portuguese
poet. Deodete was delighted to purchase some nice clothes, and it
made me feel better because, until then, I had been feeling very
guilty seeing her wear the same blouse and skirt for 3 days.
70

When the ship stopped in Terceira, the island where I was working
for the US Air Force, I was very happy and surprised to see many
of my friends and students from the base waiting for us on the ship.
It was so wonderful to see them because they were the ones who
were unable to travel to São Jorge for our wedding. Instead, they
presented us with an elaborate banquet preceded by hors d'oeuvres
and champagne in the first class dining room on the ship. The cake
was even a replica of the ship!
The ship sailed that evening to São Miguel where we spent one
week at the famous Terra Nostra Hotel in Furnas. There was a
beautiful park full of trees with unique flowers and plants, and a
swimming pool outside with yellowish, ferrous water. Another
attraction in Furnas is the famous medicinal hot water baths
surrounded by hot springs from an active volcano. We took a
couple baths there, and it was simply marvelous! The hotel had a
night club across the street, and that’s where we spent the evenings
listening to music and dancing. It was a perfect honeymoon.
Twenty-two years later – An Interesting Coincidence
In the summer of 1987, we decided to take our entire family to
Portugal, including our son-in-law, Arthur, who had never been to
continental Portugal. We all stayed at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in
Lisbon - the best in Portugal at the time. Being a travel agent, I
would often send my VIP clients to that magnificent five-star
hotel. The manager was a friend of mine, so, when I called her to
reserve the rooms, she was nice enough to give us three deluxe
suites, free of charge.
Azoreans, particularly those from the island of São Miguel, have a
very distinct accent. It’s like comparing the accent of a person
from Boston to someone from Alabama. The next morning at
breakfast, the waiter immediately took notice, and asked, “Are you
all from the Azores?” I told him that we were, and he remarked by
saying, "I know the Azores very well. I used to be a crew member
71

on the ship Funchal.” Immediately, the waiter who sold clothes to
Deodete
on the ship
during
Funchal.”
our honeymoon
Immediately,
cruise
the
came
waiter
to
who
my mind,
sold clothes
so I said,
to
Deodete
“The only
during
person
our
I remember
honeymoon
from
cruise
that
came
ship was
to my
a waiter
mind,
who
so I said,
sold
“The
us contraband
only person
clothing.
I remember
His
from
name
that
was
ship
CAMÕES.”
was a waiter
He
who
replied,
sold
us
"THAT
contraband
WAS ME!!”
clothing.
and he
His
remembered
name was
the
CAMÕES.”
big party
He
we
replied,
had on
"THAT
the ship that
WAS
evening
ME!!”
in
and
Terceira
he remembered
Harbor.
the big party we had on
the ship that evening in Terceira Harbor.
Starting my Life as a Married Man
Starting my Life as a Married Man
After our honeymoon, Deodete and I rented a newly built house in
After
the city
our
of
honeymoon,
Angra. I continued
Deodete and
my job
I rented
at the
a newly
base during
built house
the day
in
the
and
city
taught
of Angra.
Portuguese
I continued
at night.
my
I
job
was
at
very
the
busy,
base during
but I enjoyed
the day
and
what
taught
I was
Portuguese
doing. I purchased
at night.
my
I was
first
very
car (secondhand),
busy, but I enjoyed
a 1955
what
English
I was
Austin,
doing.
Model
I purchased
A40. Cars
my
in
first
Portugal
car (secondhand),
were very expensive.
a 1955
Very
English
few
Austin,
people
Model
had cars,
A40.
and
Cars
those
in
that
Portugal
did were
were
usually
very expensive.
wealthy.
Very few people had cars, and those that did were usually wealthy.
Even with two jobs, I still could not afford to purchase a new car.
Even
With my
with
job
two
classification
jobs, I still
as
could
a GS-11,
not afford
I had
to
all
purchase
the privileges
a new
of
car.
an
With
Air Force
my job
officer.
classification
As such,
as a
I
GS-11,
was entitled
I had
to
all
purchase
the privileges
American
of an
Air
goods
Force
at the
officer.
PX store
As
on
such,
the base,
I was
which
entitled
was
to
totally
purchase
different
American
from
goods
the stores
at the
in
PX
Portugal.
store on
The
the
items
base,
were
which
not
was
only
totally
much
different
cheaper,
from
but
the
some
stores
could
in
not
Portugal.
even be
The
found
items
in
were
the
not
Portuguese
only much
market.
cheaper,
As
but
a
some
result,
could
our home
not even
in Portugal
be found
essentially
in the Portuguese
became
market.
an American
As a
result,
home.
our
The
home
second
in
car
Portugal
I owned
essentially
was a 1945
became
Citroen,
an
just
American
like the
home. The second car I owned was a 1945 Citroen, just like the
72

one that was shown in the James Bond movies that I loved so
much. The experts used to say that it was the only front-wheel
drive European car. It drove very low to the ground. To this day, I
wish I had brought it with me to the U.S. It would have been a
beautiful antique by now.
The Birth of Our First Child, Angela Maria
I always dreamed of having children. 1 knew that children could
fulfill my marriage and move me to dedicate myself to a steady,
married life. Right away, Deodete and I tried for a baby. Deodete
became pregnant two months after we were married but,
unfortunately, we lost the child. We were devastated. It happened
one afternoon when she was not feeling well. We had season
tickets for the theater, so I convinced her to go out so that she
might enjoy a movie that we were both looking forward to see.
At the end of the movie, on our way home, she was still feeling
terrible. When we got home, she lost the baby. I felt guilty, but
Deodete, as usual, insisted that it was destiny and that it wasn't my
fault. But I couldn’t help my feelings, and I started to cry.
Sometime later, she became pregnant again, and on September 2,
1963 Angela Maria was born at the Hospital of Santo Espírito.
We were elated with our first baby, and a celebration was in order.
And what a party it was! We invited our entire family and friends
to her Baptism, which took place at the Church of Conceição. She
was baptized by Father José Garcia who is now a Monsignor and
Pastor of the Igreja de São José in Ponta Delgada. It was the
parish of my mother’s family and it was where I had my First
Communion.
73

A Christian Retreat
One time my friends invited me to attend a Catholic retreat. I
wasn’t always a good, practicing Catholic, but I accepted their
invitation out of curiosity more than anything else. I ended up
enjoying it so much that I was inspired to lead my life as a good
Christian from that point forward. The movement was called
Cursillo (a Catholic Retreat). The first Cursillo was given in
August of 1944 at Cala Figuera, on the Spanish island of
Mallorca. The principle author was Eduardo Bonnin. Today,
hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world have
participated in the movement. In this instance, a group of people
were secluded for three days and three nights. There were many
lectures and Bible study classes, and we shared many common
experiences in public confessions shared by all the participants. It
was a fascinating experience.
After I completed the retreat, we had a meeting every Friday that
was called Ultreia, where we all shared our experiences of the past
week and consider what we could have done better. It was a
disciplined way for us to be aware of our actions on a day to day
basis. It made us realize that we all have a mission in life to make
things better for our neighbors and for those who are less fortunate
than ourselves. We enjoyed everyone's company, trust and
friendship. Folk and religious songs were played all the time,
setting the tone for a peaceful atmosphere. One song in particular,
called DeColores, was the theme song for Cursillos, and we all
learned and enjoyed singing it.
As part of our efforts, groups of ten were formed. Each group had
a plan of action. For example, my group concentrated on going to
Mass every Sunday with inmates from the city jail. We also
helped out the families who were very poor. There were always
many children visiting their fathers in the jail. I remember one
prisoner had 12 children and he was serving a 10-year prison
sentence. One Sunday, I happened to see an inmate's wife and
74

children visiting him and I noticed that his kids were all barefoot.
One of the boys was exactly my daughter’s age. I came home and
told my wife that Angela Maria had a pair of boy's shoes that she
had worn once for a costume as a male graduate of the Coimbra
University Medical School, with the respective yellow ribbons. I
told Deodete that I needed to bring that pair of shoes to that young
prisoner's son. The following Sunday, the wife and kids came
again to visit the father and when I gave the boy the pair of shoes
he was so excited that he cried. I felt good about myself, but also
because such a gift, while insignificant to me, made this poor child
so completely overjoyed.
Now that I live in America, witnessing my own granddaughters
with so many pairs of shoes, I try to help them to realize how
fortunate they are. Any time I see them being wasteful or
excessive, I can't help but stress that during my travels, I have
witnessed true poverty in third world countries. I know they get
tired of me telling them those stories, but I feel it is important to
stress the difference between poverty in America and poverty
elsewhere. They need to be aware of countries like Haiti, where
the priorities and necessities are not to acquire several pairs of
shoes, a massive wardrobe, or to eat all kinds of exquisite cuisines,
but rather to be able to simply drink water and eat one meal a day.
I realize that I, too, am spoiled and enjoy many of the finer things,
but I try very hard not to waste food, water or any of the other
necessities that millions of people in the world will never have. In
fact, my entire family knows perfectly well that in my house no
one puts more food on the plate than they can eat. I always make
sure that they understand the sin of wasting food and water. The
world is very unfair - some have so much while others have
nothing.
On that very same Sunday when I came home from the city jail, I
was having dinner with my wife and our daughter Angela. We
were listening to the radio (no TV in those days), and we heard
that my wife had won a pair of shoes from a raffle that she had
75

entered earlier that week at a shoe store downtown. I considered
that "a moment of Christ" and not just a mere coincidence. I
strongly believe the phrase from the Bible, "Give and you shall
receive."
Our group was also involved in trying to get jobs for prisoners
who had completed their sentences. I remember one in particular
for whom I was able to find a job at restaurant. I found out later
that he had been in jail for stealing, so I checked with the
restaurant owner often to find out how he was doing. The
restaurant owner told me that he was very happy with him and that
he even gave him a promotion to cashier. I was surprised that a
guy who spent time in jail for being a thief was now handling
money as a cashier. He worked at the restaurant for many years,
and was later promoted to head waiter. He never got in trouble
again. As a matter of fact, he married and invited me to be the
Best Man at his wedding. He went on to become a respectable
father and husband. This was a perfect rehabilitation that God
presented to me. But, unfortunately, there were many other
instances that weren’t so successful.
Back then, the city jail was supposed to have a doctor on duty in
case a prisoner became ill. But the inefficiency and bureaucracy
of the Salazar regime was so terrible that many people working
for the government had no regard for rendering services they were
being paid to offer, such as a doctor being on call in case a
prisoner needed medical assistance. Most of the time, prisoners
were completely ignored. Fortunately, one of our Cursillo's
members was a doctor, Dr. Vasco Aguiar. He was (and still is) a
saint, always ready to help whenever someone was in need.
During special holidays, like Christmas, we collected money from
our friends, go to the grocery stores on the island to ask for food
and distribute it to the prisoners' families. Most were living under
terrible conditions since most women back then did not work and,
therefore, could not feed their children when their husbands were
76

away in jail. Most people - especially my close friends - know that
I am not a saint. But I enjoy helping the needy, and I still feel that
I could and should do much more for humanity.
Those were times to both remember and to forget. Since the 1974
revolution, democracy prevails in Portugal. Today, the politicians
and government employees (in most cases) perform their duties
much better than during the old days. The press is constantly
monitoring their performances, so, if they get out of line they are
blasted either on the front pages of the newspapers or on the 8
o'clock news. In fact, many corrupt politicians and government
authorities end up in jail. Portugal is now a country with complete
freedom of speech and expression, very much like the United
States.
The Birth of Our Son Paulo
Four years after Angela Maria was born we were blessed with a
son, Paulo, on April 23, 1967. He was also born at the Hospital of
Santo Espírito and baptized at the Church of São Pedro City of
Angra do Heroísmo. The baptism was performed by one of the
most intellectual members of the Portuguese clergy, Dr. Artur
Cunha de Oliveira, who was a professor at the seminary and our
marriage counselor. At the time, I was still very involved with the
Cursillo movement. My best friend, Manuel Vasco Mont'Alveme,
and I decided, with Deodete’s approval, to give him the name
Paulo, who was our favorite Apostle. In those days, the fathers
were not allowed to be present during the birth of their children.
Our good friend and neighbor, Conceição Ramos Grilo, happened
to be in the room when it was time to deliver the baby, so she was
the only person who witnessed our son's birth. For that reason, we
decided she would be his Godmother.
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My Involvement with Sports and Civic Clubs in the Azores
Deodete's sister, Bernardete, lived with us while she was attending
high school. She ultimately graduated from Teachers’ College and
became a teacher. She was very helpful to have around, but we
still had to leave the children with someone when we both went to
work, so we decided to hire a young girl from São Jorge to work at
our house, watching the children and performing other household
duties. We had permanent seats reserved at the movie theater, so
that’s where we spent our Sunday evenings. On Sunday
afternoons, I would go see a soccer match with my friends. My
favorite teams in Portugal were Clube Sport Angrense in the
Azores, and the great Sport Lisboa e Benfica. They were the
European Champions one year. They both had, and still have, the
same color uniforms: red shirts and white shorts.
Because I was a huge fan, the best man at my wedding, Henrique
Vieira de Melo, asked if I wanted to run for the club's Vice
Presidency. I accepted and spent two years in that capacity, but,
although the club had a fairly good couple of years, I grew tired of
the role after a while and did not want to run again. Right after I
left the Sports Club I was invited to be on the board of a very nice
association, similar to a country club in the US, called Clube
Musical Angrense, where I spent time with many of my friends,
playing cards and French billiards. The ambiance was wonderful.
There were many parties for the members throughout the year,
during Mardi Gras, New Years and so forth. There were also
many activities for children, such as costume contests. The
members were from an affluent society and it was a nice place
where you could enjoy peace, surrounded by good families and
friends in a wonderful atmosphere.
The Portuguese Secret Police Interrogation
When I returned to Portugal from my studies in the United States,
Portugal was still a very scary place to live. There was no such
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thing as freedom of speech or expression. But as I had just come
from America and all its freedoms, I became very vocal. I spoke
freely, without reservation, which was considered fairly dangerous
before 1974. The Salazar regime always had informers hired by
the PIDE, Policia Internatcional Defesa do Estado, listening to
everything people said. This was a way of keeping the dictatorship
intact, in case an uprising was in the works. So, one day at the
office, I had a photograph underneath the glass on my desk
showing a group of people with whom I had taken a picture during
a class on photography. One morning, when I arrived at my office,
I noticed the photograph was gone. I asked my staff if they had
seen anyone take the picture. No one had. A few days later, I
received a letter from PIDE requesting my presence at their
headquarters in the city of Angra.
I was a bit surprised, but I went to their office as requested. I can
remember quite vividly the two agents waiting for me. One was in
front of an old Underwood typewriter and the other was in front of
a tape recorder. They began a line of questioning and stated that
there were suspicions that I was a subversive and that I had
become rather outspoken about the Salazar regime since returning
from the U.S. They wanted to know, “Who were the people in the
photograph?” I replied that everyone in the picture was taking a
course in photography. They also asked if I was reading a book
about Bahaullah, and I replied that I was. The book was entitled
Bahaullah and the New Era. The book was about a new religion
that started in the beginning of the nineteenth century. It started in
Persia, present day Iran, and I said I was curious about all
religions. I enjoyed educating myself about anything of interest,
and that is why I read the book.
They were visibly furious and told me the book was prohibited in
Portugal. It was a revolutionary book and that was the reason they
had taken the photograph from my desk. They thought this was a
subversive group that might be planning to overthrow the
government. Well, I couldn’t control myself, and I exploded into
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laughter! One of them said, "This is not funny! From now on, you
laughter! One of them said, "This is not funny! From now on, you
have to be very careful of how you speak! Just because you work
have to be very careful of how you speak! Just because you work
for the American government and you studied in the USA, this is
for the American government and you studied in the USA, this is
still Portugal." The interrogation lasted five hours. I was so tired
still Portugal." The interrogation lasted five hours. I was so tired
and scared because I knew of a few people who had been arrested
and scared because I knew of a few people who had been arrested
for simply criticizing the government. They finished the
for simply criticizing the government. They finished the
interrogation by saying that I would be watched from that point on.
interrogation by saying that I would be watched from that point on.
When I arrived home I told my wife about everything that had
When I arrived home I told my wife about everything that had
happened along with the possibility of our leaving Portugal to join
happened along with the possibility of our leaving Portugal to join
my family in the United Sates. Deodete and many of my friends
my family in the United Sates. Deodete and many of my friends
did not agree that we should move to another country and start a
did not agree that we should move to another country and start a
new life, especially with the wonderful standard of living we had
new life, especially with the wonderful standard of living we had
in Portugal. But I was afraid to speak freely, living under constant
in Portugal. But I was afraid to speak freely, living under constant
watch.
watch.
Our family portrait before leaving for America in 1967
Our family portrait before leaving for America in 1967
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MY LIFE IN AMERICA
Deciding to Leave for the USA
By the time Deodete and I decided to move to the United States,
my two sisters and their families had already moved there. Soon
after that my mother and father joined them. My wife and I had
good jobs and enjoyed a high standard of living in Portugal, but I
felt threatened by the very real prospect of people spying on me. I
was constantly being watched by the International Police and I
didn‘t feel secure. Portugal was a police state. I had a
conversation with my wife about going to the U.S. to avoid being
arrested, and, at first, she couldn’t believe it. She thought I was
kidding. Why should we leave this wonderful life here?
But I insisted that we had to leave Portugal, and she eventually
agreed. I called my sister, Manuela, who was an American citizen.
She was living in Middletown, Connecticut, and I asked her to
petition for me and my family to immigrate to the United States. I
went to the Governor's office where anyone who intended to
immigrate had to be approved by the Governor of the Island. With
all the bureaucracy, and because I was on the black list of the
Portuguese Secret Police, they delayed my permission to leave.
A couple of weeks later, I went to Cursillo as a leader. At about
the same time, my father became very ill and was hospitalized at
Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. My mother sent a
telegram saying that he was dying and that if I wanted to see him
alive I would have to go the U.S as soon as possible. While I was
secluded at the Cursillo, Deodete went to the Island Governor's
office with the telegram saying that we had to leave for the U.S. so
that I could see my father alive. She got the authorization and, that
evening, she met me at Midnight Mass. Deodete said she had
taken care of everything, including the airline tickets and
passports. Since we had already been approved by the United
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States Immigration Department a few months earlier, the only
other documentation we needed were the Immigrant Visas to be
issued by the U.S. Consul in Ponta Delgada. The next morning,
we took the local commuter Airline SATA from Terceira to Ponta
Delgada to obtain the visas. The officials at the US Consulate
were very nice. One of them was my good friend, Victor Cruz, and
he expedited our visas in just a couple of hours, so that we could
leave the next day.
The next morning, we flew to Montreal, Canada because there
were no flights to Boston. We arrived on Dec 31, 1967, so there
was snow everywhere. We didn't have proper attire for North
American weather in December. The temperature in the Azores
fluctuates between 60º to 80º degrees year round, which is a far cry
from the freezing temperatures in Canada. Everyone was terribly
cold.
I called my mother the moment we landed, and she was crying
inconsolably. "Your father just passed away," she said, and we all
cried. We stayed at my sister-in-law Maria Alice's house, in the
center of Montreal that night, and we left for Boston the following
morning. When we arrived, my sister Manuela was waiting for us
at Logan International Airport and she took us to Middletown,
Connecticut, a little more than a two hour drive from Boston.
Our Life in Middletown, Connecticut
My two sisters, Manuela and Adriana, were living in Middletown.
We stayed with them for a few days until we found an apartment at
a low income housing project, close to the Connecticut Valley
Hospital. After my father's funeral, I immediately went to look for
a job. I checked all the newspapers' classified sections to find a
position compatible to my credentials. I even went to Boston,
which was over two hours away, where there was an opening for a
Human Resources position. They rejected me because I was overqualified
and said that I would not last long in that job. They
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mentioned that I should seek a position that was more appropriate,
given my qualifications. I insisted that I needed a job right away
because I had a wife and two children, but no luck was to be had.
I kept looking in newspaper ads and I saw one asking for an
Insurance Underwriter in Hartford, Connecticut. It was for a
position at the Hartford Insurance Co. As I did not have any
insurance experience, they gave me a position as Assistant
Underwriter Trainee. It was 25 miles from Middletown, and I
worked in a nice office with very good people. But my salary was
only $100.00 dollars per week. I purchased a secondhand car; a
Rambler that looked like a bath tub, for $300.00 dollars and it was
a real lemon. The windshield wipers rarely worked, but I had no
choice about using the car since I had to drive to work every day.
At that time I smoked, and I remembered how my father (who was
very knowledgeable with automobiles) once told me, "If it rains
when you are driving and the windshield wipers don't work, you
must improvise. Just use the tobacco from a cigarette and splash it
all over the windshield. You'll see what happens!" I tried his
suggestion and it actually worked! The tobacco repelled the rain
on the windshield and enabled me to continue driving the car on
rainy days.
Deodete, who only spoke a little bit of English that she had learned
in high school, did not speak or understand enough to get a decent
position as a teacher. Although she was a Certified Teacher in
Portugal, she would have to go to college again to earn an
American teaching degree. I encouraged her to do so, and we both
went to a local college to get information about what equivalency
her degree in Portugal would garner in credits in the United States
if she decided to pursue that option. After she presented her
credentials, diplomas and courses that she had taken in Portugal,
they told her that they would give her 59 credits and that she only
needed an additional 61 to earn her Teaching Certificate. Since we
were starting our life anew in a new country with an eight month
old son and a 4 year old daughter, she decided not to go to school
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ight away, but at a later time when life was a bit easier. As we
grew into our new lives, however, we both became very busy
working, so she was never able to return to college to get her
teaching degree.
Deodete did find a job very close to the Welfare Housing Project
where we lived. Her job was to make holes for the components of
television sets. She was very disappointed, coming from a very
good job and a beautiful environment in Terceira, to be working in
a factory and living in a low income housing project. My mother
worked as a prep cook at a famous restaurant called Commodore.
It was very close to our home, so she could walk to work. My
mother would baby sit often for our children, but most of the time
we had to get a babysitter. The neighborhood was terrible. People
were always fighting. Police were there constantly, at all hours.
Deodete desperately wanted to go back to the Azores. She simply
could not stand it. I tried to reassure her that things were going to
get better, but she was so sad with our quality of life and the
environment in which we were now living.
A Dream Job that Became a Terrible Disappointment
I kept looking for a better job so that I could earn more money and
move to a better neighborhood. I happened to see an ad in the
paper asking for a Social Worker Director in Hartford. Although I
had no background in social work, I had college credit in
psychology, philosophy and public relations. So I applied for the
job and they agreed to hire me! The salary was $400.00 a week
which, at the time, was a very good salary. They gave me a
beautiful office. The job entailed supervising a group of 32
employees whose responsibility was to assist the homeless, the
drug addicts, and the kids at risk on the streets of Hartford. The
office was located in the worst section of the city, but as I had
experience with prisoners in Cursillo, I was delighted to have the
job. I thought it was perfect since it would put me closer to the
poor and the unfortunate.
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The employees under my supervision were terrific. When I was
just starting out, a meeting was called and someone in charge of
federal programs came from Washington. At first, I wasn’t aware
what the meeting was about, but, soon after the meeting began, I
understood. Most of my staff was African American, and one of
them stated that he should have gotten the job instead of me. He
called it discrimination. He went on to say that, although I was a
nice guy, he demanded that one of the people who had already
worked there for years should receive the position instead of me.
Mr. Wilson, the person in charge of The Poor Peoples' Federation,
stated that I had been selected for the job because I had completed
a curriculum required to fill the position while none of the other
employees had met this requirement. The leader of the group felt
that even though I was well-liked, Mr. Wilson had a choice:
“Either promote someone from within, or they would take care of
the situation themselves.” Naturally, after hearing this threatening
comment, I left the meeting and drove back to Middletown. Later,
I told Deodete that I had quit the job.
The next day, I called my former supervisor at the Hartford
Insurance Co. to ask if I could have my old job back. He replied
that not only could I come back, but that I would get a raise and
become an Underwriter. So the following morning, I reported to
work and my boss said that my new salary would be $150.00 a
week. I was delighted, and I continued working in Hartford for a
few more months. The environment was terrific, but I kept looking
for a second job in order to supplement my income.
My Experience as a Salesman
We were still struggling financially when I answered an ad in the
Hartford Current Newspaper and was hired to sell the
Encyclopedia Britannica. I only had time to sell in the evenings. I
would arrive home at 6 pm from Hartford, have a quick dinner, and
then go out knocking on doors to try to make a sale. I usually did
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that until 9 or 10 o'clock at night. One evening, I had a prospect in
the distant town of Norwalk who wanted to buy a set of
encyclopedias. On the way back, I got lost and didn’t arrive home
until 2 in the morning. There was no GPS or cellular telephones
back then, and I wanted to call my wife to let her know what was
happening. I knew she would be worried that something terrible
had happened, so I found a pay phone on the side of the road. Of
course, I didn’t have any change in my pocket, and there was
nobody around to ask for directions. When I finally made my way
home, my wife was wide awake with worry. After explaining
what happened, I decided to quit my sales job because it was
taking up too much time and the commissions were very small.
The Tragedy of My Sister’s Death
My sister Manuela had the misfortune of marrying a bum. He was
a drunk who could never hold a job, and so she was forced to work
two jobs in order to support her three boys, Ricky, Jojo and Bobby.
One night, at 1 o'clock in the morning, I received a call from the
police saying that my sister had been in an accident and that she
was in the hospital. I got up from bed and went to the hospital and,
when I arrived, they told me she had passed away. She was only
30 years old.
The accident happened in Bristol, Connecticut. She had worked
two jobs, 16 hours a day, to support her family. During the day,
she worked in an office in Middletown. After that job, she traveled
to another town to work as a waitress in a restaurant. On the night
of the accident, she must have been very tired while returning
home after a long day of work. She did not shut the driver's door
properly and she was not wearing a seat belt. When she was
making a right turn, the door flung open and she was thrown from
the car, hitting her head on the road. The police told me she had
already passed when she arrived at the hospital. The whole family
was in shock, especially my mother who had already gone through
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many tragedies in her life. Manuela was not only a great mother,
but also very well-educated. In fact, she was a polyglot, fluent in 4
languages. Who was going to take care of her three children? Her
husband was a terrible character and completely irresponsible. But
thanks to Margaret Kilpatrick, my sister’s mother-in-law, the
children were well cared for until they were old enough to be
independent. As a matter of fact, she was named, Grandmother of
the Year, by the mayor of Middletown, Connecticut for the
outstanding manner in which she raised those three children.
My Second Experience as a Salesman
After my sister's death, I found that she had a life insurance policy
with Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. When I went to their
insurance company’s office to make the claim, one of the
managers came to talk to me and asked if I would be interested in
becoming an insurance agent. He explained that it was a good
opportunity; someone had just left, so I could start working
immediately. He also explained that technically, there was no limit
as to what I could earn. My earnings would be dependent upon
how much time I wanted to invest.
I started work at Metropolitan Life the next morning and tendered
my resignation at the Hartford Insurance Co. My old supervisor
was a wonderful man. He said that he was going to miss me, but
he was also happy that I was starting a job with a lot of potential.
The new company offered me $200.00 per week, plus
commissions. They sent me to an Insurance Training Center in
New York City, and I graduated with good grades. After that, I had
to pass the State of Connecticut exam required to become a
licensed Insurance Sales Representative.
I was then ready to start my new job. At first, I was accompanied
by my manager during sales calls, but I was on my own after three
weeks. Initially, the manager gave me a few leads since I did not
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know many people in Middletown. I called and made appointments
to sit down with them, but some were not interested. But as I had
learned in school, this was to be expected. I sat down with ten or
more prospects during my first week and I wrote four applications.
I was very enthusiastic about my new venture. The weeks that
followed were just as good. I started to receive plenty of referrals
from satisfied clients, and I continued to make calls from my list of
prospects. After my first month on the job, I sold fifteen insurance
policies and earned $1,600.00 in commissions alone.
I began to realize that this was a good profession, but I had to
spend many hours preparing myself for each call. It was not only
important to sell, but also to get more leads and to make sure that
the information I gave to my clients was honest and correct. The
clients were entitled to this, and I realized early on that this was a
very important part of being successful in sales. We maintained
services for our policy holders for any claims or changes they
wished to make in the future, so it was important to establish an
ongoing relationship.
I also realized that selling insurance was not easy. It's much easier
to sell things the client can actually see, like automobiles,
furniture, etc. No one wants to face the reality of death.
Oftentimes, the immediate reaction is, “I am too young for this,”
or, “I can't afford it.” So I had to convince them to think about
their families and what they would do in such a situation. What
would happen if they passed away? It was sometimes very
difficult because it required a lot of patience and perseverance.
But I kept going and, by the end of the year, I earned a place in the
Millionaires Club (which meant I had sold over one million dollars
worth of insurance). In fact, the General Sales Manager wanted to
promote me to group manager. I went back to school and received
a CLU degree, Certified Life Underwriter. But I turned down the
manager position in the end because I preferred meeting and
talking with new people.
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At the time, we didn’t just sell insurance door to door; we also had
the responsibility of collecting premiums each week from our
clients which is unlike today where all policy holders send their
payments by mail. It wasn’t as simple as it is today, but the money
was good and I likened it to working for myself, which forced me
to be organized and disciplined.
A few months after I started working for METLIFE, I was in an
automobile accident. It was a rainy day in November, and the
roads were covered in fallen leaves. As I was merging onto a
highway, my car swerved against the barriers and I was thrown
from the car into the road. Miraculously, I was not killed and I
escaped with only a few minor scratches and bumps. My nice suit,
however, was completely ruined. I had never been so shaken up in
all my life. Lying on the ground, I saw the cars flying by all
around me, but God was present in that moment and they all
missed me. A few minutes later, a policeman came and took me to
the Emergency Room. The doctors checked me out and said I only
had a few scratches and that I was very lucky. I called my sales
manager to explain what happened and he immediately came to see
me at the hospital. I couldn’t believe it, but the first thing he asked
me was, "Did you have any money from METLIFE in the car?” I
replied, “Do you have the audacity to think about money right now
instead of how I feel? Is money more important to you than my
life?" He replied, "That's not what I meant!” But I lost all respect
for him in that moment. I continued to work for the company,
though, because my family was my first priority and they
depended on my income. He seemed to respect me more after that
incident, and I think he might have changed for the better.
Invitation to Move to Bristol, Rhode Island
A friend of mine from the Azores immigrated to the U.S. and was
living in Bristol, Rhode Island. He knew I was in New England, so
he looked me up. He came to Middletown to visit and asked if I
wanted to go into business with him in Bristol. I had never even
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heard of Bristol, Rhode Island, but my wife immediately chimed in
and said, “I think we have nothing to lose. Let's go and see.”
When Deodete and I came to Bristol, we were both very impressed
with the town. I remember seeing the Tavares Floors and Batista
Bakery signs. She was so excited, she said, "Oh my God,
Portuguese stores!!" For me, it was a tough decision, because I
was doing fairly well financially, selling insurance. But the whole
family was miserable and very unhappy with the neighborhood and
our living conditions in Connecticut. Finally, after evaluating the
pros and cons, we decided we had to take this opportunity so our
children could be raised in a better environment.
Before I returned to Middletown to prepare for the move, my
partner-to-be, Eduardo Rosa, and I had a discussion. I told him
that I had no money to offer as an initial investment in any
partnership. He responded that he knew me well, my education,
my experience and the positions that I held with the United States
Air Force. He wasn’t at all concerned, and he said, “With my
money and your qualifications, we are going to do well.” He went
on to say that there were many Portuguese people in Bristol and
Warren who needed an establishment that offered the amenities of
a travel agency, an insurance agency, and the importation of
Portuguese goods.
After that vote of confidence, I contacted my boss at METLIFE
and resigned from the company. He was very disappointed,
particularly since I was a member of the Millionaire's Club, and he
did not want to lose me. I asked him, “Is there any way that I
could be transferred from Middletown to Bristol, Rhode Island.?”
He agreed to contact the Regional Manager for Rhode Island and
to let me know.
A few days later, he informed me that the company’s policy didn’t
normally allow an employee to engage in other job in addition to
selling insurance for Metropolitan. In my particular case, however,
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they agreed that I was an asset to the company and could be
transferred to an office in Newport, Rhode Island.
I visited Bristol a few times after that to look for a place to rent or
purchase. Deodete and I found a home that had just been built at 3
Charlotte Drive in Bristol. I contacted the builder whose name
was Palazini, and he told me that the price for the house was
twenty-three thousand dollars. It also required a three thousand
dollar down payment. I had only fifteen hundred dollars in our
savings account. My mother, who was living with us, had another
fifteen hundred, and she let us borrow it. So I went to the Old
Stone Bank and got a loan for a twenty thousand dollar mortgage.
My monthly payment was $123.00. At about the same time, my
partner and I hired Fred Bruno, a very well known attorney in
Bristol, to prepare the necessary paperwork we needed to
incorporate our firm, which we named Pacheco & Rosa Inc. The
location of our new business was a former grocery store named
Rosa's Market on the corner of Child Street and Metacom Avenue
in Warren, Rhode Island.
Starting Our Life in Bristol, Rhode Island
The day after Thanksgiving in 1969, I rented a Ryder truck to
transport all of our furniture to our new home. On the way, we
stopped at a restaurant called Michaeletti's (which no longer exists)
on Metacom Avenue. We didn’t have McDonalds or Burger King
or Dunkin Donuts back then. The only restaurants were
Michaeletti's and Rego's. After we had a bite to eat, we proceeded
to our new home. It was a very nice, pre-fabricated house. We
were very pleased with it; it had three bedrooms, a basement, a
garage and a car port, and it was all for a very good price. But,
apart from my partner, Eduardo Rosa and his family, we didn't
know anyone in Bristol.
My wife and Eduardo's wife both got a job at the American
Tourister Company in Warren. They hated it. Again, I tried to
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convince Deodete that things were going to change for the better,
but even though there were many Portuguese people in the
community, she was very sad. This was not only because of the
type of work she was doing, but also because of the constant
reminders from her fellow coworkers that she used to be a teacher.
They would taunt her saying, “In Portugal, you were a teacher, but
here we are all the same!” After a couple months, she began a
different job at Converse Rubber Company in Bristol that paid a
better salary. There again, people made snide remarks about her
situation, "You went from a teacher to a shoemaker." She only
stayed at Converse for a couple of months. In retrospect, Deodete
looks on that experience in a positive light since it helped make us
understand the sacrifices involved in being an immigrant.
Although METLIFE authorized the transfer to Rhode Island, my
manager said that I would still have to travel to Middletown to
collect premiums from my policy holders. This would be required
for two months to avoid a lapse in their policies. This meant that
every Friday I had to drive 115 miles each way.
On one of those Fridays, I decided to bring my wife and children to
keep me company. On our way home, my daughter Angela said,
“Dad, I am hungry!” We had lunch a few hours before and I had
spent most of our money to pay bills, so I only had $6.00 in my
pocket. I did not want to make a big deal over not having enough
money, so I replied, “We are almost home.” My wife insisted that
the children were hungry and that there was a Howard Johnson’s
Restaurant near the Mystic Aquarium. I again said, “We’ll be
home in about an hour. Be patient!” When we finally arrived
home, Deodete cooked supper. I felt rotten. A few days later, I
explained to my family that we were starting a new life and things
were going to be tough financially for the time being. I told them
we would have to make some sacrifices and that life was not going
to be easy for a time. They all understood.
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My mother, who came to live with us, said that I had to look up a
close cousin that her mother corresponded with. His name was
Humberto Silva. But when I checked the phone book, there was no
one with that name. I spoke to a few people in town, and a lady
finally asked, “Could it be Herbert Silva, who has a brother Arnold
and a sister Lydia?” She then mentioned that there was an Herby
Silva she knew very well, that he had been a Lt. Colonel in the
Army and that he had moved to East Providence after getting
married. I checked the phone book again and, sure enough, there
was his name. I called him and asked if he were the person I was
looking for, and he answered, “Why do you want to know?” I
said, “You are my cousin,” to which he replied, “You are kidding
me!!” Of course, this prompted a long conversation. He knew that
his father, Manuel, was my grandmother’s brother, and he had
corresponded with my grandmother in São Miguel in the Azores
many times. My mother was so happy that we were able to
connect with our entire family in America (with the exception of
Lydia who had moved from Bristol to New York).
One time I got a speeding ticket. Back then, anyone who was
caught speeding had to appear before a judge. The ticket said I had
to be at the Warren Municipal Court on a certain day and at a
certain time. The courtroom was full of people. The Judge called
each person to answer the charge. Suddenly he said, “Frederico
Pacheco, please approach the bench.” I stood up and someone else
stood up at the same time. So the judge asked, “Which one of you
steals automobiles?” I sat down right away, and the other person
with whom I shared a name kept standing. Oddly enough, the
other Frederico Pacheco happened to live on Metacom Avenue as
well, only in Warren instead of Bristol. The judge burst out into
laughter immediately. A few years later I became good friends
with the judge, Anthony Dennis, who remembers that episode very
well. In fact, he traveled with me to the Azores with the Bristol
Rotary group on a trip that I organized, and his son, Bill Dennis,
became an attorney who married my cousin Jane Ann.
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In front of the Bristol Medical Center, I met someone who would
become one of my best friends for 40 years, Dr. Manuel Luciano
da Silva. He is not only a very popular physician, but also a great
historian, author, and humanitarian. It was wonderful to be
acquainted with someone of that pedigree. We spoke at length that
day. He wanted to know everything about me, so I began with a
little information about my experiences and education. I also told
him that my wife was very unhappy, always complaining about her
factory jobs and how we should have never moved from Portugal.
I remember vividly what he told me, "This is where you belong.
You are needed here and I foresee that you are going to be very
successful."
I have lived in this wonderful town for more than 40 years now,
and I usually call it The Riviera of New England to my friends who
come for a visit. I brag so much about how great it is to live and
work in this beautiful town. I cannot stress enough the enjoyable
sites Bristol has to offer. As a matter of fact, I just received the
August 2010 issue of Family Circle Magazine that contains an
article stating that Bristol, Rhode Island is one of ten best towns
and cities in the USA to live and raise children. Colt State Park,
for instance, faces the Narragansett Bay and is a place where
thousands of people from the surrounding cities and states come to
visit. They have family picnics, jog or walk around. It is easy to
understand why people love this unique, peaceful treasure donated
to the State of Rhode Island by Colonel Colt. Governor and
Senator John Chaffee needs to be credited as well for opposing
development plans to build expensive housing on this land. There
is a statue dedicated to Mr. Chaffee which depicts him walking the
4 th of July Parade route that he used to do just about every year.
Bristol also has ten museums, several tennis courts, a golf course,
and is the home of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, housed at the
Herreshoff Marine Museum. It is a must-see for anyone interested
in world renowned regattas.
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As my partner and I started to organize our office, I had to go to
the Department of Business Regulations in Providence to apply for
the Rhode Island Insurance License and my Rhode Island Driver's
License. I passed both tests and began selling insurance again.
My partner was only involved with the imports from Portugal, but
that part of our business never materialized. Around the same
time, I met a very nice man named, Antonio Mota, owner of Piques
Travel Agency in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who asked if I was
interested in becoming his agent. It would entail selling travel
advice in the Bristol, Warren and Barrington areas which constitute
Bristol County. He had the necessary IATA License, so I agreed. I
initially spent a few weeks at his agency to become familiar with
the travel business, and I also enrolled in a Travel and Tourism
course at a community college. All reservations were made
through the telephone as the computer had yet to arrive on the
scene. The only airlines that serviced the Azores and Portugal
were TAP- Air Portugal, TWA and Pan American. There was a
large Portuguese population in Bristol and Warren, so we started
frequenting the Portuguese Clubs and Associations in order to
meet as many people as we could. We also did some advertising
on the radio and in the Bristol Phoenix and Warren Times
Newspapers.
I had heard the publisher of a local newspaper chain was a very
prominent and interesting person, so I went to his office on
Bradford Street in hopes of meeting him. Roswell Bosworth Sr.
was commonly referred to as The Scribe. He was with his son,
Roswell Bosworth Jr., at the office when I arrived. They were the
owners of the only non-Portuguese newspaper in the country that
included a Portuguese page in its publication. It was called
“Comunidade Lusíada.” The editor was a good friend, Mr. Luis
Dias Martins, who devoted many hours of his time, free of charge,
so that the Portuguese population could be informed of any news
concerning Portuguese activities in the area. They also published
two beautiful special issues, in color, about the spectacular beauty
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of the nine Azores Islands because Ros Sr. and his family had
fallen in love with the Azores and its people.
I found that most Portuguese immigrants did not speak or
understand much English, and so they started coming to me for
translation purposes (such as filling out job applications). Six
months later, my partner - who never worked or sold anything -
began acting as though he were the capitalist and nothing else. He
was going through a lot of family problems at the time. I told him
that even though he had financed the office furniture, telephone
and equipment, he was also a partner who had to work and keep
the business growing. That was part of the deal we had signed
when he came to Middletown asking me to be his partner.
Six months after we opened the office, he decided to go back to the
Azores to build a hotel. But he still wanted to remain my partner
and share the net profits of our business in Bristol at the end of the
year. I immediately told him that I did not agree with such an
arrangement, and that we would have to see our attorney to
dissolve the partnership. We finally came to terms, however, once
he realized that he had never contributed anything to the business
apart from the $3,500 for office equipment. As a result, I became
the sole proprietor of the business.
I changed the name of the business to Warren Travel Agency, Inc.
There were only two travel agencies in Bristol County, and both
were in Barrington. I was very busy in no time, selling insurance,
travel, and even translation services, including going to court as an
interpreter. I became specialized in Immigration Services. After I
changed my business sign to “Warren Travel Agency,” I received a
phone call from a person who threatened to sue me because his
business shared the same name. I contacted my attorney, Fred
Bruno, who explained that while I was incorporated in the State of
Rhode Island, the other gentleman was not, so I should be the one
suing him! I informed the gentleman of this and he immediately
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understood and left me alone. I found out later that he changed
operations, arranging bus tours to New York City and elsewhere.
After my partner left, I decided it was time to make Deodete, my
wife and companion, a partner in my business. I went home and
told her that Eduardo Rosa was going back to Portugal and that she
could work with me in the office. She was so happy! From that
point on, we worked together at the family business. During the
day, we both stayed in the office. At night, I would go home and
have a quick dinner before meeting my prospects for selling
insurance. At the time, we were not making very much money
with the travel business because we had a contract with Piques
Travel Agency in Cambridge with whom we had to share 50% of
our commissions. Moreover, airlines only paid 7% of the
commission back then to travel agencies, so we could not depend
on the travel business alone to live.
A year later, I went to Boston to take an Income Tax Preparation
course. During that time, there was a considerable influx of
Portuguese immigrants to the area, so I knew I could increase my
earnings by preparing their tax returns. When they arrived in the
country, I helped them to find jobs and to make the transition a
little smoother. I became very well known in the community and,
after they got established with their jobs, they would come to me
for everything, even counseling in personal matters that had
nothing to do with our business. I never turned anyone away.
Naturally, I tried to sell them life insurance as well because most
of them had many children that they would leave behind in the
event of a tragedy.
When I finished the Income Tax Preparation course, I started an
income tax service. I believed I was qualified to do a good job and
to provide a good service to my fellow Portuguese citizens. At the
same time, I’d be able to make some extra money on the side.
There were a few competitors that also provided tax services, but,
as I was just starting out, my fees were considerably less. I
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emember they would charge $10.00 for a single return while my
price was only $7.00. I needed to acquire my clientele, which I
did.
Things were going very well until one day when a man came into
my office asking for help with his tax returns. He had a long beard
and was dressed as a fisherman. I asked him for the W-2 forms
and his 1099's and any other relevant information. He told me that
he only had one W-2 form and that it was his wife’s. She was a
factory worker. I asked him how much he earned as a fisherman.
He replied that he wasn’t sure exactly, but he gave me a rough
estimate. He also asked if he had to report his total income. I
immediately told him that he absolutely had to. I thought of
referring him to another establishment, but, as I wanted to extend
my clientele beyond the Portuguese market, I told him that he had
to provide me with information that accounted for every penny he
had earned. He gave me a figure. I prepared his return
accordingly and he paid me $15.00 (which was what I charged for
a joint return) and he left my office. I found it very strange that a
non-Portuguese person would come to me for that service, but, at
the same time, I felt good that I was expanding into a broader,
American market.
In the beginning of April that year - very close to the deadline for
filing one‘s taxes - a very well-dressed man came into my office
carrying a briefcase. He identified himself as an IRS Inspector and
asked me if I recognized him. I did not. He mentioned that I had
done his Income Tax return and that my competitors had accused
my clients of receiving larger refunds than their work history
warranted. They accused me of not charging a fee, but rather
charging a percentage of their refunds. Therefore I was cheating
the US government. I flatly denied the charge. He asked me for
my checkbook and any copies of the returns I had prepared that
year. I immediately called my attorney, Fred Bruno, who told me
to cooperate with the inspector, which I did. I felt that I had done
nothing wrong, but I was still rattled by the seriousness of the
98

situation and what it implied. I closed the office later and drove
down to the former Bristol Motor Lodge on Metacom Avenue. As
nervous as I was, as I entered the bar, the glass door was so clean
that I walked right through it, shattering the door. The bartender
actually laughed and said, "I don't remember anyone breaking the
door on the way in. That usually happens on the way out.” I tried
to relax over a cocktail, thinking about what my competitors were
doing to ruin my reputation.
The IRS sent letters to all of my clients which included
questionnaires regarding how I prepared their taxes. Naturally,
they would call me to ask what I had done wrong and to explain
that they had to lose a day of work to go to the IRS Office in
Providence for questioning. I told them I had done nothing wrong
and that they should simply tell them the truth. I also told them
that I was facing accusations from my competitors who were upset
that their clients were now coming to me. The investigation lasted
nine months, from April until three days before Christmas, at
which point I received a letter from the IRS apologizing for the
inconvenience. They had found nothing wrong with the returns I
filed. A fine Christmas present, if you ask me. After eight months
of this ordeal, I finally regained some peace of mind. Of course, I
lost some clients the following year, but I also gained others and
continued my business without interruption for more than 35 years.
Bristol Sports Club
In 1974, I was elected President of the General Assembly of the
Bristol Soccer Club. I was president for 15 years. I had continued
to meet many people, and, by that point, I had become very
popular within the Bristol community. I was named "Bristol
Sports Man of the Year" in 1983. This was one of the most
successful soccer clubs in the United States. Back then, Americans
did not pay much attention to the king of all sports. During my
tenure, this Portuguese-American club won many championships:
New England Champions in 1973-1974; Luso-American Soccer
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Association Champions in 1974-1975; 1977-1978; and 1981; The
League Anniversary Trophy in 1975-1976-1977. "The Portuguese
Times" Trophy in 1976-1977. I am very proud that a town of only
twenty-three thousand people was able to attain such a fantastic
record, especially since all the players were non-professional. The
only compensation they received was a bonus given to them by the
membership along with post-game dinner parties.
The building that houses the Club was purchased by the
membership. Many members worked for free to remodel the Club
House to be what it is today. Many functions were held
throughout the Club's history. "Man of the Year” awards were
given to so many people who not only donated money, but who
also worked countless hours for the love of the sport. Many
politicians and dignitaries - both Portuguese and American - have
been honored by the club over the years for their assistance and
help with this non-profit organization.
Today, soccer is becoming more and more popular in the United
States, in large part due to the many volunteers who are engaged in
the Youth Soccer League. There is now a professional soccer
league in America called the MLS, and it is comprised of many
teams all over the country. Soccer in the USA has evolved
tremendously in the last few years and is now able to compete with
many European teams on an international scale, particularly the
United States Women's Soccer Team, which has been a world
champion several times over.
The Whole Family Became American Citizens
In 1973, five years after we arrived in the United States as
immigrants, my entire family applied to become American
citizens. It was always my goal from the beginning. I loved and
admired so many things about this country - its freedom of speech
and expression, the opportunities to find success, the education
provided to their children -- the American Dream.
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I am annoyed and saddened when I travel overseas and hear people
criticizing America. I have traveled to many democracies,
dictatorships, and communist countries around the world, and I
truly believe that the United State (although not perfect) possesses
the best system in the world. I like to quote our President Barack
Obama when he says, "YES, WE CAN!”
My Involvement with the Bristol Schools
My wife and I continued to build our business, and we were doing
very well. My wife was happy and the children loved their school.
As my wife and I were educated, we were always in touch with our
children’s teachers. I was invited by Anthony Iasiello, the high
school principal in 1978, to be a part of the High School Parents'
Advisory Board. It was formed by the late June Mack and several
other school administrators, including Leo Contente, Kelly Silvia
and Betty Brito. It was very rewarding to be part of such a select
group. The main purpose of the committee was to help facilitate
communication between the school and the parents, many of whom
did not speak English. We also advised the Principal in all matters
with regard to counseling parents and students. I also served as the
judge for many Oratory Contests and Homecoming Queen
Elections at the Bristol and Warren High Schools. I was also a
guest instructor for Career Day, each year since 1977, which I
enjoyed very much.
Involvement in Cultural and Civic Activities
I became very involved with my good friend Dr. da Silva who was
always promoting the Portuguese culture and language. His
second love, as most of the Portuguese population in the U.S.
already knows, was Dighton Rock. He asked me to work with him
to build a museum to house the historic rock after it was removed
from the Taunton River in 1963 and placed on a cofferdam. In
1974, the pavilion was built, and in 1977 the museum was
completed. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts paid three
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million dollars to build the museum and to purchase 100 acres of
land, calling it Dighton Rock Park. The Commonwealth also
continues to pay for the maintenance of the park. I was elected
Treasurer of the Dighton Rock Museum and I still hold that
position today.
Dr. da Silva started a program on Channel 36 (the official TV
station of the State of Rhode Island) called, Os Portugueses, (The
Portuguese). It ran every week for four years, and I was a
permanent member on the panel. He also started the program, The
Portuguese Around Us on Channel 6, in which I participated, that
was broadcast for thirty-one years. It was very rewarding for me
because the program provided valuable information to non-
Portuguese citizens living in Southeastern Massachusetts and
Rhode Island about the rich Portuguese history.
I also became involved with the Knights of Corte Reais, which was
a Portuguese-American non-profit organization named after the
great navigator Miguel Corte Real. The purpose of the
organization was to promote the Portuguese culture and to sponsor
conferences regarding Portuguese history, folklore, music and
heritage; to raise funds for certain activities in the area such as the
Bristol Portuguese School for children of immigrants and other
children interested in learning the language. Scholarships were
also given to sons and daughters of Portuguese ancestry. I was
president from 1974-1975.
During the seventies, eighties and nineties, I was invited by
separate several organizations to be the Master of Ceremonies Ceremonies and main
speaker for many of their events and functions in Bristol County.
When the famous Portuguese Tall Ships, "Sagres," visited New
England, I was asked to be the organizer and Master of
Ceremonies for the reception given for its Captain and crew at
Linden Place, which is a famous mansion and landmark in
downtown Bristol. It was a beautiful spectacle to see the
Portuguese Navy marching in our town.
102

Family of the
Family
Family
of
of
the
the
Year, 1988
Year, 1988
1988
At the historical
At
At
the
the
historical
historical
Linden Place, Halsey
Linden
Linden
Place,
Place,
Halsey
Halsey
Herreshoff, Bristol
Herreshoff,
Herreshoff,
Bristol
Bristol
Town Administrator,
Town
Town
Administrator,
Administrator,
Captain Malhão
Captain
Captain
Malhão
Malhão
Pereira and me, as as MC
Pereira and me, as MC
MC
for the Portuguese Tall
for the Portuguese Tall
Tall
Ship “Sagres” visit
Ship “Sagres” visit
visit
and reception
and reception
reception
The inseparable four couples, (l-r) Eduardo and Sara
The inseparable four couples, (l-r) Eduardo and Sara
São Bento, Tony and Mary Lou Teixeira, Mario and
São Bento, Tony and Mary Lou Teixeira, Mario and
Irene Alves, Deodete and me.
Irene Alves, Deodete and me.

My family received the “Family of the Year” award from the
Portuguese Continental Union of the USA in 1988 for our
involvement in civic organizations and activities. There was a
banquet at the former Motor Lodge on Metacom Avenue in Bristol.
I invited my good friend, Dr. Manuel da Silva, to be the main
speaker for the ceremony. It was such an honor to see all my
family and friends present.
I was also chosen to be the advisor to the Portuguese Embassy and
the Diplomatic Corps from 1992 to 1996. I was asked to be the
Moderator/Facilitator for the Portuguese-American Congresses II
and III, held at Roger Williams University, which was attended by
members of 78 Portuguese Clubs and Associations and had the
presence of the major State of Rhode Island Office holders,
including the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State and
Treasurer. In attendance were also the Portuguese Consul in
Rhode Island, João Luis Larangeira de Abreu, and the
Ambassador in Washington D.C., Francisco Knopfli. The
congresses were so successful that we were able to build a very
accessible bridge between the Portuguese community and the R.I.
State Government. It certainly helped that the smallest State in the
Union happened to have the largest percentage of Representatives
and Senators from Portuguese extraction than any other State
Legislator Chambers.
Many subjects were discussed and debated concerning the
problems the Portuguese immigrant community faced in the United
States, such as dual citizenship, preparation of official documents,
passports, visas, schooling, scholarships, student exchange
programs, requirements for the children of immigrants to enroll in
higher education in Portugal, importation and exportation of goods,
the participation of these associations on the American mainstream
society (such as in the political field), attendance at School
Committee meetings, City and Town meetings, arranging classes
to prepare the Portuguese community for citizenship exams, etc.
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I served as Vice-President for the Day of Portugal celebration in
1981, which takes place each year around June 10th wherever
there are a large number of Portuguese-American citizens. A vast
program was drawn up which included many events. There was a
parade with many floats and patriotic motifs, the participation of
Portuguese Folklore groups, an election for Miss June the 10 th ,
shopping bazaars, musical acts, a photography contest, car races,
and all kinds of booths selling traditional Portuguese food and
pastries.
During the fifties, sixties and seventies, Portuguese immigrants
were sometimes referred to as "greenhorns," which we thought
was very demeaning and degrading. Dr. da Silva and I decided to
build a float with a huge horn, painted green, with the following
slogan, "GREENHORN IS GREAT. IT ENJOYS MANY
CULTURES." It won the first prize not only on the Day of
Portugal June 10 th parade, but also on the famous 4 th of July
Parade in Bristol. Our main objective of the float was to change
the mentality of those who do not understand, nor give any value
to, the great contributions of people of all races, creeds and
cultures - the mosaic culture we all enjoy without putting labels on
the people who came here and made it the model of a country
envied by all other nations. The only Native Americans were the
Indians that the Pilgrims found when they arrived in Plymouth,
Massachusetts.
I served on the Roger Williams University Community Advisory
Board from 1989 to 1993. I was also the liaison between the
University and the Town of Bristol on matters concerning licenses
for future building development at the University. I helped arrange
scholarships for Bristol residents, to encourage their involvement
in University events such as speakers, concerts etc. I was also
invited to form the RWU Cultural and Ethnic Studies from 1991 to
1994 together with Anthony Iasiello, a former educator and Town
Administrator, and Dr. Robert Arruda, a former college professor.
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In September 1999, I was invited by my good friend Francisco
Cabral to become a member of the Prince Henry Society – Fall
River Chapter. It is a non-profit organization that promotes
Portuguese culture, maintains Portuguese monuments, and gives a
great deal of scholarship money to the children of Portuguese
ancestry. We also promote fundraising events such as the famous
concert held each year at Bristol Community College in Fall River,
Massachusetts. I was chairman of the Humanitarian Committee,
distributing food and clothes to the poor and unfortunate. This
wonderful society also donates money and food to soup kitchens in
the Fall River area. This is a great organization. It makes me very
happy and proud to be surrounded by so many unselfish, beautiful
human beings whose only objective is to make a difference in
peoples’ lives.
I was asked, along with other people outside the judicial system in
the State of Rhode Island, to advise the Chief Justice about the R.I.
Judicial Performance Evaluation Program for 1995 and 1996. We
attended many trials and, in the end, we made a complete report
stating the areas we felt needed changes and/or improvement.
I was appointed by Governor Lincoln Almond to the Travel
Commission from 1998 to 2000 to help draft legislation to be
submitted to the R.I. House and Senate in order to change and
update the rules and regulations for travel agencies in the State. At
the time, Rhode Island was one of only a few states in the nation
that required a Licensing Bill authorizing all those engaged in the
travel business. This law required a surety bond and other
qualifications to protect the consumers from unscrupulous people
who, without qualifications or with a criminal record, could not be
issued a license. This was a result of a travel agency in Rhode
Island that ran off with thousands of dollars paid by a group of
clients who were scheduled to go on a cruise.
I was asked in 1993 to be the Bristol Heart Association
Fundraising Campaign Chairman by Rhode Island State
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Representative Kelly Parella, now deceased. I formed a
committee and we organized several activities, including a dinnerdance
at St. Elizabeth's Church Auditorium - the parish that our
family belongs to - with the help of Father Louis Diogo. Our
campaign raised an amount that was the most recorded until 1993,
which made us all very happy and proud.
Rehabilitation of the Kaiser Mill Complex
The Kaiser Aluminum plant closed down in the seventies. In
1977, the owners donated the entire complex to Roger Williams
College, known today as Roger Williams University. In 1979, the
college was going to sell the mill to a developer who was looking
to change the zoning and build Section 8 Housing in one of the
buildings.
The neighborhood around the Kaiser Mill joined together to
oppose the construction for two reasons: a) There was no
guarantee that it would only be occupied by elderly people, so they
were afraid that it would attract undesirable people as well as
drugs, prostitution, criminals, etc. b) There was no comprehensive
plan for the rest of the complex which would continue to degrade
the center of our beautiful town.
I was home one evening when I received a call from my good
friend Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva. He said he had just finished
a meeting with the neighbors of the Kaiser Mill, and that they had
elected me, unanimously, to be the president of the Kaiser
Neighbors’ Committee. I told him that I didn’t know what the
committee was all about. A couple of days later, I attended a
meeting at the Dom Luiz Filipe Society with all the neighbors
present. I was given a briefing and I accepted the challenge to
become their president and spokesperson.
At the time, I was the official travel agent for the local college.
My wife was totally against my intervention with one of our best
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clients in town, but I became concerned with the dangers of
bringing undesirable people to our peaceful community.
I immediately registered the organization in the State of Rhode
Island. There were many debates and confrontations between the
developers, Roger Williams College, the Town of Bristol and our
group who strongly opposed the zoning change. The project was
defeated, thankfully, but I lost my best business account in the
process. My wife was right. I don’t regret it, though, because I
had to do what my conscience dictated.
Twelve years later, on May 22, 1991, Kenneth J Marshall was the
Chairman of the Town Council. He and the rest of the Council -
Richard Ruggiero, Mary Parella, Mike Mello and today’s Town
Clerk Lou Cirillo - had the foresight to appoint a steering
committee to rehabilitate the legendary Old Kaiser Mill Complex.
After meeting with all the appointed members, I was once again
elected (unanimously) to be the chairman of the committee. I
accepted the responsibility whole-heartedly. It would be a
challenge to replace the ugliest eyesore in the middle of town. I
felt morally obligated due to the fact that I had been instrumental
in defeating the original project 12 years earlier.
The committee agreed and said it was imperative that there be a
comprehensive plan. The complex should be converted into
elderly housing, occupied only by low income people 62 years of
age and over. The rest of the complex would be used for offices
and stores, etc.
We had a number of meetings at the St. Elizabeth’s Church
auditorium where more than one hundred neighbors attended. The
temperature in the room would sometimes be 100 degrees. There
was no air conditioning. It was very difficult to convince the
neighbors that the new project would be different than the one
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proposed in 1979. It took a lot of convincing, but we were finally
able to convince everyone except 3 people.
The Town Council acquired some funds to hire an architect to
draw up three different plans for the complex, which was to be
done in three or four phases. The firm was Newport
Collaborative, which had a lot of experience in converting
historical buildings. They presented three plans, as requested, and
we held a final meeting to vote on one of the designs. The entire
neighborhood selected the plan which, more or less, is as it stands
today. Franklin Court is comprised of three buildings - one for
Independent Living, one for Assisted Living, and the building
facing Wood Street houses the Division of Children and Youth and
Families.
We named our organization Mosaico Community Development
Corporation. Mosaico is a translation of “mosaic,” which is an
assembly of various pieces of colorful, precious stones. To me, it
also refers to a mixture of cultures, races and nationalities, which
is appropriate for an organization that I saw as a joint effort among
a variety of peoples. I wanted the organization to be a joint venture
of people of different ethnic groups. I never cared for the
expression, Melting Pot. I prefer Mosaico, a word that is very
similar in Portuguese, Italian and Spanish.
We were contacted by Mike Tidan, who was the Executive
Director of the Bristol Foundation (today, East Bay Community
Development Corporation). They were vital in obtaining the
funds we needed for the entire redevelopment project, along with
Mosaico and the Town of Bristol. Through the efforts of this joint
venture, $3.1 million was allocated for the first phase. Ground
breaking for Elder Care One took place on April 3 rd 1993. I still
have the shovel that was used for the ceremony. The Ribbon-
Cutting Ceremony took place on March 19 th 1994. Elder Care
Two was completed in 1997 and the Franklin Court Center for
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Assisted Living was completed in 2000. The total cost for all
phases was $22,820,000.
Many devoted people worked very hard to make this project a
success. I strongly feel that it was the most successful project in
Bristol’s history, and I hope I don’t forget to mention anyone here:
Kenneth J. Marshall and the Town Council at the time; members
of the Bristol Foundation: Ann Hollands, Anthony Iasiello,
Douglas Gablinski, David Sylvaria, Matthew White, Owen
Trainer, Rev. Clifton Daniel and others. From Mosaico - our first
secretary Kris Lammi, Merritt Meyer, George Sardinha, Bernice
Josephs, Mary Parella, Richard Carreiro, Ralph DeLuca, Paula
Levine, Dr. Kevin Jordan, Ida Sousa, Manny Prenda, Antonio Luis
Teixeira. Teixeira, Elizabeth From the Aguiar. Town: From Gerhard the Town: Oswald, Gerhard Director Oswald, of Director Bristol
Economic of Bristol Economic Development; Development; both both Town Town Administrators, Adminsitrators, Halsey
Herreshoff and Joseph Parella, Gerry Turbeville, who worked very
hard to assure Community Development Block Grant funding and
Jeff Gofton from Providence, who was very supportive of all our
activities and Linda Silveira, Executive Director of East Bay CDC,
who held everything together with her outstanding professionalism
and knowledge of projects of that magnitude.
109

I have to confess that the Kaiser Complex Rehabilitation was like
my mistress. My wife was jealous because I spent hundreds (if
not thousands) of hours with other people during this time. One
night, I received a call from David Barboza (who is a Town
Councilman today) saying that the Kaiser Plant was on fire. I ran
out of my house in pajamas and drove to Franklin Street.
Fortunately, it was a small fire that the skilled Fire Department
extinguished in no time. I treasure my files of countless
newspaper clippings, correspondence and photographs, especially
the one of Governor Bruce Sundlun and me cutting the ribbon at
the Grand Opening Ceremony. The end result of this magnificent
project is that we now have, in the center of our town, beautifully
renovated buildings from preserved architecture. There are now
109 senior citizens living there in private, independent apartments,
and an additional 92 in Assisted Living accommodations. At the
moment, there is a three year waiting list for a vacancy. I would
also like to add that the neighbors around the old complex have
polished their homes as well, and the value of their property has
increased a great deal.
I contacted the Town Administrator, Joseph Parella, and said that
I had an idea to build a park, Mosaico Park, on the corner of
Franklin and Wood Streets. I contacted Roberto Medeiros, a good
friend of mine from the Azores and Vice Mayor of Lagoa (a sister
city of the Town of Bristol), to ask him if he could collaborate
with us to donate a few tons of Portuguese granite stones and to
help finance a mason who could lay the stones for the future
Mosaico Park. Vice Mayor Medeiros agreed and began working
on the project. He was able to get the Town of Lagoa to pay for
the stones, and he sent João Luis Cabral to professionally lay
down the cobble stones in a beautiful design made by José Soares,
an artist residing in Bristol who was a native of Lagoa. He
donated all of his time and expertise. The only problem remaining
was how to transport the stones from the Azores to Boston. I was
able to get the necessary authorization for the transportation, free
of charge from TAP-Air Portugal, but the day the drums were set
110

Elder Care Care Housing
as as it it exists today
Elder Care Housing
as it exists today
Project proposed for for the the Old Old Kaiser Mill Mill
Project proposed for the Old Kaiser Mill
Ribbon Cutting
Ceremony of of the the
Ribbon
new new Elderly
Cutting
Housing
Ceremony
with with Governor
of the
Bruce
new
Sundlun
Elderly Housing
with Governor Bruce
Sundlun

to be placed on the airplane, I received a phone call from a very
worried Roberto Medeiros. Apparently, the airline could not
handle the shipment because it was too heavy! I immediately
contacted a friend of mine in Lisbon in charge of freight for TAP-
Air Portugal. A conference call was held between me, Joseph
Parella, Congressman Patrick Kennedy and Mr. Medeiros who
was at the Ponta Delgada airport. The authorization was obtained
and the stones were finally loaded onto the plane. After the plane
took off, Roberto Medeiros called me to say that the plane had
been delayed for more than an hour and the passengers were very
upset. The end result, a beautiful park in the center of our town
with a design showing a Portuguese Caravel - a modest expression
of Portuguese discovery, was well worth the inconvenience.
Additional Involvement in Professional and Civic
Organizations
• President of "AVIPES" Worldwide Travel Agents'
Association of Portuguese Ancestry, 1984 and 1985;
• Board of Directors - Ocean State Development Authority,
since 1994;
• Chairman - St. Elizabeth's Church, Santo Cristo
Festivities, 1983-1985;
• Founder and Vice-President – APTA, Association of
Professional Travel Agents, 1981-1983;
• Marshal - Civic Division - Bristol 4 th of July Parade -
1983;
• Board of Directors - Bristol Court House Revitalization
Committee, 1999;
• Member - Voices for Bristol's Future Steering
Committee, 2006;
• Board of Directors - Bristol Pastime Theatre
Foundation, 2007-2009.
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Fourth of July Chief Marshal
In 1988, the Fourth of July Committee (chaired by my good friend
Andy Vorro, now deceased), chose me to be the Chief Marshal for
the longest and most patriotic parade in the country. It was a great
honor to be bestowed the highest honor given to a resident of
Bristol, especially to a foreign-born U.S. citizen like myself.
The celebration started on June 14, Flag Day, and ended with the
fireworks on July 4 th . There were concerts every night in front of
Colt School; a contest was held to elect Miss Fourth of July, the
beautiful Kimberly Coccio. My responsibility was to preside over
all the activities during those two weeks. There was the annual 4 th
of July Ball held at Roger Williams University and the White
House Military Drill Team that was invited for the first time to
perform in Bristol. There was the traditional Grand March that
included all the members of the 4 th of July Committee, all the
Town and State dignitaries led by a master of ceremonies that
followed the Chief Marshal, ending with many patriotic songs, like
God Bless America, America the Beautiful, Stars and Stripes
Forever. It was a marvelous evening that my entire family will
never forget.
Another event that I had to sponsor as Chief Marshal was the Chief
Marshal's Reception that took place in Independence Park. I
rented an enormous red, white and blue tent and placed it in the
center of the park facing the beautiful Bristol Harbor. I invited
1400 people and hired Doug Botelho's Band. There was dancing,
champagne and plenty of hors d'oeuvres. It was an afternoon that
we thoroughly enjoyed, with all my best friends and acquaintances.
Of course the most important part of the celebration was the
famous parade that starts at 10:30 am sharp at the corner of
Chestnut and Hope Streets. Traditionally, at the beginning of the
parade, two military jets fly over Bristol to announce that the
parade has started, to the many visitors who lined the parade route.
112

Marching
in
Marching
front of
Marching the
in front
famous
of
in 4th front of July of
the famous
the Parade, famous
4th of July
in
4th 1988 of July
Parade, in
Parade, in
1988
1988
Bristol’s 4th of July Committee
Chairman, Andy Vorro,
Bristol’s
Bristol’s
presenting 4th
4th
me of
of
July
July
with CommitCommit-
the honor
teetee
of Chairman,
Chairman,
Chief Marshal Andy
Andy
for Vorro,
Vorro,
the 1988
presenting
presenting
celebration me
me
with
with
the
the
honor
honor
of
of
Chief
Chief
Marshal
Marshal
for
for
the
the
1988
1988
celebration
celebration
Riding with the
family
Riding
in
with
the
the
Riding parade, with 1999 the
family in the
family in the
parade, 1999
parade, 1999

The parade is about 2 ½ miles long and takes more than 3 hours to
complete. It goes down Hope Street, following the traditional red,
white and blue decorative lines painted on the road, ending at the
Bristol State House on High Street where the dignitaries' stand is
located.
I chose my two children, Angela and Paulo, as Chief Aid and Chief
of Staff, respectively. I also chose Dr. Robert Arruda, a
Portuguese-American college professor, to be the Patriotic Speaker
during the ceremony before the parade. More than thirty of my
best friends marched as aids behind me and my wife. The famous
parade is composed of many marching bands, Army, Air Force,
Navy and Marine soldiers, folklore groups and beautiful floats that
come from all over the country. Bristol, which has a population of
just twenty-three thousand people, was very crowded that day, as it
is on most 4 th of July’s. Over one hundred thousand spectators
come from surrounding cities and towns and elsewhere, not just to
watch the colorful parade, but also to visit their families and old
friends.
My house is known as a small museum by my closest friends. In a
glass cabinet, I store my treasured artifacts, badges, gifts,
photographs, programs, hats, cigarette lighters with inscriptions of
the names of the two Navy ships, USS McCloy and USS Trippe, -
two Frigate-Destroyer Escorts that joined the celebration and
anchored at Bristol Harbor in Narragansett Bay. It gave me great
joy to invite my friends to visit and be escorted by the Captains of
these ships. It was a beautiful day, about 85 degrees Fahrenheit
with no clouds in the sky. It was a perfect day to celebrate the
Independence of this great country that my family and I have
adopted as its citizens.
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Invitation to the White House
On October 12 th 1994, I had the pleasure and honor of receiving an
invitation from President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary
Clinton to attend a reception in honor of former Portuguese Prime
Minister Anibal Cavaco Silva, who is now the President of
Portugal, and his wife. It was an honor to be a guest at the White
House. I met many U.S. and Portuguese VIP’s, in addition to
President and Mrs. Clinton, including Dee Dee Meyers, the White
House Press Secretary, the Secretary of State, the President’s Chief
of Staff and others.
I started reflecting about my humble beginnings on a small island
in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and I thought to myself, “How
can an insignificant individual like me, from a small island in the
Azores who arrived in this great country in the sixties as an
immigrant, had the opportunity to shake hands with the most
important person of the western world? Only in America!”
At the time, there was a lot of media attention on an issue
involving the White House Travel Agency. Most people who know
me wouldn‘t describe me as shy, so during the reception, as I was
shaking Mr. Clinton’s hand, I said, “Mr. President, I am a Travel
Agent in Rhode Island and if you ever need someone to take care
of the White House Travel, I would love to be considered for that
position.” He replied with his wonderful sense of humor, “Good
for you!!!” It was an occasion that I will never forget.
114

Campaigning for for for
the the the
Rhode Rhode
Island Island State State Senate Senate in in 1974
in 1974
Receiving the the the Gold Gold
Medal Medal Services Services
Award Award from from the the the
Portuguese
Government
At At At
the the the
White White House, House,
shaking shaking hands hands with with with
President Bill Bill Bill
Clinton. Clinton.

Other Awards Received
• Gold Medal of Merit - Distinguished Services to the
Portuguese Communities by the Portuguese Government,
1991;
• Ten-year Certificate of Service from the United States Air
Force. I am also honored to have received several Outstanding
and Superior Performance Awards from the United States
Government;
• The “Immigrant of the Year Award” by the Portuguese-
Azorean Newspaper, Correio dos Acores - 1994.
The only reason I mention these recognitions is because I strongly
believe that I tried to make a difference through my modest
contributions, and to encourage others to become instruments in
making the world better and to enjoy the life that God has provided
us.
My Involvement in Radio and Television Programs
I have been a panel member on the program, Vóz do Emigrante
(Voice of the Immigrant) Round Table since 1988. The program is
in Portuguese and is one of the more popular programs, broadcast
every Friday from 1 to 2 pm and is repeated on Saturday from 2 to
3 pm. It is moderated by Frank Baptista, who is the director and
owner. The permanent members of the panel for the last 21 years
are Frank Cabral, a very dynamic leader in the Portuguese
community, and me. There are also many invited guest panelists,
including David Simas, who was appointed advisor to President
Barack Obama, Daniel DaPonte, a popular Portuguese-American
State Senator who is now the Rhode Island Finance Committee
Chairman, Alfredo Alves, a very well-known former City
Counselor of Fall River, Graça Matos Femandes, a banker, and
other Portuguese community leaders. Many topics are debated and
discussed, such as politics, education, immigration, social security,
115

anking, insurance, religion, economics and finances; civic
matters, health and other topics always focusing on the current
issues in the United States and the world. People who listen to me
know that I can, at times, be very controversial. I usually say that I
don’t have any filters between my heart and my mouth.
Sometimes it gets me into trouble, and my wife has tried
(unsuccessfully) to change my habits over the years. I am like
former First Lady Barbara Bush who used to say, “You get what
you see…”
I developed and continue to teach the U.S. Citizenship Course -
also broadcast daily on the radio program, Voice of the Immigrant,
which has a large number of Portuguese listeners who need to
prepare for the U.S. Naturalization exam in order to become
American Citizens. Thousands of my Portuguese brothers listen to
this educational program at 12:15 pm, Monday through Friday,
over the WHTB 1400AM radio station out of Somerset,
Massachusetts. There are three courses: The first consists of one
hundred questions and answers in English, the next has one
hundred questions and answers in Portuguese, and the last one
includes twenty five questions and answers in Portuguese that are
simpler but are intended towards people over 65. It gives me great
satisfaction that many Portuguese people living in the New
England area have become U.S. citizens with the help of listening
to this radio program. Through these programs, I always cite my
mother as an example who became a Citizen at the age of eightyfive.
There is no reason for anyone, living in this great country for
a significant period of time, to not become an American citizen. In
becoming a U.S. Citizen, one does not lose his or her Portuguese
citizenship. On the contrary, you actually gain a dual citizenship.
In fact, I personally own two passports. I always take both of them
with me during travel as a precaution. I always carry the U.S.
passport in the left inside pocket of my jacket and the Portuguese
in the right inside pocket.
116

Passing the gavel to
Passing the gavel to
my successor,
my successor,
Martha Rivas, East
Martha
Bay Chamber
Rivas, East
Bay Chamber of
Bay
Commerce
Chamber
President
of
Commerce President
Commerce President
Shaking hands with
Shaking hands with
Pope John Paul II in
Pope
the Vatican
John Paul II in
the Vatican
the Vatican
Participating on a weekly Radio Round Table Program in
Participating on a weekly Radio Round Table Program in
Somerset, Massachusetts with Frank Baptista, Frank
Somerset,
Cabral and
Massachusetts
Alfredo Alves
with Frank Baptista, Frank
Cabral and Alfredo Alves
Cabral and Alfredo Alves

I was also a member on the panel at Full Channel TV that covers
Bristol, Warren and Barrington. The program was called Rosa dos
Ventos (Campus Rose). It was a very popular and controversial
program. Many subjects were discussed and debated in a round
table atmosphere covering health, politics, education, gay
marriage, insurance, banking, citizenship, recreation, etc.
I am often invited as a guest on a public service program on Full
Channel TV entitled Caravela (Caravel), whose moderators are
Joseph Moniz and Antonio Teixeira. It's a panel that discusses
current issues affecting the Portuguese community. There is also a
discussion about American and Portuguese politics as well.
Whenever I return from a trip overseas, we have a segment called
Travel Logs. The local Full Channel Television Station deserves a
lot of praise and appreciation for providing an outstanding
information service to our area.
Academy of Cod Fish of New England
I was one of the founders of the Academy of Cod Fish of New
England chapter in 2000. I served as its President from 2005 to
2009. This organization was first founded in Johannesburg, South
Africa several decades ago by a group of Portuguese emigrants
who decided to expand and create the Academies of Cod Fish all
over the world. There are currently 45 chapters on four continents.
The purpose of the organization is, through their monthly dinner
meetings, to raise funds for a variety of a community’s needs.
The New England chapter's main objective is to purchase books in
English about Portuguese history and culture to distribute to
schools and town libraries in New England so future generations
can have access to their heritage. The second objective is to
financially help the children's orphanages in Portugal.
I remember visiting an orphanage on the island of São Miguel with
a playground that only had a couple of old swings with worn ropes
117

and a rocky terrain. I asked the priest who was in charge how
much he would need to install new swings and artificial turf, so the
children could avoid serious injury if they fell while playing. He
replied that it would cost around $1500. When I returned home, I
went to our academy and proposed that the organization donate
that amount of money, and it was approved by the board. We sent
the money and, a year later, when my wife and I visited the
institution again, we saw a completely renovated playground with
new swings and beautiful turf on the ground. It was very
gratifying. I felt that the academy, through the hundreds of
members' contributions, had made a difference.
We not only donate money, we also have a very good fellowship
among our "Compadres and Comadres" (as we call our members
in Portuguese). There is a dinner held on the third Monday of
every month in one of four restaurants in the area. The program
consists of a complete dinner - always codfish (the faithful friend)
cooked in different styles, salad, soup, wine, soft drinks, coffee and
dessert. The average participation rate for each event is between
60 and 100 members. One evening we attained a record of 147
people. Most of the other chapters around the world charge dues.
Our academy decided to make it easier to encourage participation
and not to charge dues. We pay the restaurants $18.00 for each
member, including the board of directors. The members pay
$22.00, leaving us with a $4.00 profit. We also have a raffle with
prizes donated by the members. We raise an average of $700.00 at
each supper. Altogether, we have raised tens of thousands of
dollars to donate to charity and literature.
It's wonderful to see the same people every month, not only
enjoying the dinner, but also during the program that follows. We
encourage the members to participate in a "Poetry and Jokes”
session. There is also a five-minute lecture called Our Faithful
Friend which is about an important person who, throughout the
years, has contributed to the history of Portugal.
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Another feature of our membership is that we accept women while
most of the other academies do not. In fact, we have more women
than men in our academy. We organize a few events each year
with music, folklore and other entertainment. It's fun and
gratifying that we are able to help a noble cause.
Our chapter was founded in my backyard. My mother, who was
watching our first meeting, made a funny remark, "Academy of
Codfish? What is that?!" I told her that that it was what I said when I
first heard about it.
My Four Idols and Heroes
MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA was born in the very old city
of Skopje, Macedonia on August 26, 1910. Her family was of
Albanian decent. At age twelve, she strongly felt a call to do
missionary work, spreading the love of Christ. At eighteen, she
joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with
missions in India. She took her vows on May 24, 1931 and started
teaching at St. Mary’s High School in Calcutta. During this time
she witnessed the horrendous poverty in the streets. She obtained
permission from her superiors to start an open-air school in the
slums of Calcutta for poor children.
In 1950 she created her own order, The Missionary of Charity
dedicated to love and care of those people that nobody cared for!
Her new organization provided help to the poorest of the poor and
spread all over the world including the former Soviet Union and
several Eastern European countries, Asia, Africa, Latin America
and Australia. Today, her world organization provides relief work
for natural catastrophes, epidemics, famine, alcoholics, aides and
the homeless, in more than 40 countries. Today, there are more
than one million organizations Mother Teresa inspired to help
people in need. For many years I was also inspired by her
119

charitable spirit and charisma. I truly believe she was a true living
Saint on this very unfair and selfish world. I was pleased when in
1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her great work
and example to humanity.
NELSON MANDELA was born in Transkei in the southeastern
region of South Africa on July 18, 1918. He graduated from Law
School at the University College of Fort Hare and the University of
Witwatersrand. He joined the African National Congress in 1944
and engaged in a resistance movement against the ruling white
party which maintained apartheid, the terrible racist policy of
South Africa. Because of this he was tried for treason and sent to
prison where he spent 27 years! He was released on February 11,
1990. After he was released, he dedicated himself to the movement
to eliminate the apartheid system. He was elected, miraculously,
the first black president of South Africa. Despite all those years in
prison, he governed the country, without grudge against anyone.
He concentrated in positive measures, respecting all the different
ethnicities of South Africa. He became one of the most outstanding
leaders of the world. He is indeed one of my heroes and idols
because he always showed a magnificent example of brotherhood
among peoples of all races and creeds. I visited South Africa in the
1980’s and witnessed the terrible discrimination not only between
whites and blacks, but also Asians. He was an inspiration to me as
an intelligent and caring human being. I was very happy when he
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
MOHANDAS GANDHI was born on October 2 nd , 1869 in
Porbandar, India. After his schooling in India, he went to London,
where he obtained a Law degree. He then went to South Africa
where he spent 20 years defending the rights of immigrants in that
country that had many Asian immigrants. He returned to India in
1914, where he became the leader of the Indian National
Congress. At that time, India was part of the British Empire.
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Gandhi started urging a non-violent movement of protest to attain
independence from the United Kingdom. His public acts of
defiance landed him in jail several times, but he continued with his
struggle through World War II. All this led to postwar negotiations
with Britain in which Gandhi participated with success for India to
become an independent nation. He advocated a very simple living.
He was a vegetarian and even made his own clothing. Gandhi was
often called Mahatma which meant Great Soul. He married when
he was 13 years old and had 5 children. He was married for 61
years. I admired Gandhi for his perseverance, courage and
patriotism towards his native country. Unfortunately he was
assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on January 30 th , 1948.
Unfortunately, he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. was born on January 15, 1929. He
attended segregated schools in Georgia and graduated from high
school at age 15. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1948
and received his PhD from Boston University in 1953. In Boston,
he met and married Coretta Scott and they had 2 boys and 2 girls.
In 1954, he became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Church in
Montgomery, Alabama, where he became a strong advocate for the
civil rights movement. He led various demonstrations which
became much stronger after the US Supreme Court, in December
1956, declared the segregation in buses between whites and blacks
to be unconstitutional. King was arrested several times. His home
was bombed and he was subjected to much personal abuse.
He always based his ideals on a Christian philosophy. In fact he
adopted the non-violent techniques used by the famous Gandhi. He
started the drive for Negroes to register to vote. He directed a
peaceful march in Washington, D.C. in which more than 250,000
people participated and where he delivered his famous “I have a
Dream!” speech. He became a symbol of African-Americans all
over the world. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and
121

gave all the prize money to the Civil Rights movement.
Unfortunately he was assassinated on April 4 th , 1968. I admired
King for his perseverance, courage and patriotism. He was indeed
one of my heroes and idols.
The Education and Careers of Our Children
Angela and Paulo attended Bristol Public Elementary Schools.
Angela went to Bristol High School for a couple of years and then
transferred to Fátima High School in Warren because many of her
friends went there. Paulo attended Bishop Connolly High School
in Fall River, MA. They were both very good students and
graduated with honors.
Angela went on to Rhode Island College in Providence, a very
good State school, where she spent four years, from 1981 to 1985,
graduating with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, Communications & Public
Relations and a minor in Management. She graduated Cum Laude,
Dean's List, Cooperative Education Honors, and with a
Management Skills Certificate. She went to Rhode Island College,
primarily because Arthur Cabral, her high school sweetheart, was
attending the same school. While at school, she spent two years in
an internship as Marketing and Administrative Assistant at IBM
Corporation in Providence, Rhode Island.
After graduation, her first job was as a Marketing and
Administrative Assistant for Systemetrics, Inc. in Providence, RI.
That went on from 1985 to 1987, and then, from 1987 to 1998, she
worked as Co-manager for the Travelers Insurance Company of
Massachusetts in the automobile and homeowners insurance
claims department with a staff of 89 employees.
In 1998, I had planned to retire in 2000 from our travel agency. I
spoke to Angela to see if she were interested in continuing the
family business. Immediately, she agreed and I gave her the entire
122

management of Bristol County Travel, Inc. She loved the job
because she didn’t have to constantly deal with claims like her
other job, and also because the travel business was much more
interesting to her. She was able to travel anywhere in the world
very inexpensively, going on Familiarization Trips and
Conventions offered by the Airlines, Cruise Lines and Tour
Operators. Although she was in charge, she could count on my
sister-in-law, Bernardete, who was undoubtedly a key figure in the
success of our business for the last 20 years, to assist as needed.
My wife and I helped her in the office without any remuneration.
All we wanted was for her to continue the family business, to be
happy and successful. She grew up watching us work which,
while difficult and challenging at times, was very rewarding. In
fact, during her first year, she produced more than I did when I was
working. She was quite happy, especially when she sold
honeymoon trips and received beautiful cards from her clients
detailing their trips and thanking her for a job well done.
Angela managed the Travel Agency until 2001. 2003.
After the 9/11
bombing of the World Trade Center, people were more hesitant to
travel. The airlines cut the commissions to travel agents from 10%
to 8%, and then to 5%, eventually down to nothing. It was very
difficult for the business to survive in such a climate and,
understandably, she was very worried about the continuation of our
services. Fortunately, one of the administrators of her former
employer, Travelers Insurance Company, came to see her and
asked if she would like to return to her old job.
She replied that she was not interested. She wanted to continue
with the business she enjoyed even if it meant working day and
night to make it successful. The Travelers administrator followed
up by asking, "'How much do you want to earn to come back to
work for us?" She answered with a rather large salary thinking it
would be the end of the conversation, but he agreed to her request.
She was hired! She was very surprised and came to me to ask for
my opinion on the proposal. I told her I thought the travel business
123

was only going to get worse, not only because of the attacks in
New York, but also because the airlines are not paying
commissions. Plus, computers were becoming more and more
commonplace and people are beginning to make travel
arrangements from their own home. Of course, Deodete and I felt
badly that the family business would no longer continue, but it was
the best choice for her and for us. In fact, there used to be 187
Travel Agencies in Rhode Island. Today, there are only 70.
Angela went back to work for her former employer, holding a
managerial position that she still holds today. She works many
hours, even holidays. In essence, Angela is a dedicated
workaholic, a perfectionist, a great mother, wife and daughter who
makes Deodete and me very proud. Angela speaks, writes and
understands the Portuguese language fluently, which is an
excellent asset in any profession in Southeastern Massachusetts
and Rhode Island.
When she was sixteen, Angela was the runner up for the Bristol
Miss Fourth of July contest in 1981. She was also elected Miss
Day of Portugal in Rhode Island in 1980, Lifetime Member of the
Fourth of July Committee, and she was a tireless member of the
American Heart Fund Campaign in 1983.
We ceased the travel business after Angela left, but I continued to
work doing tax returns, being a Notary Public, going to courtrooms
as an interpreter, and doing immigration work. Incidentally, I rent
space to my old employer, METLIFE, but I still keep my office in
the back as before where I now enjoy writing my memoirs.
It was very convenient for my wife and me to work next to our
home. Obviously, we did not have to drive to work. We came to
the office many times in our pajamas to catch up with our daily
tasks. My office in the back was like a control tower with its view
of our back yard - I could monitor our children’s friends and their
behavior all day long. But they were absolutely wonderful
124

Our 25th Wedding Anniversay
Our 25th Wedding Anniversay
Our 25th Wedding Anniversay
My daughter Angela’s
My graduation daughter Angela’s from Rhode Island
graduation My College daughter from Angela’s Rhode Island
College graduation from Rhode Island
College
My son Paulo’s
My graduation son Paulo’s from
graduation My Brown son Paulo’s University from
Brown graduation Medical University from School
Medical Brown University School
Medical School

children. We never had to tell them to do their homework or to
study. They were both very responsible.
As a result of one of his extracurricular activities at Bishop
Connolly High School as a volunteer at the Rose Hawthorn Cancer
Center in Fall River, our son Paulo became interested in becoming
a medical doctor. Terminally ill patients spent the last days of
their lives there. When he was in high school, he was chosen to be
Eucharistic Minister at St. Elizabeth’s Church in Bristol. He was
part of a theater comedy group to raise funds for the church. He
also participated in the American Heart Fund Campaign in Bristol.
He was a good swimmer, and very adventurous as well. He and
his best friends went backpacking through Europe after graduating
from high school.
Paulo loved the idea of healing. He became so inspired by
medicine that he applied to Boston College, an excellent institution
for higher learning. He was accepted and spent four years there,
from 1985 to1989. He double majored in Biology (pre-med) and
Philosophy, earning high honors. He thought about becoming a
professor of Philosophy, but applied instead to Brown University
Medical School where he was accepted from among five thousand
applicants for one of only 78 open spots.
I remember when we heard the message on our voice mail from the
Dean, congratulating my wife and me for his acceptance into their
prestigious Ivy League University. We were very proud. Paulo
spent four years at Brown, from 1989 to 1993. He graduated with
honors and completed his Internal Medicine residency at Cornell,
an Ivy League Institution in New York City. After his residency,
he decided to pursue a specialty in Gastroenterology and spent
another three years for his G.I. Fellowship at Cornell from 1996 to
1999. He also earned his Master’s degree in Clinical
Epidemiology and Health Services Research from 1998 to 1999.
He worked as Assistant Professor at Cornell Medical School from
1999 to 2003. Since 2003, he’s been working as an Assistant
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Professor at New York University while continuing a private
practice as a Gastroenterologist in the center of Manhattan in New
York City. He is the author of the book Living with Chronic
Heartburn and is also on the advisory board for Woman's Day
Magazine. He lectures nationally and has authored research papers
as well as book chapters. In addition to English, Paulo speaks,
writes and understands Portuguese and Spanish.
I will never forget the day he returned the Sunoco gas credit card
that I gave him. Deodete and I worked very hard to pay tuition and
other expenses for our children’s education, and it was worth every
penny. We both feel wonderful, not only because they turned out
to be great human beings, but because they are always there for us.
In March 1995, our son, Paulo, while doing his residency at
Cornell, came home one day and told his mother and me that he
had a confession to make. We were very anxious to find out what
he had to say. He told us that he was gay and that he had been
living with this secret for a long time.
We both started crying desperately with our disappointment. He
recognized that we were devastated by the news. He said he had
been suffering for a long time, but he felt that it was not right to
hold it in any longer. He said he didn’t want to lie to us and
wanted us to be part of his life, but he felt that this secret was
coming between us. To help me to understand this new
development in our lives, I made an appointment to see Dr. Donn
Posner, a psychologist. For a few months, our relationship with
our son was not very good. He said that he, too, had gone to see a
psychologist. He plainly and honestly said that he was not going to
change and that his sexual orientation had been determined. He
had met a wonderful person, and he was extremely happy. My
wife and I continued to deal with the situation in the best way that
we could. Dr. Posner insisted that I tell my best friends and family
because, otherwise, I was never going to live in peace. It turned
out to be great advice. Deodete and I summoned up some courage
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My four grandchildren, Sofia,
My
My
14,
four
four
Baby
grandchildren,
grandchildren,
Nicolas, 1 1/2
Sofia,
Sofia,
14,
14,
months,
Baby
Baby
Nicolas,
Nicolas, 1 1/2
months, Sara, 19,
1 1/2
19, and Isabel,
months,
Isabel,
5 years
Sara,
years old
19, and Isabel,
5 years old
old
My daughter, Angela, and
My
her
daughter,
her husband,
Angela,
husband, Arthur
and
Arthur Cabral
her husband, Arthur Cabral
Cabral
Paul Brennan and
Paul
my
Brennan
my son, Paulo
and
Paulo
my son, Paulo

and contacted everyone we considered to be our close friends, and
told them what we were going through. They invariably said that
it was okay and that we were not the only parents in the world who
had been faced with such a situation. They said they love Paulo
and us just as much, if not more, than before. I felt that it was easy
for them to say such things because they had not experienced it
themselves. I actually said, “It’s easier to watch the show from the
balcony than it is to be on stage.”
Deodete and I came to understand that millions of parents had
experienced the same thing. It seemed that we were more
preoccupied with other people than our own flesh and blood. We
were nervous that other people would find out. But our suffering
decreased over time, and we were regaining a normal life. When
we met Paulo’s partner, Paul Brennan, who is an Entertainment
Attorney, we found out that he comes from a very nice family who
went through the same experience that we did in the beginning.
We also quickly realized that Paul Brennan is an incredible,
beautiful, and educated human being. Paulo and Paul’s happiness
was so transparent that it became much easier to recover from what
we perceived to be the end of the world.
Years later, Paulo and Paul decided to adopt a child. Again,
Deodete and I became very apprehensive and told them that a child
is not a toy, that he or she required a lot of time and attention. We
asked if they realized what they were getting into, particularly
because they led very busy professional lives. They replied that
they knew exactly what to do and that they would love and take
care of the child as good, if not better, than anyone else would.
They adopted a beautiful girl whom they named Isabel. They
witnessed her birth, cut the cord, and were the first to hold her
when she entered the world. She is now five years old and we love
her as much as our other two granddaughters. She is so beautiful,
happy and gregarious. They have clearly provided this child with
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an incredible life full of love and support. We are very proud of
the way they have become responsible, excellent parents.
My message to other parents, who may have to experience what
we went through, is to not rejection or termination of their love for
their children. It’s a fact of life. Many of us have children,
grandchildren and perhaps great-grandchildren who could one day
come home and make a confession that you are less than thrilled
with. Love them as much as you can. Forget about gossip or
anyone else’s opinion. If they don’t accept it, they were never
your friends to begin with.
In closing, I find it very difficult to express in words the pride I
feel for my two children's achievements, not only academically,
but professionally and personally as well.
My First Taste of Politics
I got involved in politics in February 1971. At the time, there was
no Mayor or Town Administrator in Bristol. The President and
the other four members of the Town Council managed the Town’s
business. In 1970, a Town Charter was adopted which created a
Town Administrator, an elected position, to be the Chief
Executive for a term of 2 years, and this format still exists today.
Mike Balzano, who is now deceased, became a good friend of
mine and invited me to help him campaign to be elected as the
first Town Administrator in November 1971. This was my first
brush with politics.
After the election, I became very involved with the Republican
Party in Bristol. People around me suggested that I run for Rhode
Island State Senator. The Democrats had a candidate, George
Lima, who owned and directed the Lima Funeral Home. I
accepted the challenge. Coming from Portugal and never having a
chance to vote in my life, I thought it would be a good experience.
I had just become an American citizen a few months before and, in
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the beginning of 1974, I launched my campaign. I organized a
very good committee, and we worked very hard. We used the
most appropriate advertising we could afford - pamphlets,
newspaper, radio, even some television spots. We visited most of
the homes in Bristol and I talked to a great number of people,
trying my very best to explain my platform. It looked good,
especially because there were so many Portuguese-American
voters in the area. I was really counting on them and I received a
lot of positive feedback.
But I lost in the end, not only because my opponent had been an
incumbent State Representative, from Bristol, but also because it
was during the era of Richard Nixon's scandal. It was a tough year
to run as a Republican. Most Republicans lost in Rhode Island,
even the candidates from our neighboring town of Barrington, who
were traditionally a Republican majority. I remember in 1974 that
there were 46 Democrats and only 4 Republicans in the Senate at
the State House in Providence.
I enjoyed the experience of running for office, though, and I met a
great many nice people. In spite of losing the election, I became
much better known in the community and, consequently, my
business thrived. Although I never ran again, I still love politics a
great deal. I am a passionate student of political science and
continue to admire the Constitution of this great country. (Please
see the photograph and story that brought National Geographic
magazine reporter Louis Mezzatenta to Bristol to write a little bit
about my candidacy for the Rhode Island State Senate. Included is
a large article entitled New England’s Little Portugal in January
1975.
Becoming a Licensed International Travel Agency
After the election was over, and after meeting so many people, I
decided to apply for my own IATA License so that I did not have to
share 50% of my commissions with Piques Travel anymore.
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When I applied, inspectors came from Montreal to confirm that we
had the three years experience needed, an office, and good credit.
They were satisfied and we received the license. My wife and I
continued working very hard. She concentrated more on the travel
part and I continued selling Life Insurance. Things started to look
better and better. We decided that in order to be a complete Travel
Agency, we could not only sell International Travel, but Cruises
and Domestic Travel as well, which meant we needed to apply for
another license. I inquired in Washington about the requirements
needed to obtain the ATC license. They told me that, although I
had the IATA License, I only needed a surety bond in the amount
of 100 thousand dollars. I tried all the insurance companies, but it
was very difficult to obtain such a bond, even with my good credit.
After knocking on all doors, I became acquainted with Robert
Avila, a Portuguese-American and a prominent businessman with
many connections. One of his businesses was the student bus
transportation for most of the schools in the State of Rhode Island.
I went to his office and he immediately made a phone call to his
Insurance Agent who represented Aetna Insurance Co. A few
minutes later, I received my bond. Thanks to this very generous
man, I now had a full service Travel Agency. Bob Avila has been
a good friend ever since, for more than forty years now.
Becoming a Notary Public
I became a Notary Public, so that I could notarize official
documents; prepare Powers of Attorney, wills, etc. I felt that I had
realized my dream. Our children were prospering, and we were all
very happy. The problem was that my landlord, in Warren, noticed
that we were becoming successful and making money, so he
decided to act as if he were entitled to increase the rent. He raised
the rent twice in one year, but I told him that if he did it again, I
would move. He didn't believe me, and increased the rent again.
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Moving our Office from Warren to Bristol, Rhode Island
One day, on my way home, I saw a sign in front of a house on
Metacom Avenue, one of the busiest roads in the town of Bristol. I
called the realtor and asked what the cost of the house was. He
replied that it was fifty thousand dollars. I came home, told my
wife and started investigating whether or not we could attach our
Travel Agency to the house. The building inspector at the time
said that it would be OK because the location was zoned for
business. We were very pleased with the news, so I offered the
realtor forty-five thousand for the property. I had already spoken
with the bank, and they were willing to lend me that amount.
The following week, I went to my barber, Tony Sousa, who lived
across the street from the house I wanted to buy. He said, "Fred,
look at today's Providence Journal. I read an ad saying that the
house you are interested in has been foreclosed by the bank and is
being auctioned off. The owner had stopped paying the
mortgage." The auction was taking place the following Monday.
It was December, a very cold day. I walked from my house on
Charlotte Drive, close to the house I wanted to buy. I came
prepared with a certified check in the amount of one thousand
dollars, as required by the advertisement. There were a few
contractors in front of the building who were used to auctions and
who knew the actual value of the property. I had not seen the
inside of the house, I had no idea how much land was attached to
it. I had no experience with auctions of any kind, but I was
determined to make a bid until it exceeded the forty-five thousand
dollars I had offered the week before. The Auctioneer was the
Bristol Town Clerk, Orlando Bisbano, better known as Larney
Bisbano. He was a good man, a Republican who became my
friend during my candidacy for the State Senate. The bidding
began at eighteen thousand dollars. One of the contractors bid
nineteen thousand. I put in a bid for twenty, and someone else bid
twenty-one. My wife was there next to me. I was so nervous
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ecause every time I opened my mouth that meant another
thousand dollars out of our pocket. I kept on bidding up to twentyseven
thousand, and I decided to tell all the bidders that I had
offered much more money for that property the week before and
that I was prepared to bid until that amount. One of them bid
twenty-eight thousand and I responded with twenty-eight thousand
two hundred. There was a brief silence before Larney Bisbano
abruptly said, "SOLD, to Fred Pacheco!" We were thrilled. It was
the ideal location, very visible, where more than thirty-thousand
vehicles pass every day. It was much better than the location of
our office in Warren.
There was already a large sign in front of the property that came
with it, so the only thing we had to do was to change the lettering
to “Bristol County Travel, Inc, d/b/a Pacheco Travel Agency.” We
kept our office in Warren for a few more months. I contacted an
architect to design our new office. He presented a very good draft
that we approved, and I then contacted a few contractors to
estimate the cost for the addition. I received a few bids and I
accepted the lowest one.
The lowest bid was made by two Portuguese immigrants. When
the addition to our house was half-done, I received a letter from the
Town of Bristol saying that construction had to stop immediately.
I went to the Town Hall and spoke to the Building Inspector, the
same person who had previously approved the permit for the
addition since the area was zoned for business. He replied that I
had to choose one or the other - either live in the house, or
designate it as a business. I contacted my attorney who studied the
entire case, and he told me that the town was wrong. I was advised
to continue building.
The Providence Journal heard about my case, contacted me and
wrote an article on the front page of the paper with a photograph
and a story. We went to court and the judge ruled in my favor. I
was not asking permission to build a home, but rather an addition
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for a business. And the area was indeed zoned for business. I
found out later that the stop work order was sent to me in revenge
because the President of the Zoning Board, who also bid for the
construction, was a contractor who was not given the job. That
entire story was published on the front page of the Providence
Journal and turned out to be good advertising for our new Travel
Agency. Everyone knew there was going to be the first, and only,
Travel Agency in Bristol. A few days after the auction, I was
notified that the former owner had not paid the town taxes for the
last three years and that I was forced, by the town, to pay the three
years back taxes for the property (despite having never lived in the
house).
Shortly after, we did a massive advertisement campaign for our
Grand Opening and we were on our way to building a larger
business than before. We were equipped with the most modem
computer system and all the licenses needed to sell travel
worldwide. Through my contacts, we were able to acquire many
business accounts. In fact, we were the exclusive Travel Agency
for Roger Williams College, today Roger Williams University, and
for most of the boat builders and other businesses in Bristol
County. Our staff consisted of me, my sister-in-law Bernardete,
and my wife. While we handled the office work, we also had a
few outside sales agents working part-time along with two agents
responsible for domestic and international travel groups.
We sponsored a Little League Baseball team for more than thirty
years called “Pacheco Travel Agency.” Our team even won a few
championships! I instituted a tradition to hold a party each year for
our team players, mothers, coaches and families in our backyard.
The party was held whether we won the championship or not, and
the team looked forward to the party each year. It was very
satisfying to see the camaraderie, happiness and sportsmanship
amongst all the youngsters.
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An Interesting Surprise Visit
Many years after I arrived in Bristol, a tall man with a cowboy hat
came to my front office and asked my wife in perfect Portuguese,
“O Senhor Frederico Manuel da Ponte Pacheco está?” He was
asking if I was there. My wife replied, in Portuguese, that I was,
and pointed out the location of my office in the back. She was so
surprised to hear someone pronouncing my full name in
Portuguese so well that she walked with him to my office.
He shook my hand and introduced himself, saying, “Eu sou o
General John Buckner. Lembra-se de mim?” (I am General John
Buckner. Do you remember me?) I looked at him and started
speaking in Portuguese a little too fast and he said, in English this
time, “Wait, wait. I was a student in your Portuguese class when I
was stationed at the U.S. Air Force Base in the Azores, over thirty
years ago. I forgot most of the Portuguese I learned from you with
exception of a few phrases, like the ones I mentioned before.”
It was so wonderful to reconnect with a former student. Someone
informed him that I was living in Rhode Island. He told us that he
was retired. We chatted for a couple of hours about life in the
Azores and Portugal, back then versus now, especially the
development and progress that Portugal has made since the April
25 th Revolution, Coupe D’état, and its inclusion into the European
Union. It was a joy to speak to this retired General who said that
he loved his stay in the Azores. He was there for three years
during the sixties.
Top Ten Charters, Inc.
At the end of 1975, TAP-Air Portugal abandoned their departures
from Logan International Airport in Boston. Southeastern
Massachusetts and Rhode Island had the largest percentage of
Portuguese population in the Unites States. In April 1976, a few
travel agents decided to form a charter company to fulfill the needs
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of the thousands of Portuguese-Azorean immigrants who wanted to
travel to the Azores and visit their families and friends. Since
there were ten partners in all, we named the company “Top Ten
Charters, Inc.” The travel agencies involved in this venture were
Americana Travel, AVA Travel, America Travel, Lages Travel,
Luiz Travel, Oliveira Travel, Valadão Travel, East Side Travel,
Farinha Travel and Bristol County Travel.
We rented office space in the city of Fall River, strategically
located and accessible to the ten partners. We hired a professional
travel agent to handle all the bookings. We elected our first
president, Gerald Sylvia, owner of Americana Travel in Fall River.
We began looking for airlines who were interested in flying
charters, back to back, to the Azores and continental Portugal. We
met weekly. All partners were members of the Board so that each
would have a vote in the company’s decisions and success. It was
decided that each partner would sell a number of seats on each
flight and, a couple of weeks before its departure, any remaining
seats would be open to the other travel agencies. We made sure
that each passenger had a seat assignment (which was not the case
with TAP on those days). The goal was to sell as many seats as we
could until the plane was completely sold out. A couple of years
after we started the company, I was elected president. It was a lot
of work because we not only had our own travel agencies to run,
but we also needed time to dedicate to the new venture.
It was a difficult endeavor because our charters would only go to
the island of São Miguel in the Azores and then to Lisbon. Many
of our passengers’ final destinations in the Azores required them to
get a connection to one of the other eight islands of the
Archipelago. I frequently flew to São Miguel and made
reservations with SATA - the commuter airline - to ensure that our
clients had the right connection to their final destination. I must
commend the competence of my good friend and high school
classmate, the late Henrique Moniz, who was the Reservations
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Manager for SATA. There were no computers back then, but he
was a whiz with things like that, using reservation cards to make
sure that every single passenger had the appropriate connection. It
was a very difficult task. Our venture was very successful. We
filled a lot of planes with the best route for anyone wishing to go to
the Azores or Lisbon. Had we not formed Top Ten Charters, the
only alternative for the residents of the area would be to fly to JFK
Airport in New York, change planes for a flight to Lisbon, and
then change again for another flight to the Azores. Travelers
would have to spend about eleven hours in the air while paying
twice as much. We felt that we not only provided a terrific service
to the vast Portuguese immigrant population, but also to anyone
who wished to visit the Azores and the Continental Portugal.
The Bristol County Chamber of Commerce
My friend Bob Avila asked me to become a member of the Bristol
County Chamber of Commerce. Today it is known as the East Bay
Chamber of Commerce. When I joined the organization, the
Chamber had no office. We used Bob's space next to Avila's Gas
Station on Metacom Avenue. Up until that time, the Chamber was
not involved in any activity. There was one part-time person
collecting dues from the merchants. Soon after I joined, we had a
meeting in Bob's office and decided to hire an Executive Director.
We found an extraordinary person who was perfect for the job.
Ann Bates, a former school teacher. Under her leadership, the
Chamber started to grow so much that we needed more space and
staff. We had a massive membership drive that brought in many
new members. Under the direction of Ann Bates and Bob Avila,
we were able to increase our membership. The Chamber rented
space from an office owned by Bob across the street from Avilas'
Gas Station.
The Chamber functioned very well from that point forward. In a
short period of time, we had to increase the office staff to
accomplish the many tasks and objectives of attracting more
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usinesses into Bristol County. We represented all the businesses
and their owners, which meant that we had to be the watch dogs,
observing the laws passed at the Rhode Island State House
concerning taxes and other actions that might have an impact on
the business community. I was a Board Member for twenty-seven
years and served as its Chairman in 1993. I had the opportunity to
meet all sorts of businesses and their owners. At one point, we
made the decision to assign one Board member to lobby for us at
the State House. During my tenure as Chairman, we were able to
bring a few small industries into the area through state tax
incentives.
The Chamber's major objective was to provide small business
owners with ongoing training and education critical to their
company’s survival. There were seminars, workshops,
publications and courses to help members stay up to date on issues
affecting their businesses. Many of these programs were held in
conjunction with one of East Bay Chamber's largest member,
Roger Williams University, providing opportunities for networking
with fellow members. Programs, such as Business After Hours,
awards luncheons and annual dinners also helped small businesses
to become established. We even concentrated on trying to start an
East Bay Charter School which, unfortunately, never materialized.
We also helped to draw more tourists to the region and established
an East Bay Tourism District.
It was very gratifying for me to be the first immigrant to be elected
as Chairman of the Board of a Chamber of Commerce in Rhode
Island. I was always surrounded by a very special group of
professionals who I usually referred to as “the cream of the crop."
Ann Bates, the Chamber's President at the time, was notable for
her outstanding knowledge, leadership and dedication for all the
help she provided. My good friend Bob Avila, who most Chamber
members called “Mr. Chamber”, was also known for his untiring
work ethic and participation, not only financially, but more so for
his initiative. His work and love for the organization allowed it to
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grow and, for all the help and friendship he had always displayed
during my tenure, he enabled me to have a very successful year as
Chairman of the Board. I was also privileged and honored to be
named "Bristol County Citizen of the Year" in 1989. It made me
feel that I had given my very best to help make Bristol County a
better place to live and work.
Advisor to Bristol Town Administrator
One opportunity that I enjoyed tremendously was serving as the
advisor to Thomas Byrnes during his tenure as Bristol Town
Administrator from 1982 to 1984. Gerry Donovan, a World War
II veteran and his Administrative Assistant, together with Thomas
Campagna and I, met weekly with the Administrator to discuss
and advise him about a variety of problems regarding citizens'
needs and ways to improve the town's business and the welfare of
the community as a whole. Tom Byrnes was also an outstanding
individual who was the driving force in the 1980's for building the
popular East Bay Bike Path that begins on India Point in East
Providence and ends at Independence Park in Bristol, where
thousands of people of all ages enjoy biking, walking and jogging
every day. In my opinion, the Bike Path should have been named
after him.
Interestingly enough, I was a Republican back then while Tom
Byrnes was a Democrat. I asked why he chose me, and he replied,
"I already have Campagna to advise me from the Democrats, now I
need someone that I can trust with a more conservative point of
view." I found it very constructive and intelligent for the Chief
Executive of a small town to act in such a way, whose priority was
truly the betterment of the town instead of playing party politics.
One of the programs that were implemented during his
administration was the Crime Watch Program. In fact, this was
the first program ever broadcast live on Full Channel TV in 1983.
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I called the owner of Full Channel TV, John Donofrio, and asked
him if we could appear on his station’s program. Tom Byrnes,
Gerry Donovan and I were given an hour of air time, free of
charge, to talk about the program. We explained how important it
was to have residents' participation and that it was imperative that
all citizens be the watchdogs of their own neighborhoods. It was a
very successful program that, unfortunately, no longer exists.
Committee to Appoint the Bristol Police Chief
In the spring of 1995, I was appointed by Town Administrator,
Joseph Parella, along with Anthony Iasiello, a former educator and
Chairman of the Bristol Town Council, and Susan Andrade, the
Engineering Technician for the Bristol County Water Authority, to
the Search Committee to select the new Bristol Police Chief.
There were 65 applicants from all over the country. Our role was
to interview the final ten contenders after their résumés and
credentials had been screened by Earl Sweeny, an expert from
EMS Consultants. It was a difficult decision to make because all
the applicants were highly qualified, coming from impressive
backgrounds within law enforcement. The criteria was to rate the
applicants from one to ten. We had to take into consideration the
past experiences that the Town had with prior selections for Police
Chiefs who came from outside the area. We found that, although
they all had good credentials, they could not relate to a town of our
size and, consequently, did not last long.
We selected the three finalists to be submitted to the Town
Administrator for his final decision. One contender was from
Plymouth, Massachusetts, one was from New Hampshire, and the
other was a native of Bristol who had served in the Bristol Police
Department for 40 years, holding the rank of Lieutenant. Joe
Parella made the final decision and selected Russell Serpa, also
known as Rusty. Rusty was appointed Bristol Police Chief in
January 1996 and retired on March 24 th 2008. Our committee fully
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agreed with the Administrator’s selection and the town benefited
from his services over the course of his twelve-year tenure.
Resigning from Insurance Sales
In addition to my work with the Town, I continued to be very busy
with my business, working 15 hours a day. Between managing the
Travel Agency, providing tax consultation and income tax
services, assisting my Portuguese brethren with their immigration
cases, and also being a Notary Public (recognized in the State of
R.I. and the governments of Portugal and Brazil), I was
overworked. One job that took a lot of my time was insurance
sales. Twice a week, I had to file a report on how much insurance
I sold to my METLIFE unit manager. The insurance office was on
the Wampanoag Trail in Riverside, RI. After a time, there was a
change in management when our office sales manager resigned,
and he was replaced by a new individual. He unnecessarily
applied pressure on the sales force, including me, which made
matters worse.
One week, for example, I sold one hundred thousand dollars worth
of insurance. That was a sizable amount. The following week,
however, the new manager decided that he wanted me to produce
110,000, and then 125,000, and so on. I realized that I needed to
quit one of my jobs or I would have a heart attack. So I told the
new manager, “Please do not put any more pressure on me, or I
will quit!” He replied, “You can't quit. You are in the Millionaires
Club!!!” He actually thought I was kidding. I went home and
discussed the situation with my wife and she agreed wholeheartedly
that I should resign. That was one of the best decisions
I’ve ever made. After that, I started concentrating, without
pressure, on the other facets of our business. Although I forfeited
all the commission renewals from the insurance that I had sold
over the years, as well as the health insurance for my entire family,
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we survived and were much happier and I was doing what I
enjoyed.
My Involvement with the Rotary Club
In 1976, I was invited to become a member of the Bristol Rotary
Club. Many of my friends belonged to this organization. Its motto
was Service Above Self. No one was to personally benefit, but
rather to improve the lives of others, especially the less fortunate. I
immediately fell in love with the fellowship within the Club and
the services that they provided to humanity.
One of the characteristics required to become a member is the
Four-Way-Test, which is a guideline to be considered before taking
any action.
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair for all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendship?
4. Will it be beneficial for all concerned?
It was not very difficult for me to become a Rotarian, not only
because I knew most of the members having worked with them as
part of the Bristol County Chamber of Commerce, but also because
I strongly believed in the service the Rotary provided to the world
in every field you can imagine. It is the largest charitable
organization in the world, comprised of businessmen and
professionals from all fields. As of today, there are 32,756 clubs
and 1,224,198 members worldwide.
I was elected President of the Bristol Rotary Club on July 1 st 1985.
During my year as president, we worked on many pursuits,
purchasing a new rescue truck for the Town of Bristol, promoting
an international student exchange program between our Club and
other Clubs overseas, sponsoring the Rotary Foundation Heifer
Fund, which sends specialists to third world countries to teach
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techniques in farming and raising livestock, continuing the popular
May Breakfast and a Waterfront Festival that included many
vendors. We Rotarians also had our own trailer at the Festival
where we served and sold food, and set up a flea market. We even
had a Fashion Show, sponsored by Maria's Bridal Boutique in
Warren, where many Rotarians dressed as models. We not only
had fun and fellowship, but we also raised a lot of money that went
to worthy causes.
One activity we had that became very popular was our Rotary
Show. Before women could be members of Rotary, the men
dressed as women as part of the show. We raised money and the
audience was entertained. In the early seventies, our director for
the show’s production was Mrs. Theresa Donovan, a tough but
wonderful lady and former school teacher. All the female roles
were played by men. I remember one Rotarian in particular who
was the funniest of all. My good friend, Joe Cavallaro, was
always entertaining and, therefore, was always chosen to play a
female part.
In 1985, there was a big change involving Rotary membership. A
group of women in California filed suit against the Rotary Clubs
for not allowing women to be granted membership. The case went
to court and they won. This took place during the year I was
president. The Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to have a
club just for men, and I was more than happy to include women.
They became very involved and added charm and service that the
men could not. Their femininity and magic touch contributed a
great deal to the clubs all over the country. One problem I
encountered, however, was that some members were leaving the
club under the belief that we had lost our identity and could not
make jokes freely anymore now that women were present. I did
not agree with that, so those who left the club were replaced with
new members. Apart from that, nothing had changed, and we
continued our causes, helping the less fortunate.
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Our Rotary Shows
During my 35 years as Rotarian, I participated in several shows.
One show, in particular that was quite memorable, was held in the
spring of 1998. The Bristol Rotary Club decided to present
onstage at the Bristol High School a variety show entitled A Bristol
Rotary Folly. The purpose of the show was to raise funds to help
the homeless in Rhode Island. Among the twenty different
sketches, musicals and comedies, there was a romantic scene from
Romeo and Juliet. It was the scene that takes place in Juliet’s
garden at night. Juliet is on her balcony in Verona, Italy,
conveying her profound love for Romeo.
To make the show more interesting and humorous, our director,
Bill Dennis, decided that the role of Juliet ought to be played by a
man! I was chosen to play Romeo. The main problem was finding
a male Rotarian to be Juliet. The part was offered to several
members, but most of them refused. They felt it was too
embarrassing, or the English was too old. Anyway, amidst the
excuses, my good friend, Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva, accepted to
play the part of Juliet.
Dr. da Silva and I soon realized that we were not actors. We
decided we should, therefore, spruce up the lines, adding similar
expressions in Portuguese since more than 50% of the Bristol
population was of Portuguese extraction. Perhaps this mixture of
language would bring more humor to the show. In addition to this,
we decided to reverse the parts in a way. Normally, the girl is at
the balcony while the boy serenades and courts her from the
veranda. Not this time. Juliet, on the veranda, would open the
scene by playing a very popular Portuguese folkloric song entitled
"Meninas Vamos ao Vira," which means, "Girls, let’s dance,” on
the mandolin.
Dr. da Silva and I got together a few times to rehearse and, each
time, we kept adding new lines to our production. We had to
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memorize the entire dialogue, though, which was becoming an
increasingly daunting task. The audience would notice the
slightest error and, on top of that, most boys and girls all over
America probably know the entire scene of Romeo and Juliet by
heart. We were under pressure not to mess up.
As we all know, Shakespeare’s famous play attributes the tragic
ending of the teenage lovers to the rivalry that existed between
their families, the Montagues and the Capulets. This conveyed the
sentiment of a generation gap, which makes this play very
appealing to the youth of the world.
My costume was a hat with pheasant feathers, a shirt that was
actually my wife's blouse (with several folds in the front), and a
vest made of green velvet. My wife made several adjustments so
that I would look more like someone from Verona (or a Swiss
Guard at the Vatican) - very tight pantyhose to cover my legs, a
pair of slippers with pointed toe shoes, and a sword inside a sheath.
I resembled an authentic knight of the XVI Century.
Dr. da Silva's uniform was his wife's dress. It was fairly consistent
with Juliet's garden because it had a rose print. A large bra filled
with cotton and lamb’s wool filled the spaces, but one became
larger than the other and he wanted them to be symmetrical. After
a few tries and many laughs, both of his breasts looked OK. He
only needed long hair to look like a Juliet of 1596. I really
preferred a blond Juliet, but Dr. da Silva went with a brunette wig.
All that was left was to learn the lines and to recite them in a nice,
Old English accent. That was not an easy task. Neither Dr. da
Silva nor I were born in an English speaking country, so it wasn’t
even our first language to begin with.
Here is the dialogue from the scene as written by William
Shakespeare, first published in 1597 (with modern Portuguese
adaptations):
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Bristol Rotary
Bristol Rotary
Show, with Dr.
Show, Bristol with Rotary Dr.
DaSilva play-
DaSilva Show, with playDr.
ing Juliet and
ing DaSilva Juliet play- and
me as Romeo
me ing as Juliet Romeo and
me as Romeo
Speaking at a Bristol Rotary
Speaking at a Bristol Rotary
Club meeting
Club Speaking meeting at a Bristol Rotary
Club meeting
Kristine
Kristine
Campagna,
Campagna, Kristine
guest
guest Campagna,
speaker at
speaker guest at
our Bristol
our speaker Bristol at
Wednesday
Wednesday our Bristol
meeting
meeting Wednesday
meeting

The stage is showing an orchard wall and a veranda surrounded
with greenery. Romeo had jumped the wall to get inside of Juliet's
garden and he is looking in all directions to find Juliet. When she
sees him she says:
Juliet: I am here!
Romeo: She speaks! Oh! Speak again bright angel!
Juliet: (Exaggerating the Rolling ‘R’ in Romeo) Oh! R.-
.omeo! R...omeo! Wherefore art thou R.-.omeo?
Deny my father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou
wilt not, be but sworn my love. And I will no
longer be Capulet.
R.. .omeo, it is but thy name that is my enemy.
What is in a name? That which we call a rose by
any other name would smell as sweet.
So, R...omeo, if your name were not Romeo, you
could retain that dear perfection you owe without
that title.
R.. .omeo, doff thy name, and for they name, which
is not part of thee, take all myself!
Romeo: I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I will
be new baptized.
Juliet: How comest thou hither, tell me? The orchard
walls are high to climb!
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Romeo: With love's wings did I fly over those walls for
stony limits cannot hold love!
Juliet: If it were not so dark out, you could see me
blushing!
Please tell me you love me as much as I love you!
Romeo: I swear I love you! I love you! I love you!
Juliet: (In Portuguese) Ah, mas isto e tudo tão rapido! Aih!
Aih! I am having hot flashes!!! (Wow! All this is
happening so fast! Estou com calores frios!)
Romeo: (In Portuguese) Eu não acredito. Devo estar a
sonhar. Julieta fala Português?!!! (I do not believe
it. I must be dreaming! Juliet speaks Portuguese?!!!
Juliet: (In Portuguese) Casa comigo, Romeo! Respondeme
até amanhã, senão morrerei de paixão (Marry
me, Romeo! Give me an answer by tomorrow or I
will die of passion)
Romeo: (Making a gesture of the curves of her body) Já
viram uma cara tão linda e um corpo tão bem feito?
(Have you ever seen such a beautiful face and a
gorgeous body)?
Juliet: (In Portuguese) Boa noite meu amor, a que horas
vens ver-me amanhã? (Good night, my love. At
what time are you coming to see me tomorrow)?
Romeo: (In Portuguese) Às 9 horas meu amor. Talvêz fique
aqui toda a noite à tua espera! (At 9 o'clock, my
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love. Perhaps I will stay here all night waiting for
you)!
Juliet: (In Portuguese) Ai que bom! Eu tambem ficarei
aqui na varanda toda a noite a sonhar contigo; Que
maravilha... Como é bom amar! (It feels so good! I
too will stay here in the veranda all night dreaming
of you. What a marvelous feeling! It is so good to
be in love!).
Romeo: (In Portuguese) Adeus queridinha. Boa Noite meu
amor. (Good-bye my beloved one! Good night my
true love!)
Juliet: (In Portuguese) Boa noite, boa noite! (In Italian)
Buena sera! (Good night in Italian)
When this show was presented in public, the episode of President
Clinton and Monica Lewinski was at a high point, so we decided to
add the final punch lines:
Juliet: R.. .omeo, before you go, I have a confession to
make. I have a secret lover and he is coming to see
me tomorrow, his name is Bill Clinton!
The audience went crazy, laughing so much that we had to pause
acting for a while...
Romeo: Over my dead body!
Romeo gets his sword out and raises his sword ready to fight with
Bill Clinton!!!
Juliet: Calm down Romeo! "Calma Romeu"
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1 was not wearing my glasses and I could not see the sheath
enough to find the hole to put the sword back in its place. The
audience probably thought I was nervous, and they continued to
laugh loudly. After trying again, I finally put the sword in the
sheath and the curtain closed.
The end result was fantastic. Our Bristol Rotary raised sixteen
thousand dollars in three sold-out performances to help the
homeless in Rhode Island.
I am still a member of the Bristol Rotary Club, but not as involved
as I was in the past. According to the by-laws, a member whose
age plus the number of years as a Rotarian adds up to 85 years is
no longer obligated to attend meetings every Wednesday.
Therefore, I am now considered a Senior Active Member and,
according to the formula, I am now 110 years old in Rotary Years.
I still go to some meetings, though, and pay my dues. Because of
my contribution to the Rotary, I had the honor of receiving the
Paul Harris Fellow Award, which is the highest recognition given
to a Rotarian.
I had perfect attendance for 27 consecutive years. According to
Rotary International, a member must attend at least 50% of the
meetings during a calendar year. I was very fortunate to be able,
during my travels, to make up meetings in many countries around
the world, such as Portugal, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Switzerland,
Greece, and South Africa. It was very gratifying when I attended a
meeting overseas. I was always greeted with friendship and
warmth by the Rotarians wherever I went. I was a member of an
organization that helped finance the eradication of polio around the
world, and I am proud of all the donations and contributions we
have made to help make the world a better place.
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Militant for the Azores Independence
A few months after the revolution in Portugal in 1974, many
military officers who were the architects of the Coup D’état
planned to establish a communist regime in Portugal. An opposing
militant group from the Azores came to New England and got
together with some of the Portuguese leaders in the area, forming a
committee to pressure the United States Government to intervene
and prevent this movement from happening in Portugal. Many of
my friends were arrested in the Azores for fighting against such a
regime. A great majority of the country was hoping to become a
democracy after 40 years of dictatorship, and there was turmoil for
a couple of years. The first government after the revolution
nationalized many banks, businesses and private properties. There
was no respect for the rule of law. It was chaotic and unstable
during this time. In response to the turmoil, many of my friends
came to the United States until the government established a
democracy. One of my best friends from Terceira Island, Dr.
Alvaro Monjardino, came with his entire family and lived here for
three months until the situation cooled off. When they returned, a
government had been formed, and he was later elected as the first
President of the Regional Assembly of the Azores Government.
Dr. Jose de Almeida, the leader of the Front for the Liberty of the
Azores, FLA, was a Portuguese professor who came to New
England and contacted me. He also contacted a few other
Portuguese-Azorean Americans, including Carlos Matos, Alfredo
Alves, Antonio Matos, Paula Raposo and other immigrants who
did not like the idea of a communist political system in the Azores.
Such a case would have been worse than Salazar's regime. We
organized many demonstrations and went to the United Nations in
New York City to seek help in our fight against communism.
Without their assistance, the Azores Islands could possibly have
become independent from Portugal not because they did not like
their continental brothers, but because they wanted a free Azores
and not a communist dictatorship.
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We chartered more than 50 buses to demonstrate in Washington,
D.C. I was joined, in front of the Capitol, by the late Senator
Claiborne Pell, whose father had been a U.S. Ambassador in
Portugal after World War II. He was an ardent supporter of the
Portuguese community in Rhode Island and worked tirelessly in
the United States Congress to change the direction of Portugal
towards a Democratic Republic.
We like to believe that we helped the Portuguese citizens to
establish a new Constitution providing freedom of press,
expression, and an authentic democracy for people to enjoy today.
Interesting Stories about Helping and Counseling People
My wife and staff were always complaining that I spent half of my
time doing things other than managing my business, which was
true. People came to me for help and counseling from everywhere.
Sometimes I think how, although I didn’t become a lawyer, God
gave me the ability to help and counsel people, which is what I
love to do.
One day, a man came into our front office and asked my wife if he
could see me immediately. She directed him to my office in the
back and said that he was extremely nervous. When he faced me,
he said, “I am going to kill my wife.” I asked him why, and he
said that his wife was cheating on him and he had proof. He
showed me a calendar that he had found in a chest of drawers in
their bedroom with notes, dates, times and fantasies detailing the
time she spent in a motel enjoying herself with her lover.
I took him to my conference room so we could have more privacy.
He was absolutely furious, so I asked my wife to fix him a cup of
linden tea to help him to relax.
When she arrived with the tea, he was kneeling on the floor in
front of me. She curiously asked if he was making a confession, to
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which he replied, “Yes, I am, and I just want to kill my wife. I
don’t care if I go to jail. She was the only woman I ever had. We
have known each other since we were sixteen years old and we
have three children together.”
I told him to drink the tea, to take a deep breath and relax. I tried
to explain that killing her would not resolve anything. I told him I
would call a good lawyer - a friend of mine - to take care of his
divorce. He became a little more relaxed and agreed. After he
narrated the whole story, in detail, he left my office much calmer
than when he arrived. He went to see Joseph Recupero, the lawyer
I referred him to and to whom he paid a deposit to start the divorce
proceedings.
After he left, my wife told me that I should not get involved in
affairs like that. She pointed out that if they were to reconcile, I
would end up losing both a friend and a client. Three weeks later,
my wife and I went to St. Elizabeth’s Church in Bristol to attend
Mass and she spotted the same couple, side by side. She
whispered in my ear, “Didn’t I tell you?”
I was pleasantly surprised and agreed that she had been right.
However, three months later, I received a call from the man’s
mother. She said that her son had been arrested for domestic
violence. Apparently, the man’s wife came home at 2 o’clock in
the morning and he grabbed her arm (which left a mark). She
called the police and he was charged. The following morning, I
went to the Bristol Police Station and posted bail so he could be
released. I advised him to see the attorney again and to go through
with the divorce proceedings.
He eventually found a nice girl that he married and they are very
happy together. Fortunately, my wife was incorrect after all
because he continued to be my friend and client as well.
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Another time, at about 1 o’clock in the morning on a Friday night,
I was in bed. A police officer from New Bedford woke me up and
said that there were two brothers who had gotten into trouble at a
bar. They had been arrested for disorderly conduct, and they said
that they worked for me. I asked for their names. The police
officer told me and said they needed to be bailed out or they would
stay in jail until the following Tuesday (Monday being a holiday).
I confirmed that they worked for me - which was not true - and that
I would be in New Bedford in about an hour to bail them out.
My wife said, “Here we go again! You are crazy going out at this
time of night. This can be a trap from someone with bad
intentions.” I told her that I knew them very well, that they were
good clients of ours and that I did not believe they had gotten into
trouble with the law. I drove to New Bedford, about thirty-five
minutes from Bristol, and brought cash with me to the police
station. When I arrived, they were very happy to see me. The
problem was that it took four hours for the Magistrate to show up.
He established a cash bail in the amount of $500.00 so they could
be released, and set up a court date for the following week.
After leaving the police station, I asked them what had happened at
the bar. They said that someone had started a fight with another
guy and, when the police came, they arrested the two that were
fighting, and also a few others who were seated nearby at the bar.
They said that they were not involved in the fight at all and that
they were afraid to spend time in jail until the following Tuesday.
They said they were very grateful and that they called me because
they knew I would come to help them. They also did not want
their wives to know about the episode.
I returned home at seven o’clock in the morning. I had completely
forgotten to call my wife about the delay, and she didn’t sleep all
night with worry. The following week, they went to court and the
judge dismissed the case. The two brothers paid me back the
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$500.00 and, every time they see me, they talk about that awful
night.
Another story from when I owned the travel agency involves an
older lady. She did not have a car, so she asked someone to take
her to Fall River, Massachusetts, about 12 miles from Bristol, so
she could purchase a trip to the Azores. On her way back, she
came to my office and asked me in Portuguese, “Do you have the
yellow forms so that I can get my vaccinations to travel to the
Azores?” I said that I did, and I asked her when she was leaving.
When she replied that she was leaving next week, I asked her if she
had already made her reservations. She told me that she had made
her reservations at Farinha’s Travel Agency in Fall River. I started
to laugh and she was bewildered.
I asked her why she went to another Travel Agency in Fall River,
passing my office, to purchase a trip for the same price that I
would charge. She replied that she didn’t know and that she didn’t
think it would make a difference. I looked at her and said in
Portuguese, “Do you realize that the other travel agent made a
commission when she sold you the trip and told you to come to me
for the vaccination forms?”
She looked regretful all of a sudden. She apologized and said
Yvonne Farinha had told her that she had run out of vaccination
forms and, since she lived in Bristol, she could go to Fred
Pacheco’s Agency to get them. I jokingly told her, “You have to
go to St. Elizabeth’s Church downtown and go to Father Diogo for
a confession.” She didn’t quite pick up on my joke, and she asked
if I thought what she did was a sin. Again, jokingly, I said, “Not a
mortal sin, so, in memory of my father who was a very generous
man, I will still give you the form for free, even though it cost me
10 cents.” I believe she actually went to confession, though, and
told the priest what I had said. Of course, I happen to be very good
friends with Father Diogo, so I felt compelled many times to ask
him if she had indeed gone for confession. But, naturally, he was
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not going to tell me anything pertaining to someone else’s
confession.
Another story: Isabel Goncalves, a daughter of a friend and a good
client, came to my office with a friend to book a cruise to the
Caribbean. I asked her what ship they preferred to travel on, and
they said, “We have never been on a cruise before, so we would
like you to select the best cruise ship and itinerary.” I suggested
the ship “Festival” from Carnival Cruise Line, which is geared
towards younger people. A few months later, after they went on
their cruise, I happened to see her with a very good looking young
man. I asked, “Isabel, who is this fellow?” She said, “This is John
Daniels from Greenfield, Ohio. We met during the cruise.”
Sometime later, I received an invitation to their wedding. I felt
like a match maker!
It was really just coincidence, though, that I happened to choose
the very same ship and itinerary that John Daniels had booked in
Ohio. Still, had I chosen any other ship, they would not be married
today! They would not have had Ryan, their son, who is now
sixteen and a wonderful boy, and John probably would be married
to someone else in Ohio! My wife and I were invited to their
wedding, and our families continue to be friends after more than 40
years. Our daughter Angela is Isabel’s best friend, and John is my
son-in-law Arthur’s best friend. Once in a while, they will say to
people, “If it weren’t for Mr. Pacheco, we would have never met!”
I strongly believe it was destiny, though, and that God dictated
they would be married. I was just an instrument to help make it
happen. They are an exceptionally happy couple.
The Marriage of Our Daughter Angela
Our daughter Angela was a very responsible teenager. She
basically had only one serious boyfriend in her life, Arthur Cabral.
My wife and I had old-fashioned, Portuguese ideas in the sense
that we felt compelled to monitor and control the relationships
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etween youngsters. At age sixteen, Angela started going out with
Arthur. Both Deodete and I were very strict. She had to obey our
rules regarding curfew, her selection of friends, where she went,
and so forth. She complained (as they all do) that we were very
controlling, but she realizes now that it was for the best. All we
wanted was for her to be safe. Arthur was about two years older
than her. He happened to be the nephew of a very good friend of
mine who worked at Lages Air Force base in the Azores, and lived
at my parents’ house for many years. Luis Soares, Arthur’s uncle,
was just like a son to my mother. He lived with them until they
immigrated to the USA in 1965. In Bristol, we got to know
Arthur’s entire family, and we felt very lucky that Angela became
involved with someone who came from such a decent and
wonderful family. My wife and I consider them our best friends
and we enjoy their company tremendously. We basically share our
lives together as though we were family. And although we believe
our children should live their lives as they wish, independent of us,
it is very healthy for both sides of the family to enjoy a mutual
friendship.
After Arthur graduated from high school, he was awarded an
athletic scholarship to Rhode Island College. He was an
extraordinary soccer player. He had played for the Bristol Sports
Club and the Rhode Island Select team against many national and
foreign clubs. When Angela graduated from Fátima High School
in Warren, she immediately said she wanted to enroll at the Rhode
Island College, too. They dated for seven years and married on
June 28, 1986. It was the same day as the Tall Ships Festival,
when dozens of ships from all over the world came to Newport
Harbor. After the wedding, Arthur decided to enroll at Southern
New England School of Law, where he earned his Juries Doctorate
degree. He now works for Dussault and Zatir Law firm, with
offices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. They are both very
successful and love each other very much. We are very fortunate.
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The Birth of our Granddaughters
On April 28, 1991, at 11:53 p.m., we were blessed with our first
granddaughter, Sara. When she was 5 years old, she attended Saint
Philomena, a very good Catholic School in Portsmouth, Rhode
Island. After that, she attended high school at Saint Mary’s Bay
View Academy in East Providence, graduating in June 2009. Sara
was a very good student and played on the school’s Lacrosse team.
When she was three, she started taking classes at a school for
dance. She became quite good, especially in ballet, and she
performed in competitions each year against other schools from
around the country. Two years ago, she became an assistant to the
Director of the Dance Works School in Bristol, and she remained
there until she started college in September 2009.
After high school, Sara applied to several colleges and universities.
She was accepted by many of them, but she chose the University of
Massachusetts - Amherst, where she is now a sophomore taking
courses in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. She is inclined
to pursue a career as a Language Teacher. This made Deodete -
her grandmother - very happy because she had also been a teacher
in Portugal and also at Our Lady of Fátima Parochial School in
Hartford, Connecticut.
On April 1 st 1997, at 3:40 p.m., we were again blessed with our
second granddaughter, Sofia. It was April Fool’s Day, and there
was a big snow storm that morning. My son-in-law called me,
saying that he had to take Angela immediately to Women & Infants
Hospital in Providence. It was five o’clock in the morning and
they needed someone to stay with Sara. My wife and I took the car
out of the garage and tried to climb the hill on Peter Road, but
there was so much snow on the ground that we barely made any
progress. Our daughter’s house was on Ursula Drive, only a
quarter mile away.
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We finally got there, and we stayed with Sara who was six years
old at the time. Sofia was born at six o’clock in the evening, and
we were all thrilled (as most parents and grandparents are). We
always pray and ask God for a baby to be born without any defects
or complications, but when the doctors tested the baby after birth,
they found that Sofia had a large hole in her heart. They said that
this happens sometimes and, eventually, after a few months, the
hole closes up. If it did not, they would have to perform surgery to
correct the situation. They also detected a hearing problem. We
became very worried, so, a few days later, Angela and Arthur took
the baby to Boston Children’s Hospital, regarded as one of the best
hospitals in the country. There they saw a hearing specialist in
order to find out the extent of Sofia’s hearing loss and potential
treatment. They estimated that she had about a 40% hearing loss
in both ears. Sofia would have to go for speech therapy at the
Meeting Street School in East Providence. It was determined that,
once she started school, she would have to use an FM Hearing
System with a hearing aid connected to her teacher. She was
constantly being watched and monitored by hearing specialists.
Angela and Arthur are exceptional parents. They sought aid from
the Bristol School System in order to purchase the proper
equipment to help Sofia follow the school curriculum. This was an
indispensable tool and one she needed. Angela and Arthur had a
tough time convincing the Bristol School Department to pay for
the apparatus; the principal had never heard of it. They finally
convinced them to pay for the entire system, and it was the first
time anyone had ever requested such technology. Today, Sofia
hears fairly well, and most people don’t even notice the difference.
A couple of weeks after Sofia’s birth, there was a Rosary Prayer at
one of the Holy Ghost Domingas homes. I told Angela and Arthur
that we should go to António Faria and his wife Maria Belmira’s
home on Charles Street in Bristol. We should take Sofia and ask
everyone present to pray for her health problems. As anticipated,
the entire assembly prayed for her recovery. I vividly remember
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the devotion and sincerity of everyone present, and, since I’m a
very emotional individual, I began to cry. Our family was very
touched. This is a Portuguese custom during the Holy Ghost
season, held each week, to pray the Rosary for seven weeks after
Easter. It takes place in each of the parishioner’s homes who had
won a Dominga, the Holy Ghost Crown exposed at his or her
house. Everyone is invited to attend and pray the Rosary.
A week after, Angela and Arthur went back to the doctor to check
Sofia’s heart. After a while of waiting, the doctor finally said, “I
cannot believe it. The hole in her heart was so large, but it’s now
completely closed.” For those of us who have faith, we believe it
was a miracle.
Sofia is an incredible Christian. She is so wonderful that
sometimes I think she is too good to be true. She is very unselfish
and giving. For example, if someone gives her a candy bar, she
immediately asks, “Can I have one for my sister?” I know that I
am biased, but I believe she is an angel, loved by anyone who is
lucky enough to meet her. She has been attending Saint Philomena
Catholic School, just like her sister, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island,
since she was five years old, and she is an excellent student.
Sofia is a gifted athlete as well. She began playing soccer in the
Bristol Youth Soccer League when she was five years old. She has
played with the town’s traveling team, winning the Rhode Island
State Championship in 2008. Her team went on to win the
prestigious Super League in 2008 and 2009. Sofia was selected to
join the R.I. Olympic Development Soccer Program. She is lefthanded
and left-footed, so she usually plays left forward. She is
also a very good dancer, following in her sister’s footsteps,
attending the same dancing school since she was three years old.
In addition to dancing and playing soccer, she is also an excellent
golfer. Her coach believes she has an incredible talent for
athletics. I probably sound like I’m bragging, but it’s true.
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My daughter
Angela My daughter at 17,
My Miss daughter
Angela Day at of 17,
Angela Portugal at 17,
Miss Day in of
Miss 1980 Day
Portugal on of a in float
Portugal in 1980 Providence, in
on a float
1980 RI on a float
in Providence,
in Providence,
RI
RI
My granddaughter Sofia
Cabral, My granddaughter Rhode Island Sofia Under-
My 12 granddaughter
Cabral, Soccer Rhode Champion Sofia
Cabral, Rhode Island
Island
Under-
Under-
12
12
Soccer
Soccer
Champion
Champion
My granddaughter Sara
Cabral, My granddaughter dancing ballet
My granddaughter Sara
Sara
Cabral,
Cabral,
dancing
dancing
ballet
ballet

My Hobbies and Recreation
It is no secret that I am not very coordinated when it comes to
manual hobbies. However, I am an avid collector of artifacts. I
own a very beautiful doll collection. I have bought a doll from
each of the 104 countries I have visited, and they are in a glass
case in my office. Included among them is a figurine of Princess
Diana, which is a limited collectible from the renowned doll artist,
Gwen McNeil. I enjoy describing the costumes and clothing which
reflect the heritage and culture from whence they came.
Another hobby of mine is collecting bronze medallions. They
show on one side the Coat of Arms of each county in Portugal, and
the other side shows an emblem or site of the respective city or
town.
I have other artifacts and paintings from around the world as well.
Some of them depict the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the Mermaid
of Denmark, the London Tower Bridge, the Opera House in
Australia, Madonna in Rome, the Amalfi Coast of Italy, the
Temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Romeo and Juliet’s
Balcony in Verona, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, a carving of Jesus
Christ made from 500-year-old wood from the Mountain of Olives
in Israel, a carving of The Last Supper (also from Israel), a whale
sculpture made from a whale’s tooth (from the Azores), the House
of Mary in Ephesus (Turkey), a statue of Our Lady of Fatima
(from Portugal), a painting of the famous Portuguese tall ship
“Sagres,” and many, many more items. I also have several
paintings from Haiti and Mexico.
I am an avid reader as well, especially biographies, history or
politics. I am a student of political science and I try to keep up to
date on current affairs, not only in America, but around the world
as well. I have to prepare myself for the panel discussions I take
part in, whether it is on the radio or television. More importantly, I
find it to be very relaxing and therapeutic.
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I love theater, especially musicals. Every chance I get, I go to
Broadway, and I consider myself lucky to have experienced some
of the best musicals around. I enjoy watching my favorite sport,
soccer, especially international matches in Europe and South
America. I also enjoy exercising on my treadmill at home. At the
age of 75, I try to walk three miles a day. I prefer to exercise at
home because, if I go downtown or on the bike path, I always run
into people I know and I end up chatting more than exercising.
My wife and I like to go out to restaurants. One of our favorite
places to have dinner on a Friday night is Ateneu-Luso Americano
in Fall River. It’s a Portuguese-American Association whose
membership is fantastic. My wife and I enjoy going there for their
events every month, where they provide us with a very good menu,
nice music for dancing, and an opportunity to be around our close
friends. The youngest couple of the group, Mario and Irene Alves,
owns the Sunset Café in downtown Bristol, an excellent place
where our friends like to go during the week. It’s a great place to
sit down, relax, and have a good espresso, European style. We
usually go there for a brunch on Sunday. It’s a routine for Deodete
and I that we enjoy tremendously, not only because of the excellent
food, but the atmosphere as well.
During the summer, we enjoy entertaining many of our closest
friends in our backyard. We go swimming, organize a picnic or a
potluck dinner, and everyone brings their favorite dish. I often say
that one of the best decisions I ever made was to have a swimming
pool built in our backyard. It’s an underground pool, and it always
provides a good time for our family and friends.
One of my favorite pastimes in the summer is maintaining the
swimming pool. I test the water every day to make sure the pH
and chlorine levels are perfect. The filtering system is the best, so
I really don’t have to do much, but I make sure the water is always
impeccably clean. I always have the yard full of flowers and the
bushes trimmed. People who know me understand that I am only
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happy when my family and friends are around. I am very thankful
for the fortunate life I have led, to be able to acquire the
friendships I share with so many marvelous people. My
grandchildren love to spend summer afternoons with us and bring
all their friends to our backyard. I tell Angela and Arthur to never
build a pool in their backyard because we would lose our
grandchildren’s company and the marvelous afternoons we share
together. Summers in New England are too short.
I must confess about one of my extravagant habits. For 40 years,
ever since we opened our Travel Agency, Deodete and I have
breakfast in bed every morning. My friends always joke about this
luxury. How lucky I am to have Deodete to do this for me. Every
once in a while, though, I surprise her. Before she wakes up, I go
to the kitchen and prepare the breakfast myself. Our breakfasts are
never complicated. It’s usually an English muffin, yogurt, coffee,
and half a banana.
Since we live in the same building as our office, we don’t have to
drive to work, so we decided that in the morning, we would relax,
have a simple breakfast, talk about our lives, our kids’ education,
etc. for a couple of hours before jumping into the “rat race” again.
Now that I am retired (for the second time), and the rat race has
finally stopped, Deodete and I can enjoy our golden years in peace
and love.
My Superstitions, Fears and Habits
There are typical superstitions of Portugal just as there are in
America. I am superstitious about the things many people believe
bring them bad luck, such as breaking a mirror, walking under a
ladder, seeing an open pair of scissors, Friday, the 13 th . I am afraid
of heights and I try not to open umbrellas in the house. I am a
hypochondriac. I have a fear of suffering, but I am not afraid to
die. I would never live next to a cemetery. I don’t believe in
ghosts. I don’t believe in card readings. I feel very uncomfortable
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with violence, so I avoid horror films. I am even afraid to walk
alone in dark places for a long period of time.
You may find this surprising. Although I have flown thousands
and thousands of miles, I am afraid every time I enter an airplane.
I am claustrophobic. Every time I fly, I always ask for an aisle
seat. I feel terrible in tight spaces, such as the middle row of a
plane or inside an MRI or CAT scan machine, etc.
I am easily distracted as well. I have a tendency to concentrate on
too many things at once. For example, sometimes when I’m
driving home from Providence - a trip I have made countless times
on I-195 - I miss my exit, ending up in Fall River. I am a fairly
good driver, always in control of my car, but I still miss my exit for
some reason. I have been driving for more than 50 years and I
have had only a few accidents that were my fault. I sometimes
drive a little too fast, but I always keep a good distance between
my car and the car in front of me. I never pass any vehicle without
making sure I am free to do so, and I avoid anything that could
possibly cause an accident. My family doctor, Dr. Cassandra
Constantino, says that at my age, I still have very good reflexes.
I am a very impulsive person, not shy at all. On the contrary, I
love to talk and initiate conversation with anyone, even people I
don’t know. It’s very difficult for me to keep quiet. I do not
tolerate abuse or disrespect from anyone, especially if it’s directed
toward my family or friends. I am very sensitive to social
injustice. I am liberal when it comes to race, creed, sexual
orientation, ethnicity, etc. For me, a perfect world would be one
without any travel restrictions, without borders, barriers or walls. I
feel that I am fortunate for having been born white, but I could
have just as easily been born into another race, in a poor third
world country, subjected to unspeakable injustice and prejudice. I
understand this dream is almost impossible to realize, but my heart
and conscience dictate my feelings of freedom and equality and
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desire for an ideal and fair world. This is what inspired the title of
my book, Citizen of the World.
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MY TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
AROUND THE WORLD
My wife and I have travelled to 104 countries, all the way around
the world, by air - something like Magellan did by ship centuries
ago. We are not wealthy, but we had a travel agency for 35 years
and, as a result, were offered many opportunities to travel and
explore the globe. We knew that to be good tour consultants and
agents, we needed to be familiar with the destinations where our
clients wanted to travel, so that we could provide them with the
best advice.
It would be impossible to write about every place we have visited,
but I will try to share the best and most memorable moments of our
trips.
We are fortunate to have seen six of the new Seven Wonders of the
World, the Coliseum in Rome, Macho Picchu in Peru, Taj Mahal
in India, Petra in Jordan, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil and the
Great Pyramid in Egypt. The only one that we have not yet seen is
the Great Wall of China which we hope to see on our next trip.
Italy
EUROPE
Over the years, we have travelled extensively to Italy, but there
was a trip that we made during the 55th A.S.T.A. World Travel
Congress, that took place in Rome in 1985, that we will always
remember. Although there is a World Travel Congress every year
in different countries, this was the most memorable one. The
Italians are masters at promoting their country. There were more
than 5000 delegates in attendance, including airlines, tour
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operators, cruise lines, hotels, travel agencies and many others that
were involved in tourism, from all over the world. The highlights
were magnificent tours of Rome, a visit to Vatican City, St. Peter’s
Basilica and the famous Sistine Chapel, where we saw the unique
and historical paintings by Michelangelo.
An unforgettable moment of the trip was the Wednesday Papal
Audience with the pilgrims where the Holy Father John Paul II,
walked directly to my wife and me, in the middle of thousands of
people, and held our hands. We felt chills. What a fantastic
sensation! It was indescribable! When we returned to the hotel, we
were greeted with a photograph taken by a Vatican photographer,
documenting that special moment in our lives. I usually tell my
friends, jokingly, who see that picture on my wall, “The Pope,
during his Wednesday Papal Audience with thousands of people,
always focuses on the person in the crowd with the most sins! He
immediately spotted my wife and walked directly toward her. I
know he didn’t come because of me, I just happened to be next to
my wife that afternoon!” Of course, I’m only joking – my wife and
I always try to be good Christians!
During that trip to Rome, there was a Farewell Gala Banquet that
the Italians provided for all the delegates. It was impossible to find
a space large enough for all of the more than 5000 people, so
Alitalia offered its largest Boeing 747 hangar at the Leonardo da
Vinci airport. The hangar was transformed into a beautiful modern,
luxurious banquet hall. The place was so large that my wife got
lost when she left our table to visit the ladies room. It took her
about a quarter of an hour to return to the table! There were 600 of
the best chefs and restaurateurs in the country to prepare the large
dinner. The chefs prepared an exquisite menu and the Maitre d’s
provided a service of elegance and professionalism for which
Italian restaurants are famous all over the world and the
sommeliers chose a selection of vintage wines. The food was
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served hot to all of the delegates at the same time. An Italian TV
commentator stated that it was the largest seated hot dinner ever
served anywhere. The entertainment was superb. Famous Italian
singers were invited to perform. A repeating slide show was
projected on the walls for the participants, showing the beauty of
the provinces of Italy. It was unforgettable.
Italy is my favorite country to visit. In the city of Venice, where
taxis are boats, instead of automobiles and the streets are canals,
it’s like magic to see the great Piazza San Marco, that Napoleon
called “Europe’s largest drawing room”. My wife and I always
enjoy the magnificent restaurants and the beautiful Italian music.
In Venice, we rode a gondola through the Canal Grande (Grand
Canal), an enchanting stretch of water that divides Venice, is
crossed by three bridges and is lined with a magical parade of
palaces. We visited the world renowned Basilica di San Marco,
with its profusion of domes and sculptures, mosaics and marbles,
that houses the body of St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint, and the
Rialto bridge, that during the Middle Ages, was Europe’s financial
center, a sort of medieval New York Wall Street, where fortunes
were made and lost.
In Florence (Firenze), Michelangelo’s place of birth and one of the
world’s great artistic shrines, we visited many art galleries, palaces
and museums. I like to single out David by Michelangelo now in
the Academy Gallery, in a specially-designed room that is a giant,
four and a half meters high, with the only large nude sculpture
from ancient times, since no one dared to challenge the
masterpieces of Greece and Rome.
The Sorrento Peninsula and the Amalfi Coast is one of Europe’s
most beautiful coastal roads that run around the Sorrento
Peninsula, south of Naples. Every twist and turn opens up another
spectacular vista of sea and cliffs, while the string of villages it
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links are among the most attractive and popular on all of Italy’s
coast line. Sorrento, a good jumping-off point for Capri, is the first
of the charming towns along the coast. Its pretty streets, beaches,
bars, have been drawing visitors for hundreds of years. My wife
and I took a boat trip to the famous Blue Grotto that some
historians say was Emperor Tiberius’ private swimming pool, a
spectacular sea cave filled with refracted turquoise light. Positano,
the first town of any size, is a pyramid of colorful houses tumbling
down the cliffs to a beach where sun worshippers share space with
fishing boats. High above the coast east of Amalfi stands Ravello
that offers the finest views of the coast. We saw the beautiful
Amalfi Cathedral with its distinctive colorful bell tower. What a
panorama that God created!
Another city that is very interesting is Milan, a very noisy,
dynamic city. We visited the glass-domed Galleria Vittorio
Emanuele II, with all its art galleries, shops and the cafes, where
we saw countless models walking and showing off the most recent
fashions, typical of Milan, while sitting at one of the cafes.
Unfortunately, when we looked at the menu we realized that it was
very expensive, so we shared one chicken salad sandwich, which
with two beers cost 39 Euros, about $54.00 US dollars. From the
cafe, we walked to the Piazza della Scala, the site of Milan’s
famous Opera House, La Scalla, and then continued to walk to Via
Manzoni, one of Milan’s fashionable streets that runs toward the
high class (and very expensive) shopping where you cannot find a
man’s shirt for less than 300 Euros, (about $420.00 US). Another
highlight of our visit to Milan was a trip to the flamboyant façade
of the huge Cathedral that dominates the city’s busiest square and
then to the Church of Santa Maria Della Grazie to see Leonardo
da Vinci’s masterpiece, The Last Supper.
To close this section on Italy, I’d like to share an interesting story
that happened to my wife and me during our visit to Genoa. We
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Deodete
Deodete
overlooking
overlooking
the City
the City
of of
of
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
in in
in
Croatia
Croatia
Riding on a
Riding on a
gondola
gondola
in in
in
Venice,
Venice,
Italy
Italy
A group of of travel agents, including
A group of travel agents, including Deodete
Deodete and
and I, I,
I, in in
in
Sydney,
Sydney, Australia
Australia

were walking down a main avenue, looking at the beautiful stores’
windows, when I was surprised by five young, very well dressed,
girls, about 11 or 12 years old, that attacked me. Some of the girls
started to kiss me and the others pushed my arm and touched my
left pocket, where I usually keep my wallet. I knew right away that
they were stealing my wallet. There was a column on the side of
the avenue and my instinct was to grab the five of them and hold
them between the column and my arms, which I did while, at the
same time, I told my wife to call the police. The girls started to say
in Italian, “Let me go, let me go!” At the same time, a very well
dressed man, approached me and said, while pointing to my wallet
on the ground, “Is this your wallet?” I said, “Yes” and then let the
girls go.
After I picked up my wallet, an Italian lady who had witnessed the
entire scene told my wife and me that the incident was disgrace,
but very common in Genoa and other Italian cities. She
complained that the police were aware of that problem, but do
nothing about it. She went on to tell us that the girls were poor
gypsies that worked for pimps who purchased nice clothes for
them to wear to pick pockets from tourists. After I opened my
wallet, I found that nothing was missing. When I asked my wife
why she didn’t call the police, she replied that she was afraid that
the police would charge me with child abuse and put me in jail.
France
Although Italy is my favorite country, Paris is my favorite city,
sometimes arrogant, but also very romantic with its lights and
secret shadows. Its cultural treasures and cosmopolitan bustle on
its fashionable boulevards are breathtaking! I usually tell my
friends that no one should die without visiting Paris.
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I will begin our tour with the spectacular Champs-Elysees, the
most civilized downhill stroll in the heart of France’s capital, a
symbol of victory and power. At the center of the Etoile, there is a
star-shaped junction of 12 avenues. Whenever I visit, I have to
stop, look around and admire all that my eyes can see. How can
the human mind produce such beautiful treasures? There is the
majestic Arc de Triomphe, a Napoleonic monument, the famous
boulevard with its beautiful showrooms, cinemas, restaurants,
shops and outside cafes. On the left border, there are exhibition
galleries and the famous Lido, one of the most entertaining places
to see a floor show.
Paris is home to one of the most organized subway systems, The
Metro, in the world. You can travel all over Paris by looking at a
display map, pushing a button to see where you intend to go, and
following the light that comes up directing you to your destination.
We took the Metro to Montmartre, a village outside the city center,
where we walked up the steps up to the marble Basilica of Sacre-
Coeur (Sacred Heart) and returned on the funicular down to the
street. Another great experience! We walked along the streets and
found the world renowned Moulin Rouge where we made
reservations for the evening show. At the time, it cost 180 Euros,
(about $252.00 US). It was an indescribable dinner show with
music and ballerinas flying on trapezes over our head. I was
hoping that one of those dolls would fall on me! What a spectacle!
However I couldn’t help but think, “How can I be here enjoying
this paradise, when a few months ago, I was visiting a poor third
world country where people were lucky to earn a dollar a day and
have a piece of bread to eat?” What an unfair world! But as they
say in France, “C’est la vie!” (That’s life!)
While in Paris, we took an entire day to see the Musee de Louvre.
The Louvre has seven museums. We could have stayed there the
entire month, but we only wanted to see some of the famous pieces
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of art, the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, the Egyptian collections, and
the Apollo Gallery, that houses the crown jewels. We also saw
another important landmark, the Eiffel Tower, a giant structure
with 1040 feet of ironwork, representing one of the great
personalities of Paris. We took the elevator to the top and admired
the marvelous view of the city of lights. And finally, we took a
sightseeing boat tour on the Seine River and stopped at the Gothic
Notre–Dame Cathedral, which is a magnet for thousands of
tourists from all over the world.
The first time that my wife and I went to Paris, after noting that
the meals were so expensive at the hotel, we decided to go to a
bakery each morning to buy a French baguette, then to a little
market to buy cheese and coffee and to have our breakfast sitting
down on the street sidewalk while we watched the people go by.
What an experience!
While in France, we took the train from Paris to Versailles, an
historical landmark creation of Louis XIV who hired the greatest
architects and landscape artists to embellish a chateau into a
beautiful palace. It is impossible to see everything in one day, so
we studied our itinerary carefully, so that we could see the most
important sites, the apartments and the grounds. We loved the first
floor with the King’s rooms along one wing and the Queen’s suite
on the other. The wings are linked by a magnificent Hall of
Mirrors that once hosted many royal banquets throughout the
years. We then went to see the spectacular grounds with its
fountains and statues, particularly the Apollo Basin, set in the many
flowerbeds. Despite the grandeur of the décor and the furnishings,
the human aspects still echo through the centuries. We were
thrilled to see the mantelpiece in Marie Antoinette’s bedroom. She
was one of the most unfortunate queens in the history of France.
She was a very unhappy woman who ended up facing the
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guillotine at the age of 37. It was a dream come true for me and my
wife to see the place where she lived.
France is an unforgettable place to visit, but no trip to France is
complete without a trip to the south. The Cote D’azur, named for
the color combination of sea and sky, constitutes the French
Riviera. We took a very modern fast train from Paris to Nice with a
stop in Marseille. We spent a few hours visiting Marseille’s most
important sites, but it is not a very glamorous city. It is a mariners’
port with constant traffic of ships heading off to the wide world.
There are several beaches away from the ferry, freight and fishing
ports. We travelled to the island where the famous Count the
Monte Cristo was imprisoned. Then we saw the magnificent Notre-
Dame-de-la-Garde with its gold Madonna that balances above the
dome of the Basilica.
From Marseille, we took the train to Nice where we stayed for a
week, because we wanted to visit some of the surrounding towns.
Nice combines the thrills and pleasures of the French Riviera with
its picturesque old port and grand town center for shopping and
gambling. Although Nice is a very beautiful city with a broad
water front, we were a little surprised that there were no sandy
beaches. We rented a car and explored St. Raphael a town that
attracts sun worshipers by day and casino lizards by night.
Further down the coast, we got lost for a couple of hours on our
way to St. Tropez. We found a truck with a man selling fruit that
tasted so good, because we were very hungry! St. Tropez is a town
with very beautiful sandy beaches and resorts. It is known as one
of French actress Brigitte Bardot’s favorite towns. It’s always well
known by the tabloids for its topless bathing. This former fishing
village has a reputation as the playground of Hollywood in exile.
The town is named after the decapitated Roman martyr, St. Tropez.
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The town’s quaint streets, pretty markets and outside cafes have
long been appreciated by the rich and famous.
We continued our drive to Cannes that exists only for pleasure.
The city is famous for its May International Film Festival, where
successive generations’ big screen icons, such as Elizabeth Taylor,
Gina Lolobrigida, Sofia Loren, Angelina Jolie and others have
stopped traffic to pander to the paparazzi. The only free beach is in
front of the Palais des Festivals et des Congress. The rest of the
sand is divided into private strips reserved for guests staying at the
very expensive exclusive hotels, something that it is not permitted
back home in our little enchanted town of Bristol.
Monaco
Nice is very close to the country of Monaco, where the longestreigning
royal family still holds sway in one of Europe’s smallest
principalities. We were lucky to be able to take a guided tour of the
royal palace. The royal flag was not flying from the tower to
indicate that the prince was not in town, so visits were permitted.
We were privileged to watch the changing of the guard that takes
place daily at 11:55 a.m. We also saw the statue of the former
Hollywood actress Grace Kelly, who became Princess Grace after
marrying Prince Rainier, who died in a car accident in 1982. She is
immortalized by a bronze statue in the rose garden. We also visited
the cathedral where you can see her tomb. From there we walked
to the famous Monte Carlo Casino, known worldwide as the
playground for the fabulously wealthy. The décor is very
extravagant. Although we are not gamblers, we could not leave
without gambling a little. I lost about 50 Euros, but Deodete, as
usual, won 80 Euros. After walking a few hours, we sat down at a
nice outside café, where Deodete ordered her favorite chocolate
French crepe and I had a very cold beer, admiring the Monaco Bay
full of beautiful yachts. It was lots of fun and a great experience.
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England
England
Deodete and I have travelled to England several times. We are
Deodete and I have travelled to England several times. We are
quite familiar with the city of London, one of the great civilized
quite familiar with the city of London, one of the great civilized
cities in the world. In England, we visited Westminster Abbey, Big
cities in the world. In England, we visited Westminster Abbey, Big
Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s
Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s
Cathedral and the Tower of London. On one occasion, when we
Cathedral and the Tower of London. On one occasion, when we
were at St. Paul’s Cathedral, we had to run out to the street,
were at St. Paul’s Cathedral, we had to run out to the street,
because of a bomb threat. In spite of that experience, we have
because of a bomb threat. In spite of that experience, we have
always found London to be a safe and pleasant place to explore.
always found London to be a safe and pleasant place to explore.
Becoming oriented in the city is not too difficult. The subway,
Becoming oriented in the city is not too difficult. The subway,
called the “tube,” was our main form of transportation, but we also
called the “tube,” was our main form of transportation, but we also
used the unique British taxis, with a steering wheel on the right
used the unique British taxis, with a steering wheel on the right
side, and the driving on the left. Although I have driven in many
side, and the driving on the left. Although I have driven in many
places in Europe, I have never had the courage to drive in Great
places in Europe, I have never had the courage to drive in Great
Britain.
Britain.
Deodete and I at Trafalgar Square in London, England
Deodete and I at Trafalgar Square in London, England
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Some of the places that we visited in England will always remain
in our minds, the famous Harrods Department store that is owned
by the father of Princess Diana’s boyfriend who died with the
Princess in an automobile accident; the three splendid museums,
Victoria & Albert, Science and Natural History, and Madame
Tussauds wax museum on famous Oxford Street. Just north of
Buckingham Palace and separated from St. James Park by the
Mall, is a broad, straight avenue called Green Park that is rich in
beautiful trees and open space. West of Green Park, there is the
vast Hyde Park and its twin sister Kensington Gardens. Trafalgar
Square, always full of pigeons, is where every tourist takes a
picture to claim that he or she has been in London. After exploring
the interesting and fascinating capital of England, it was always
my dream, since high school, to see the Wimbledon Tennis
Stadium, because tennis is one of my favorite sports.
We travelled by train to Oxford where we took the touristic
walking tour of the entire city, including Oxford University and its
many colleges. Oxford is one of the most famous universities in
the world, where former President Bill Clinton was a student. We
took the walking tour to see the Botanic Garden and other rich
ensembles of medieval architecture. It was a fascinating
experience.
Since I lived most of my life in Bristol, Rhode Island, I wanted to
visit Bristol in England, so Deodete and I took the train and found
Bristol, England to be a lively city with hilly streets that slope
down past Georgian sea captains’ houses to the harbor and docks.
One of the attractions of the city is the restored, pioneering
steamship, the SS Great Britain. From Bristol, we took the train to
Bath, a small city, best known for spa resorts, with hot spring baths
that have a long history of healing.
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Scotland
On one trip to Great Britain, we flew to London and travelled by
train to Glasgow, Scotland, the 3 rd largest city in the U.K.,
designated as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 1990 and the U.K.
City of Architecture and design in 1999. It is a very busy and huge
city. We also travelled to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland where
we visited the famous Edinburgh Castle that dominates the city
from on top of the famous Edinburgh Rock, like no other castle in
Great Britain. What an enchanting city and view! We stayed in
Edinburgh for a couple of days and toured the entire city. We even
went to the theater to see the musical Phantom of the Opera.
Ireland
Deodete and I have been to Ireland several times. Its vegetation is
very similar to the Azores Islands, where I was born, very green
and fertile. Naturally, we visited Dublin and took the “Hop-On,
Hop-Off” all day bus tour. It was a delightful way to see the major
sights and attractions of the city, including Trinity College, the
Guinness Brewery, St. Patrick’s and Christ Church Cathedrals, the
elegant Georgian Squares, the historic Phoenix Park and other
points of interest. We found the Irish people to be the most
entertaining and happy people in the world. In fact, during the
A.S.T.A. World Congresses, we always ended our day in the Irish
Pavilion every year. Each country represented at the Congress, has
its own pavilion showing their most characteristic aspects, such as,
music, folklore, customs, typical foods and entertainment. My wife
and I always went to the Irish pavilion after midnight. It was
always a great place for a fun end to our day. Not only did they
bring famous artists, but they are really party people!
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Poland
For our trip to Poland, we flew in to Warsaw, its capital. We took
a city tour and visited the Old Town, which was rebuilt from
scratch after being almost completely destroyed by the Nazis in
1945. Warsaw is not the cold and dead city it was under
communist rule. The city has undergone a huge transformation.
Many of the old communist buildings gave way to modern
skyscrapers. It is still a very historical city, where we visited the
Royal Castle with its beautiful square; St. John’s Cathedral, a
Gothic church where some of the most important events took place
in the history of Poland; The Old Town Market Square; the former
Jewish Ghetto, which was the largest of the ghettos in Nazioccupied
Europe, the Royal Route, with its superb aristocratic
residences and famous monuments, where we saw the urn of
Fryderik Chopin, the famous composer; the Royal Park, where we
walked through the most beautiful parks of Warsaw and visited the
interior of the Palace of the Water, the lavish summer residence of
the last King of Poland.
From Warsaw, we travelled by bus to Krakow and took the city
tour. It is a city wrapped in legend, where every place is a moment
of history. It’s a city full of relics that reflect the most important
trends of European culture, including, the Royal Castle; the Gothic
St. Mary Basilica, where the deceased Pope John Paul II said
Mass when he was a Cardinal; galleries full of exhibits, cafes, pubs
and restaurants.
We continued our trip with a visit to Auschwitz, the largest of Nazi
Germany’s concentration and extermination camps during World
War II. It was the saddest place we have ever visited in all of our
travels around the world. We saw the interior of the gas chambers
and the crematoriums; the large bunk beds where the Jews inmates
would return to sleep after working from sunrise to sunset as slaves
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in factories, foundries and mines. We spent an entire day there. We
will never be able to eradicate from our minds the part of the
museum where we saw, with our own eyes, the thousand of shoes,
hair, cloths and other objects from children who had been
exterminated. How sad that such genocide could have taken place.
Although I always wanted to see Auschwitz, my wife and I could
not sleep that night, thinking of the horror those human beings
were subjected to, ending up in the gas chambers. It is difficult to
express in words what we had witnessed!
From Auschwitz, we travelled to visit the Jasna Gora Sanctuary in
Czestochowa, frequently referred as the Spiritual Capital of Poland
and the Shrine of the Black Madonna, Poland’s most sacred icon.
The miracle-performing painting displays Virgin Mary, clad in
fleur de lis robes pointing at the little Jesus. Her son, holding the
Gospel, is making a blessing gesture. There are numerous miracles
believed to have happened due to the intercessions of the Black
Madonna of Czestochowa. The Sanctuary is visited by millions of
pilgrims each year, from all over the world. It was a long bus trip,
but well worth it.
Former Yugoslavia
For our visit to (former) Yugoslavia, we flew to Dubrovnik, today a
city in Croatia, where we spent 3 nights. We went on a tour to
Split, where we visited the Temple of Jupiter and walked through
the winding streets of the old city. The next morning, we travelled
down the Dalmatian Coast, toward the medieval city of Dubrovnik
and enjoyed breathtaking views of the Adriatic Sea. We took a
short cruise to the city of Korcula, Marco Paulo’s birthplace,
where we explored the streets that lead to Cathedral Square. We
then took a walking tour of Old Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World
Heritage site and visited the Franciscan Monastery, where
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Glaciers of Alaska
Glaciers of Alaska
A Pilgrimage to
Medjugojre A Pilgrimage in to
Bosnia- Medjugojre in
Herzogovina, Bosnia- former
Herzogovina, Yugoslavia
former
Yugoslavia
Gas and crematory
Gas and chamcrebersmatory in Auschchamwitz,bers in Ausch-
Poland’s witz, Nazi
Concentration
Poland’s Nazi
Camp Concentration
Camp

Europe’s oldest pharmacy lies along with the Rector’s Palace and
the City Walls. What a wonderful experience.
The next day we travelled to Medjugojre, a small town of only a
few houses. Our group climbed up a small mountain. It was raining
very hard and when we got to the top of the hill, we could see the
Blue Cross, at the base of the Apparition Hill, where our Lady
Virgin Mary, supposedly appeared to several children. Looking
down the valley, we could see a large church in the middle of the
village. A fellow travel agent came to us and said, “Why did I
climb this hill, under the rain, if I am not even a Christian? I am
Jewish, but I felt something pushing me?” We found his
testimonial very shocking and extraordinary! When we came down
the hill, we looked for the homes of the visionaries. Our guide had
told us that sometimes they came out of their homes. Luckily, we
found the house of Marija Pavlovic. We waited for a little while
and she appeared on the balcony of her house and said some words
in Yugoslavian and led the crowd in the Rosary. We were
extremely touched.
After that incredible moment of meeting one of the visionaries, we
walked to the church where we observed many pilgrims and many
priests hearing confessions. My wife and I went for confession and
I asked the priest why there was such a large church in the middle
of such a small village with only a few families. He replied,
“Nobody knows. The church had been built many years before.”
Our group travelled north through Yugoslavia, passing by the
Plitvice National Park and experienced the wonder of sixteen
cascading lakes, where we spent the night. The next morning, we
travelled to Zagreb, a large beautiful city and visited the majestic
cathedral, St. Mark’s Church and the Opera House.
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Hungary
From there we continued our journey to Budapest, Hungary, where
we were going to attend a travel convention. When we arrived at
Budapest, we marveled at the majestic city straddling the romantic
Danube River and the bridges separating Buda from Pest. As
usual, the Hungarian Tourist Board planned an incredible program
for thousands of members of the travel industry that were attending
the convention. We visited the statue of Gellert Hill that
commemorates the liberation from the Nazis forces after World
War II; Buda Castle where we witnessed a horseback riding
performance by the military guards, which was absolutely
phenomenal; Heroes’ Square that typifies the modern capital, and
along the river bank we saw old inns and wine cellars; the
Parliament building, Fishermen’s Bastian; and the Matthias
Coronation Church. Before we left Budapest, I purchased an
embalmed pheasant on a perch that is displayed in my office on a
wall.
Austria
After the convention, Deodete and I traveled to Vienna on the
famous Orient Express train, an unforgettable journey. We arrived
in Vienna, one of the best known and loved Europe’s capitals of
classical music. We visited the Parliament, splendid baroque
palaces and finally the inside of the House of Strauss, one of my
favorite composers. The highlight of our trip was to attend a
concert of the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra in the rooms of the
Imperial Palace, where it was delightful to see and listen, in
person, a magnificent performance by musicians playing mainly
Strauss and Mozart.
We continued on our Austrian tour to Salzburg where the famous
movie, Sound of Music, was filmed. We visited the historical
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center, a beautiful city replete of outside cafes that serve fantastic
pastry and espresso. We sat and enjoyed watching the people
strolling by. We walked to Getreidegasse, where we visited the
house where Mozart was born. Salzburg is a charming city, full of
green hills and romantic gardens. Although a small city, it is
among the busiest places of Europe all year round.
Germany
For our visit to Germany, we flew into Munich, the Bavarian
capital situated at the foot of the Alps. We visited the Olympic
Park, site of the 1972 Olympic Games and Marienplatz, the most
scenic square of the old town, located in the heart of the city,
where we saw the large ornate clock that is comprised of many
bells and life-size figures depicting medieval music and dancing,
and reflects pieces of Bavarian history. From Munich, we travelled
on a bus tour to Innsbruck, the enchanting Capital of the Alps,
where the 1976 Winter Olympic Games were held. We returned to
Munich to spend another night and left in the morning to go to
Nuremburg, where we visited the world renowned Justice Palace,
where the Nazis were tried for war crimes committed during World
War II at the International War Tribunal.
We continued on our tour of Germany to Oberammergau, where
we stayed three days and watched an unforgettable performance of
the Passion Play. We were very lucky because the play is only
performed every 10 years, and we were there in the year 2000. The
play is the reenactment of the life and death of Jesus Christ and
features hundreds of performers, musicians and designers. It was a
breathtaking experience that we will never forget!
Berlin Wall, separating East and West German - Deodete and I
decided to take a trip to East Berlin that was controlled by the
Soviet Union after the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961. We
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acquired all the documentation that was required in the 1970’s to
cross the wall from West to East Berlin passing thorough the
historical Checkpoint Charlie. It was quite an experience. The bus
from the west had to stop at the border, all the passengers had to
get off and show their passports and authorizations. All the visitors
had to walk through a zigzag path, built purposely to prevent
people from escaping to the west. I remember being met by a
female communist tour guide, dressed with a big hat and high
boots, who had a rough attitude and cautioned the entire group
that no one could walk alone anywhere when the bus stopped.
After boarding the bus again I happened to be in the seat in front
with my wife and asked the guide, “How come the East is so dark
and the roads are in such terrible shape?” She replied in a very
rude way, “The East was bombed much more than the West,
during World War II and I would like you to wait for the
information I am going to give, so don’t ask any questions,
because my explanation will overcome your questions.” I kept my
mouth shut after that, listening to her as she tried to brainwash the
tourists about how good and efficient the communist regime was.
There was such a contrast between the cleanliness and the progress
of the two Germany’s. After the tour, a couple of communist
guards came out of Checkpoint Charlie and went under the bus and
checked with a pointing stick to see if there was anyone hiding
underneath trying to escape to West Berlin.
In 2005, we again travelled to East Berlin and it was wonderful to
see the complete change of the city from what it was like when we
had visited before – a revitalized city full of lights, clean buildings
and well-paved roads and streets where people looked happy,
totally free and reunited with their families. The only thing that
resembles the old Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie is a museum
to show future generations what it was like to have the Berlin Wall
that separated millions of German families for decades.
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We went on to see many other beautiful cities in Germany that
were previously separated from the West, such as Dresden, where
we saw the Parade of Dukes Mural, which is the largest ceramic
frieze in the world, depicting a procession of knights, made of
approximately 25,000 porcelain tiles, designed to look as if the
parade had been woven into a long tapestry and hung on the wall.
Dresden is quite a beautiful city that was bombed terribly during
World War II, but many of its important historical buildings have
been restored. Thanks to our very knowledgeable guide, we were
able to see that historical city and famous mural.
Northern Europe
As part of our trip to Germany, we visited several northern
European countries, including Finland, Sweden, Norway and
Denmark. In Helsinki, Finland we saw the Market Square; the
Presidential Palace; City Hall, Parliament; Finland Hall, the
Opera House; the Sibelius Monument to the great Finish
composer; and the Rock Church.
After Finland, we took a mini-cruise to Sweden, crossing the Aland
Islands and arrived in Stockholm. We took the city tour and
strolled through the old town and visited the Parliament; the Royal
Palace and the famous Vasa Ship Museum.
From Sweden, we travelled north to the Norwegian border,
arriving in Oslo, the smallest Scandinavian capital city, filled with
green parks, architecture and inlet islands. We continued to explore
the city and visited the Royal Palace; the Vigeland Park, home to a
collection of statues and sculptures. We continued going north to
view the panoramic view of the 1994 Winter Olympic site and on
to Bergen, where we spent the night.
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And finally we went to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. We
went on a city tour, and visited Denmark’s center; the Amelienborg
Palace, the residence of the Danish Royal family; and the Royal
Theater. Copenhagen was our favorite city in Scandinavia. It was
such a spectacle to see the illuminating fantasy world of Tivoli
Gardens and the city of Hans Christian Henderson, the famous
author of the well-know children’s books, fairy tales and fantasy
fiction. We also paid a visit to Copenhagen’s landmark, Mermaid
sculpture by the sea. In fact, I purchased its replica that is now part
of my collection.
Spain
Deodete and I have been to Spain several times. For one of these
trips we flew to Madrid, from New York on Iberia Airline. We
took a city tour and visited Madrid’s historic center, the Puerta del
Sol and Plaza Mayor, but one of the highlights was a guided tour
of the Prado Museum, where we saw the world’s finest collection
of art by Velasquez and Goya. A couple of days later, we took a
tour to Toledo, once the capital of medieval Spain. We stopped in
the Church of Santo Tome to view El Greco’s masterpiece
paintings. Madrid is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
As part of the trip, we visited Seville, considered Spain’s cultural
capital. We saw the ornate Cathedral, one of the largest in the
world, in the Andalusia province in the south of Spain. Although
we really enjoyed walking inside that beautiful shrine with all its
art, we were also shocked to see nuns selling souvenirs inside the
Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede, the third largest in the
world, where Christopher Columbus is buried. We walked to the
Giralda Bell Tower; the quaint of old Santa Cruz Quarter, with its
bright flowers, white-washed buildings and winding streets. We
then continued to Plaza d’Espãna and the beautiful Maria Luisa
Park. One evening we enjoyed an authentic Flamenco show,
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typical of the south of Spain, originally created by the Andalusian
Gypsies, similar to the blues that originated in America’s Deep
South. We purchased tickets to see an arena bullfight. When we
left the arena, I purchased a few CD’s with passodoble music
played during the bullfights and one of my favorite rhythms that I
love to dance to, Spanish style, which is very difficult to find in
record stores in the USA.
We rented a car and drove along the peaceful Sierra Nevada to
Granada, the last capital of the Moors in Spain. We visited the
Alhambra Palace and toured the Garden of the Architect, where
the grounds are immaculately designed with waterfalls, courtyards
and smaller secret gardens…
We continued to Malaga that lies in southern Spain, the birth place
of the famous painter Pablo Picasso, where we spent the night and
marveled at the city center. In the evening, we watched fireworks,
synchronized to symphonic music that was heard through speakers
placed all over the city’s main avenue. The center was full of trees
and thousand of people everywhere. We then travelled by the coast
along the Mediterranean Costa del Sol, passing by Torremolinos
and Marbella, two tourist attractions, where we stopped for a few
days to enjoy the fantastic beaches and typical Spanish cuisine of
delicious tapas and the famous paella before leaving for Gibraltar,
a British small colony.
We drove to Ronda, where one of the oldest bullfight arenas was
built. As I am a bullfighting aficionado, I really enjoyed seeing
that historic landmark. We drove a little further to a very small
town named Mijas, where we had lunch and used my credit card to
pay a $28.00 bill in US currency and when I returned home to
USA, I received a bill in the amount of 7,800.00 dollars a month
later. I was shocked, called the American Express to investigate. A
few weeks later I received a call from the card company stating
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that they found out that someone from the restaurant, where we
had lunch, used my credit card to order many pieces of equipment
for a Hair Salon. They also mentioned that my name Pacheco is
very common in Spain and it happened very often that crooks use
it to order merchandise. The credit company realized that I did not
have to pay anything, not only because I had not signed or
authorized the purchases, but because I had returned to USA, after
the orders were placed, for which I supplied copies of airline
tickets as proof. When I tell this story to my friends, they laugh
and say, “It’s funny that you don’t have much hair and someone
purchased hair equipment in your name!”
We returned to Marbella and drove to Malaga to fly to Barcelona,
a beautiful city on the Mediterranean Sea, where the 1992 Olympic
Games were held. We spent a few days there and used tour buses
to visit the entire city of 4 million people. Among the most famous
sites we visited were the Picasso Museum; the beautiful Basilica
de la Sagrada Familia, designed by the famous architect Antoni
Gaudí, and the fabulous modern architecture for which the city is
so well known. It was wonderful to spend the evenings walking on
the well-known La Rambla, a famous avenue with street
entertainers, jugglers, singers and live human mannequins. It’s a
city never to forget.
Greece
For our trip to Greece, we arrived in Athens, an enchanting capital,
but also a very noisy and busy place. It is a city worshipped by
gods and people. We visited the Acropolis, that the Greeks call the
Sacred Rock; the ruins of the Temple of Zeus; the Royal Palace;
and the famous Olympic Stadium; the Museum of Popular
Instruments; the Old Parliament and many other ancient ruins. I
was interested in seeing the Biblical place named Corinthians that
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appears on the New Testament. I always like to visit places
connected with Christianity.
We stayed at the Hotel Grand Bretagne in the center of Athens.
One day, there was a big demonstration going on in Athens’ main
square and passing by the hotel. My wife and I went out to the
steps of the hotel to watch the people singing and displaying signs.
Suddenly, we saw several people pointing to my wife in anger. I
went inside and asked the hotel clerk, why people were pointing to
my wife. He replied that she was wearing a green dress. He said,
“Green is the color for the fascists!” I really don’t know if it’s true
or not, but Deodete went to our room and changed her dress to one
of another color.
Since we live in Rhode Island, I was curious to visit the Island of
Rhodes in Greece. We took a plane and visited the beautiful island,
where the Crusaders of St. John came from. We arranged for a taxi
with a driver who could speak English and we visited the Palace of
Grand Masters and the island’s beauty.
A few years later, our daughter Angela and her husband Arthur,
went on a cruise with us. One of the stops was the island of
Santorini in Greece. There were 6 cruise ships on the Aegean Sea,
so we had to take a small motor boat to visit the island. To go up
the hill, we had to use a cable car. We then walked through the
traditional villages, with small houses, mostly painted white, and
enjoyed walking all over the narrow streets, full of restaurants and
cafes. It is really a different island from those we had visited. After
the wonderful walking tour, the four of us sat down, relaxed over a
nice cold drink, and watched the incredibly beautiful view of the
sea. When it was time to return to our ship, there were three ways
down the hill, by cable car, walking down more than 700 stairs, or
riding a mule. We thought it would be much faster and easier to
take the cable car, so we got into the line and waited about 45
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minutes with the line never moving because the island was full of
tourists that needed to return to their cruise ships. As I am very
impatient, I said that we would be better to walk down the 700
stairs. We proceeded to the beginning of the stairs, where we could
descend to the bottom of the hill and found many mules, whose
owners wanted tourists to ride down the wide steps on their mules.
I decided to just walk down the hill and forgot completely about
my wife, daughter and son-in-law. I started coming down the hill
and the owner of one of the mules came after me, saying that I had
to pay, even if I did not take the mule, which I knew was not true. I
avoided him and he became very angry and started to curse at me.
The steps were filthy, so when I got to the bottom, my shoes
smelled and were filthy. I set down in a bar by the pier and had a
nice cold beer. About half an hour later, the rest of the family
arrived very upset because I had not waited to help my wife go
down the hill -- rightly so, because she had had a hip replacement a
few weeks before, so she really needed help. I confess that when I
am walking, I have a tendency to walk in front the groups, so I had
forgotten completely about my family. Thank God, my wonderful
nice son-in-law, Arthur got her arm and helped her to walk down
the hill. I felt terribly guilty, but I honestly did not think about it.
My wife was lucky to have had Arthur, who is much younger than
me; therefore she was in good hands. It was not nice what I did,
but at least there is a story to be told and have lots of laughs about
when we are among our friends.
Russia
As I have always been very interested in political science, in 1975
I decided to travel to the former Soviet Union. It was quite
complicated to enter that communist country. I gathered all the
information about the requirements to travel to Russia and I was
informed that not only I needed a passport, but also a visa and 12
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photographs. I obtained all the necessary paperwork, received my
visa and took a flight on Aeroflot Airline to Moscow. My wife was
afraid, but I still wanted to see that system of government. The
president, back then, was Brezhnev.
When I arrived in Moscow and went through the customs and
police, I spent about an hour answering questions. They seemed to
know a lot about me. I got a little scared. They even knew that I
had been involved in a movement in the US, for the independence
of the Azores from Portugal a few months before. I then realized
the reason why they required 12 pictures to obtain a visitor’s visa.
Back then, a visitor could not travel alone, I had to be attached to a
group and always accompanied by a guide. I joined a group,
arranged by the Soviet Union tour operator in the US.
We all checked into the hotel Russia on Red Square. I was very
surprised when I recognized that the famous journalist William F.
Buckley was part of the group. I immediately introduced myself
and he briefed me about the danger of violating any Soviet laws.
He mentioned that he had been there many times and knew exactly
how one should behave and not get in trouble. From then on, we
were never alone. We were always accompanied by a tour guide
who was trained to show the tourists the important points of
interest and how great the communist system was!
I was shocked when I saw towers in the middle of the streets, with
police watching what was going on in the neighborhoods. Mr.
Buckley told me to relax and that he was going to always be with
the group. We walked to Red Square, where the Lenin Tomb was
kept inside a transparent glass coffin; walked past St. Basil’s
Cathedral, one of Moscow’s landmarks; the Kremlin and the
beautiful rich golden ornamented Cathedrals. We visited Moscow’s
famed underground Metro station (the subway), which was
fascinating, totally different from any subway I had ever seen It
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looked like an underground art museum! I tried to take a picture
but I was told by the guide not to and that I could purchase pictures
on the way out. We also visited the Gumm department store, one of
the largest stores in the world, but full of cheap items, where I tried
to purchase something to bring home. The only thing I saw worth
buying was a Balalaika, a typical Russia musical instrument that I
still keep among my collectibles. I must say that, although Russia
is a beautiful country, what I witnessed with my own eyes, was the
poor standard of living and the fear of the people to say and
complain about anything. There seemed to be spies everywhere.
The impression that I got, was that the people were terribly
unhappy. In fact, I never saw an adult smiling, only the children. It
was very sad. Everyone was afraid of the Communist Party KGB
Secret Police.
In spite of the poverty, there was also an affluent society. Due to
William Buckley’s influence and connections, I was invited to a
very exclusive club named, Metropole, where I saw the loyal
magnates with passion for the Lenin and Stalin doctrine, enjoying
a beautiful evening in luxurious lifestyle. Everyone was dressed
extremely well, drinking champagne, having a good time, and
listening to classical music. Of course, those were the special ones
who travelled outside the Soviet Union and were allowed to visit
Paris, London, Rome and other cities in Europe, while the average
Russian was not permitted to leave the country. The contrast was
so obvious! The impression that I came away with while visiting
that communist dictatorship regime, was that the system was about
to collapse. Thank God the regime fell many years later.
I remember entering a liquor store that the Russians call Bereska, a
sort of liquor establishment, where local people had to use foreign
currency, not rubles, to purchase alcoholic beverages after 7
o’clock in the evening. I asked the guide why that was so, and she
replied, “Russia is very cold during the winter and people drink to
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get warm.” However, I knew the real reason was that Russians had
the highest percentage of alcoholism in the world due to the lack of
freedom and being subjected to live under such a terribly
oppressive regime. The last evening in Moscow, the group went to
see a wonderful performance by the Bolshoi Ballet Company on
the stage of the Kremlin Palace. That was something I will never
forget. What an experience that was!
The following evening, the group travelled overnight on a very old
train, (almost falling apart) to Leningrad, today St. Petersburg, the
Northern Capital of Russia. On the train, I was wearing an
inexpensive pair of jeans and a soldier approached me to buy them.
He offered to pay his entire month’s salary. I responded saying,
“What am I going to wear?” He replied. “I’m sure you have other
pairs inside your luggage.” After leaving the train I felt guilty,
because I should have gone to the bathroom to change into another
pair of jeans and given that poor soul the ones I was wearing.
Russia back then, was isolated from the western world, so people
went crazy when they saw someone from the west wearing decent
clothes! I had been informed, before I left the US, to take lots of
gum with me to give to the kids on the streets. You can’t imagine
how happy they were with an insignificant pack of gum.
In spite of observing the Russian’s oppressed poor standard of
living, I must say that Leningrad was an incredibly beautiful city.
We visited the famous Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace,
the residence of the Russian Czars, which contains one of the most
impressive art collections in the world; the Blue Bridge, the widest
in the world, with a large span, encompassing the entire width of
St. Isaac’s Square; the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. I
also visited the historical ship “Aurora” that sparked the
Revolution in 1917 with a blank shot from her forecastle gun. I
took some pictures of the ship and a policeman approached me and
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took my camera and destroyed all the photographs that I had taken.
What a pity!
I understand that today St. Petersburg is even more beautiful, after
the falling of the Soviet Union and the CCCP, which represented
the emblematic initials for Center Committee of the Communist
Party. Before I returned home, I purchased a few items used by the
Soviet military, such as a Garrison cap, pinned with small badges;
the Russians call it Pilotka which is now part of my collection of
artifacts.
Turkey
MIDDLE EAST or ASIA MINOR
My wife and I flew to Istanbul, a huge city that is different from
most cities that we had visited. Extremely exotic! We were very
surprised that most people dressed as Europeans. It’s interesting to
note that Turkey is located in a small area of Europe and in Asia,
so it is in fact a Eurasian country. It is a dream city, full of historic
places that we made certain to visit. The sites that still remain in
our minds are the Blue Mosque; the Hagia Sophia Church; the
Topkapi Palace, where the treasury jewels were kept, and the
Harem, where the Sultans were entertained by many women; the
Grand Bazaar, where we purchased a few souvenirs and enjoyed
the aggressiveness of the merchants. We also visited a carpet
factory, where my wife was so enthusiastic to purchase a beautiful
handmade, but when they told us the price, I almost fainted.
In Istanbul, we boarded a cruise ship. The first stop was Kusadasi,
on the southwestern coast of Turkey. We took a bus tour of
Ephesus to see the ruins of that ancient biblical city, once a
religious center of early Christianity. We walked through the ruins
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of the entire city, including the Theatre and the Library. We were
very impressed with the beautiful golden tiles in the middle of the
ruins of the Basilica of St. John, painted hundreds of years ago.
A story that I think is worth telling is that, according to the tour
guide, the wealthy businessmen of those days used a tunnel that
had been built from the library to a house of prostitution. It is said
that they would tell their wives that they were going to the library,
but instead would walk through the tunnel to be with women.
We took the bus to see the House of Mary up on the mountain, a
few kilometers from Ephesus, where the Virgin Mary may have
spent her last days. It has been said that she had come to the area
with St. John, who spent several years spreading Christianity. She
lived in a small house entirely made out of stones. Today, the
building looks more like a chapel that a house. Another interesting
place is the Water of Mary, a source at the exit of the church area
where the water, is said to have curative properties. As Christian
believers, we drank the so called blessed water. We brought with
us a little container with the image of the Virgin Mary full with
blessed water. It was indeed an incredible experience to see so
many pilgrims devotedly praying inside the little church.
Traveling Europe by Land
Our good friends, Sara and Eduardo Furtado joined us for a trip
through Europe by land. We flew to London and took a scenic
drive to the White Cliffs of Dover. We boarded the ferry to cross
the English Channel to Calais in France. We then continued by
coach to Amsterdam passing by several cities in Belgium and on to
Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, ending up in Amsterdam on
the Netherlands, one of Europe’s friendliest cities where we stayed
a couple of days. Amsterdam is a city with remarkable canals and
decorative narrow buildings. Many people traditionally live on
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houseboats and barges. We loved to see the flower market with
tulips, the universal symbol of the country, that come in rainbow of
colors. We had a wonderful dinner on a Chinese restaurant
houseboat. The next morning we visited the Mint Tower, the Royal
palaces and other important sites. In the evening we walked all
over the canals to explored Amsterdam’s night life, which is
beyond words! We saw real women inside the store windows, not
mannequins. I had been there before, so I was not surprised, but
the rest of the group where shocked by such a spectacle!
We then continued our bus tour to Cologne in Germany, to see its
famous Cathedral. Then via Bonn to the Rhine Valley where we
embarked on a Rhine cruise. It was breathtaking, seeing so many
vineyards and medieval castles, arriving in Manheim, where we
disembarked and spent the night. The next morning we continued
our adventure and viewed the red sandstone Castle, then on to the
fairytale Black Forest, where cuckoo clocks were invented. We
then entered Switzerland and arrived in the picturesque city of
Lucerne, where we spent two nights. We visited the Chapel
Bridge, the Poignant Lion Monument and the entire city, where we
found a Portuguese restaurant, where everybody spoke Portuguese.
I felt that I was in Lisbon! The next morning, we continued on to
the Swiss border with France. We passed through the Burgundy
countryside, where we stopped to admire the famous French
vineyards at Savigny-Les-Baune and continued on to Paris. We
had all been in Paris before, so we only spent one night there.
Iceland
The next morning we flew to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland that
I had visited before. For my wife and the Furtado couple, it was
their first time. This was during the month of November and the
temperature was very cold. Sunrise was at 10 o’clock in the
morning and sunset was at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Since we
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were only going to stay a couple of nights, we toured the glaciers,
geysers and waterfalls. It was fascinating, but the site that
impressed us most was the famous Blue Lagoon, where the water
is between 100-110 degrees year round, and it was snowing at the
same time. There were many people swimming, so we also wanted
to have the same experience. The problem was that none of us had
a swimsuit. I suggested that we use our underwear, which we did.
It is difficult to describe the sensation of swimming in such a warm
temperature with the snow falling on our heads. The only part of
our body that was exposed was our heads above the nose. After
that, we went to the indoor geothermal for a wonderful sauna. We
all felt very relaxed. As we began our seven-hour flight home, it
dawned on me that our wet underwear was stored inside our
luggage below, but we didn’t care! We looked at each other, and
had lots of laughs about our venture of travelling without
underwear. What an unforgettable experience.
Portugal
It would not be fair to not mention my country of birth and some of
the beautiful places and moments I spent during my numerous trips
throughout the years to Portugal.
A few years ago my wife and I were sitting down at the Newark
airport terminal, waiting for our flight to Lisbon. We went to get an
ice cream and as I reached for my pocket to pay, I could not find
my wallet. My wife and I decided to go back to the location we
had previously sat down and as I was looking for the wallet, there
were three old ladies who were in the same area close to where we
had been seating. They noticed that I was looking for something.
One of them asked, “Are you looking for something?” When I
replied that I was, she said, “Could it be your wallet?” I said,
“Yes” again. She told me that she had found a wallet on the floor
and was waiting for someone to claim it, so that she would make
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sure to return it to right person. She further said that if she didn’t
find anyone to claim it, she was going to Fátima and would have
used the money in the wallet to light a few candles at the
Sanctuary. I expressed my gratitude and started speaking with
them.
As most people know, I am not shy, so I asked where they were
from and if it was the first time they were visiting Portugal. They
said that they were from Salt Lake City, and every year their
vacation was to spend a full week praying to Our Lady of Fátima,
who had appeared to three children and where a miracle had taken
place on May 13 th , 1917.
1913. Deodete and I looked at each other and
said, “My God how could this happen at such a busy airport full of
people?” How lucky we were, that those wonderful old ladies
would be the ones to find my wallet! Of course, we continued our
conversation with them and I told them that we were also going to
spend two weeks in Continental Portugal and planned to visit the
Sanctuary of Fátima. They were very surprised and so were we! I
told them that I was going to light three large candles and pray for
their health and peace. What a wonderful coincidence or perhaps a
moment in Christ.
On another trip to Portugal, we took our children with us. As we
were visiting the very touristic fishermen’s village named Nazaré,
which means Nazareth in English, my son Paulo came out of the
van to help me to park properly, because there were not many
spaces available. From there, we took a good walk to look at the
beautiful town and beach. Suddenly my son realized that he had
lost his wallet, with a little more than a hundred dollars in it. We
decided that it was not worth pursuing at this point in our tour, and
so we continued visiting the north of Portugal. A couple of months
after we returned home, I received a telephone call from the
Nazareth Police Station, saying that a French tourist had found the
wallet with my telephone number and address in it along with $160
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dollars. The officer told me that he would send the wallet with the
money through the mail. Can you imagine? There were so many
people visiting that tourist town, yet a good soul found the wallet
and returned it to the police! Thank God there are still many good,
honest people in this world.
Lisbon, the capital, and the surrounding superb cities, like Estoril
and Cascais, represent the picturesque Costa do Sol of Portugal.
They are undoubtedly my favorite places to visit every time I
travel to Portugal. Deodete and I still visualize the marvelous
experience of having lunch at the Sete Ais Palace in Sintra, the city
that I call the Switzerland of Portugal, because of its magnificent
beauty. I remember one time when I had forgotten my glasses and
could not read the menu. A waiter came to the table and brought a
box with magnifying glasses in it that I could use to read the menu.
That was something I had never experienced anywhere else! I have
had many wonderful experiences in Portugal, dinner on the patio
of the Albatroz restaurant in Cascais, a charming town overlooking
the Atlantic Ocean and its beaches, enjoying the fantastic scenery
while having a cocktail before we enter the famous restaurant with
a breathtaking view of Costa do Sol (Sunny Coast); going to the
Casino Estoril, the Broadway of Portugal, to watch a musical;
gambling at the casino to spend a few Euros, on the slot machines.
I could go on and on, describing the beautiful monuments and
historical buildings of the capital city, that Europeans call the city
of sun, but there are also some beautiful cities in the north of
Portugal. Porto is the second largest city and one of the most
important business and financial centers of Portugal. It is where
authentic Port wine is made. Deodete and I visited several cellars
of that world renowned wine. It has been said that Thomas
Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and other writers of the US
Constitution celebrated, with a toast of Portuguese port, during the
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signing ceremony of the most important document of my adopted
country.
Some of my experiences while in Óbidos, one of Portugal’s most
beautiful gleaming white castle towns, was to the Monastery where
the Portuguese Navigator Prince Henry is buried, Guimarães, to
Portugal’s birth city and the Dom Afonso Henriques’s monument
in memory of Portugal’s first king; Braga, and to Bom Jesus (Good
Jesus), a beautiful religious shrine that is visited every day by
thousands of people of faith.
Another wonderful experience Deodete and I had driving down to
south of Portugal, at the Hotel Palace of Bussaco, formerly a
Palace belonging to the Portuguese Royal family. It is classic
Manueline style and has antiques and fine paintings adorning all
the rooms. It’s located in the middle of a beautiful forest where for
over many centuries, many small chapels and grottoes have been
built. I would like to dedicate this paragraph to many of my friends
and clients, who also had the good fortunate to experience, what I
believe is paradise on earth! I recall, once when we stayed at this
Hotel Palace, all the lights went off accidentally in the main dining
room. We looked around us and observed the incredible beauty of
the royal dinning room lighted only with candles. What an
unforgettably beautiful scene and memory, never to be forgotten!
We drove to the town of Redondo in the province of Alentejo,
south of Lisbon and stayed at the Hotel Convento de São Paulo,
built on the slopes of a mountain range by monks who were
looking for a place where they could pray and find spiritual peace.
The Monastery Convent was converted into a refined comfortable
hotel, in the middle of many acres of woodland with large gardens
and a breathtaking view. We had heard from many of our clients
about this place and we wanted the experience of staying there. It
was a fantastic experience, not only for its unique architecture, but
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also because of its history. The manager knew me because of the
business my travel agency had given her for many years. Before
we left for that trip, my good friends Roswell and Marcia
Bosworth, publishers of Rhode Island East Bay Newspapers, who
went on the same trip with us decided, as usual, to do some
homework before leaving and learned that illustrious figures,
including Catherine of Bragança, who married King Charles II of
England, once stayed at the Convent. The manager reserved the
same room, where the Queen had spent her last days, for my wife
and me. It was an enormous room with a large outside patio facing
miles and miles of land full of olive trees typical of the Alentejo
province. What an experience…
After leaving the Hotel Convento de São Paulo, I drove to a city on
the border between Portugal and Spain named Elvas, so that our
friends Ros and Marcia Bosworth could see Spain from the other
side. As I entered the city, I did not see a very small red light at
the corner of an intersection, so I drove through it. Suddenly, a
Portuguese Police officer, on a motorcycle, came after me and
made me stop. He asked for my driver’s license and registration.
He could see that I was driving a rented car and I showed him my
U.S. driver’s license. He started accusing me, in Portuguese that I
had gone through a red light and he said, “This is not America…
Here you have to obey the Portuguese laws!” I immediately
thought he was going to give me a fine, so I improvised and
pretended that I did not speak Portuguese, looking to my wife
seated next to me and the Bosworths on the back of the car and I
said in English, “What is he saying?” The policeman continued
talking to me in Portuguese and then in Spanish saying, “Next time
I will give you a ticket. Don’t do that again!” The officer left on
his motorcycle, my wife and our friends, starting laughing. They
all cried laughing at my reaction toward the officer and the fact
that I had told him that I didn’t speak or understand Portuguese!
After returning home, I was attending our Rotary meeting at
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Tweet’s Restaurant in Bristol, when Ros Bosworth, who was also a
member of our club, stood up and said, “Can you imagine that Fred
was stopped by a cop in Portugal and said that he could not speak
Portuguese?” He told the entire story, which made all of our fellow
Rotarians laugh hysterically. Naturally, according to the rules of
Rotary, I had to pay a dollar fine for my adventure in Elvas,
Portugal…
Madeira Islands
One of our future trips will be to the island of Madeira, known as
the Pearl of the Atlantic, which used to be one of Sir Winston
Churchill’s favorite places. The archipelago is composed of the
islands of Madeira and Porto Santo and the desert island (not
populated) where environmentalists love to experience scuba
diving and see unique birds and fish. It is located 300 miles from
the coast of Africa and 600 miles from continental Portugal. My
wife and I have visited those beautiful islands many times. They
are full of 5-star deluxe hotels that provide the best service
anywhere in the world. The archipelago depends mostly on tourism
for its economy. The people receive the best training in the
country, so that the tourists will return again and again from all
corners of the world. The island of Madeira is very mountainous
with beautiful landscapes. It is famous for the world renowned
Madeira wine, a large variety of beautiful exotic flowers, handmade
embroideries; tropical fruit trees and breathtaking views that
tourists enjoy anywhere that they go on the island. They have a
wonderful Farmers Market in downtown Funchal where my wife
and I always purchase our favorite tropical fruits. There are
beautiful parks and a botanical garden with thousands of different
flowers and plants. The hand-made embroideries and wine
factories; museums, including my good friend and Portuguese
Army colleague, João Carlos Abreus’s museum that is full of
artifacts from all over the world, are just some of the attractions.
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Another big attraction is the magnificent fireworks, which a few
years ago, attained mention in the Guinness World of Records. The
edge of Madeira’s New Year celebrations is the fantastic firework
show on Funchal’s Amphitheater Mountain. The city is
transformed into a magnificent crib illuminated by hundreds of
thousands of colored lights, setting the stage for an unforgettable
display, when the clock strikes twelve on December 31 st . The skies
are lit up with state of the art fireworks announcing the New Year,
which could not get off to a better start.
The island of Porto Santo, contrary to the Island of Madeira, has
beautiful sandy beaches, which is the reason why it’s called the
Golden Island, with fantastic summer resorts that attract thousands
of people on vacation. It also has a magnificent golf course, where
the Madeira Islands Open Golf Tournament takes place as part of
PGA European Tour.
History says that Christopher Columbus married Filipa
Perestrello, a daughter of Porto Santo’s governor. My wife and I
had the privilege of visiting the museum, located at the very same
place where Columbus lived.
Azores Islands
To end this section on Portugal I would like to mention that
Deodete and I took a trip to visit the entire nine islands of the
Azores. It would not make any sense to have travelled to over one
hundred countries and not visit all the islands of the archipelago,
where my wife, I and our children were born. We visited each of
them, including the smallest island of Corvo with only four
hundred inhabitants. They are, as I said before, the most beautiful
islands we have ever seen. I encourage people to visit them. Each
island has its own characteristic.
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One story is about what happened to a client of mine, who had
visited the Azores for the first time to play golf. The package that I
sold him included a rental car. When he returned home he came to
my office, saying how much he had enjoyed the trip and that the
Island was incredibly beautiful, mainly its nice people and then he
said smiling, “As I was parking the car, I did not know or have any
change to put in the meter and suddenly a Portuguese police officer
approached me and said not to worry and that he would put the
coins into the machine, because you are our visitor!” He was so
impressed and remarked that he had travelled extensively
throughout the world and had never seen such a wonderful action
by a police officer anywhere! Naturally, I was pleased to learn that.
It made me very proud of my Portuguese peers and of being born
in such a paradise.
Jordan
ASIA
Also as part of our world travels, we went on a tour of Jordan and
Israel. We started with a Royal Jordanian fight to Amman, the
White City, known for its limestone buildings. We took a taxi to
the hotel where we had reservations, but the driver told us that we
could not stay there because Yasser Arafat was in town for a
Palestinian Summit and the entire area was closed to the public.
We had no choice but to stay at another hotel. We took a city tour
to explore Amman and visited the Ancient Citadel and the
Amphitheatre. We walked by the Royal Palace. We were
interested to learn that Jordan has no oil, unlike other Middle East
countries. The tour guide stressed that Jordan’s industry was to
export many scientists who graduate from Jordan University and
other universities throughout the world, to other rich oil producing
countries. We also took a tour through the mountains to the city of
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Jerash – The Pompeii of the East. We walked through columned
streets, hilltop temples, public squares and plazas.
The next morning we travelled the Kings Highway, a route
mentioned in the Bible, lined with prehistoric villages from the
earliest biblical towns. We travelled through the Jordanian desert
to Petra, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, which was
the main reason for our visit to Jordan. We enter the Rose City of
Petra, through a narrow passage through the mountains up to the
treasury that suddenly appeared at the end of the gorge and left us
breath-taken by its size, color and beauty. We continued into the
heart of that ancient city carved into the mountains, passing
hundreds of tombs, monuments and the spectacular Amphitheatre.
It was fascinating to see so many beautiful buildings carved into
the mountains. It was so unique!
Israel
We left Amman, crossing the border by limo into Israel. There was
a check point at the border with Israeli guards on top of a tower
and some border patrol personnel on the ground to check our
passports. A little beyond the border, I got out of the car to take a
photograph of the tower. Immediately, the guards pointed their
guns at me and ordered me to get back inside the car. I was so
scared, because it was the first time anyone had ever pointed a gun
at me! I apologized profusely, saying that I just wanted to take a
picture. They remarked angrily, “No pictures!” We continued on
our journey and went through 3 or 4 more checkpoints, where
again we had to show our passports to the guards who searched
through everything we were carrying. They found my wife’s blow
dryer; they took it inside, checked it to make sure there was
nothing harmful about it. There was a Jordanian Catholic priest in
the limo with us. After we left the second check point he said that
it was good that we had American passports. Otherwise we would
take hours and hours, going through all the check points, before
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arriving in Jerusalem. There is no doubt in my mind that Israel has
the best land security system in the world, which is understandable
because it is a very small country in the middle of so many
enemies.
We finally arrived at the Holy Land, a place my wife and I had
dreamed about visiting. We entered Jerusalem’s Old City Sacred
gates. While walking through the four quarters of the city, with
winding cobblestone streets densely packed in an area covering
less that one square mile, we were fascinated by the great symbolic
importance and the confluence of the faiths, Judaism, Christianity
and Islam. We walked along the Via Dolorosa and entered the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site of Jesus Christ’s
crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It gave us goose bumps,
observing that religious sacred location! We continued on to
experience the solemnity of the Western Wall; the Temple Mount;
the Dome of Rock and the Church of St. Anne; and walked the path
of the Stations of the Cross. We took a tour to the Mount of Olives
for a panoramic view of the city. We continued on to the Church of
Ascension and the Garden, where we viewed the Mount of Zion
where we saw the room of the Last Supper and the Tomb of David.
One of the moments where we were much moved was when we
travelled to Bethlehem, and entered the Church of the Nativity, the
birthplace of Jesus and the first church ever built. It is difficult to
explain the sensation of that moment. On the way out, after many
prayers for our families, I picked up a few stones from the ground
and brought them with me to be part of my collection of memories.
We also purchased a handmade wooden sculpture of the Last
Supper that we treasure in its place in our dining room. We went
on a tour to visit Jericho, the Dead Sea and Cana where Jesus,
miraculously, turned water into wine. It was one of the most
fascinating trips we have ever made. I strongly feel that no one
should die without visiting the Holy Land!
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Australia
OCEANIA
One of the longest trips we have ever made was to Australia. We
departed from Boston to Los Angeles, which took us 6 hours, then
took a flight to Sydney that took 14 hours (non-stop) and finally a
4-hour flight to Cairns, in the northern of Australia. By crossing
the international Dateline en route, we skipped a day. It was very
tiresome, but well worth it.
We took an exciting excursion in Cairns on a high speed
catamaran to the Great Barrier Reef that is famous all over the
world for its amazingly diverse marine life. We had a chance to
watch Aboriginal dancers and learn about their life style. In the
evening we had the privilege to look up in the sky and see the
unforgettable Southern Hemisphere’s stars. What a spectacle! We
also took a tour to see crocodiles in their natural habitat, during our
visit to the Hartley Croc Farm. The next day we visited the
rainforests and woodlands to observe wild birds, reptiles and the
local koalas. Then, very early in the morning, we went to a farm
and took a balloon ride, something that I had always dreamed of
doing. From the balloons, we could see beautiful farm houses,
surrounded by green pastures and hundreds of kangaroos running
in the wild. What a wonderful morning experience, seeing the sun
rise before our eyes.
We flew to Melbourne and visited the Fitzroy Gardens, the Shrine
of Remembrances and the Parliament House. We took a special
trip to Philips Island to see the world’s largest colony of Little
Penguins. The highlight was to see the adorable Little Penguins
Parade that occurs at dusk when hundreds of lovable birds waddle
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out of the sea and cross the beach to their burrows in the dunes.
They usually go to sea in the morning, in groups, to search for food
and return in the early evening. The interesting thing is that if one
of the penguins is missing from the group, the entire family returns
to the water and do not return to shore until they find the missing
one. The march began on a patch of sand not too far away when
we glimpsed a pair of wobbly feet. We saw the bird, a little
penguin, a fairy penguin, followed by another on the shore, and
then another, and another, and soon the beach was alive, full of
these beautiful creatures. It was fascinating!
The next morning we went by bus to Australia’s capital city,
Canberra. We enjoyed a panoramic city tour, visiting the Old
Parliament House and the National Museum of Australia, which
interactively celebrates the land, nation and people of the country.
The next morning, we took the bus through the Blue Mountains,
arriving in the bustling city of Sydney. As usual, we took a tour of
the city to see Kings Cross, the world renown Harbour Bridge,
China Town, where we purchased a few cherimoyers, my favorite
fruit, at an outside market. We passed by the Circular Quay and
the fashionable suburb of Paddington. Naturally, we had to visit
the world’s most acoustically perfect architectural design, the
Sydney Opera House, the most recognizable landmark of
Australia. In the evening we took a cruise on the harbor and the
tour guide pointed out the famous Australian movie star, Nicole
Kidman’s home.
New Zealand
We left Australia on a flight to the city of Christchurch the
charming gateway to New Zealand’s South Island. We walked
through cobblestone streets of the most English city outside
England, with countless cafes and boutiques. The tour included a
private dinner hosted by a local family. It was delightful to meet
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the family and their children who taught us about the rich history
of the first family of Christchurch. The next morning we traversed
the countryside to New Zealand’s Queenstown to Mt. Cook
National Park. Mt. Cook is one of the most impressive mountains
in the world. I took a helicopter ride to the top of the mountain to
see the home of the highest mountains with skyscraping peaks,
glaciers and permanent snow fields. It was there that Sir Edmund
Hillary developed his climbing skills in preparation of the conquest
of Mount Everest. I stopped for a moment and thought to myself,
walking on the glaciers and observing the incredible view. “Is this
real?” I felt I was on top of the world. What an incredible
experience…
We spent the night in a typical hotel and left the next morning on a
cruise of the breathtaking Milford Sound and saw, with our own
eyes, why the fjords are the most visited sites on New Zealand’s
South Island, with rock faces that rise nearly 4000 feet on either
side. It was raining a lot and the tour guide said that we were very
lucky, because it was very unusual to observe so many magnificent
fjords. We also took a tour to the Safari of the Rings that led us to
the site where the famous movie “Lord of the Rings” was filmed.
We went back to Christchurch and travelled up the winding coast
to Picton, where we boarded the Interisland Ferry through the
Marlborough Sound and crossed the Cook Strait, and arrived that
evening in the capital city of Wellington. The next morning we
toured Wellington, New Zealand’s Parliament and other sites and
then continued on to Rotorua, which was the highlight of our trip
to the Northern Island. Being born on a volcanic island of St.
Miguel in the Azores with a few small hot springs, my wife and I
were amazed by the landscape and the number of geysers,
bubbling mud pools and other geothermal wonders for miles. It
was so large that the entire city’s energy is supplied by the heat
from the geysers and hot springs. I remember seeing the front and
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ackyards of the houses that were totally surrounded by active hot
springs. We watched a man cutting the lawn in front of his yard.
He was forced to maneuver around the hot springs as if they were
shrubs or decorative pieces placed in his yard. It was an
experience. I also cannot forget going to a massage spa, of an
oriental architecture and being hosted by beautiful oriental young
ladies. After changing to a bathing suit, we encountered 4 beautiful
pools with different designs and water falls. Each pool was heated
by geothermal energy and each had a different temperature that
ranged from 60º to 90º. We changed from pool to pool for an hour,
as preparation for an unbelievable massage. Again, I stopped,
looked at my wife and said, “Can you believe this?” It was a
fantastic treat… We have gotten massages in many parts of the
world, but nothing compared to the one in Rotarua that we will
never forget! To finish our trip to New Zealand we had to travel to
Auckland, the largest urban city in New Zealand, of just over a
million people. It is the center of commerce and industry. In fact
Auckland is the biggest Polynesian city in the world. Its nickname
is the city of sails, because it has more boats per capita than
anywhere else in the world and probably the reason why they took
away the Americans Cup championship from our neighboring city
of Newport, Rhode Island a few years ago. To end this chapter, I
like to tell my friends and readers, who dream of traveling to
Australia, that they should definitely include New Zealand on their
itinerary. It is one of the most beautiful places that we have ever
visited.
Fiji Islands
From New Zealand, we travelled to Suva the capital of Fiji, on our
return to Los Angeles. The Fiji Islands is an archipelago in the
South Pacific that became independent from United Kingdom in
1970. It’s a beautiful island with nice beaches and beautiful
scenery. We were very surprised about its history which talks
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about the people as formidable warriors, ferocious cannibals and
builders of the finest vessels in the Pacific. After visiting the most
important sites, we learned that in the 19 th century, there was a
tribal chief that consumed over 800 people. We were shocked, but
it was such an education to learn that just a little over one hundred
years ago there was cannibalism still going on in the world.
Thailand
FAR EAST
For our trip to Thailand, we flew to Bangkok, its capital on
Singapore Airline. It is, in my opinion the best airline in the world.
The service provided by the flight attendants was outstanding.
There was a good menu to choose from. The silverware was silver,
not plastic, like other airlines. We even had a fashion show during
the flight. We travelled in coach class, but the service was better
than most other airlines’ first class. As usual we took the city tour
and visited the most interesting historic sites, The Royal Palace,
the Temple of the Golden Buddha, and the Temple of the Dawn.
One of the main attractions was the Flower Market, which
becomes most active after 2 o’clock in the morning. Bangkok is a
city full of canals used to carry the commercial produce of the
surrounding areas. We arranged to be picked up from our hotel to
visit the famous Floating Markets, which is about 2 hours away.
During the tour, we saw many people that live along the canals and
use boats as their main method of transportation. Food is a very
important part of Thai culture. We took a boat and saw floating
food stores selling everything from fruit, to barbecued chicken, all
while moving around the canals, like a restaurant on the street or
an ice cream van in western countries. My wife and I had fruit and
chicken for lunch. The boats had tables, just like a restaurant on a
street. What a fascinating experience!
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We could not leave Thailand without taking a tour to the historical
Bridge over the River Qwai. During the Japanese occupation of
Thailand in World War II, the Japanese Army brought the iron
bridge from Java. It was then reassembled by Allied Prisoners of
War. The bridge was part of a strategic railway route to Myanmar
that the Japanese aimed to use to secure supplies with which to
conquer other western Asian countries. As most of us know, there
was a famous movie, whose main actor was Alec Guinness
entitled, The Bridge over the River Kwai that had a musical piece
with the same name and became very popular.
Singapore
From Thailand, we flew again on Singapore Airline to Singapore,
a relatively short flight. We arrived at the airport and as I presented
my US passport to the immigration official, she asked for my
vaccination card. I handed her the card and she noticed that the
card did not show that I had the required shots. I insisted saying
that I had taken the vaccination, but perhaps the doctor’s secretary
had forgotten to fill out the card. I even explained that I had been
sick for a few days, as a reaction to the vaccination. The official
did not care about my problem. She said, “You either get
vaccinated or you cannot enter Singapore.” Naturally, I had no
choice and I was vaccinated again, but afraid of becoming sick as a
result! Thank God I didn’t have a negative reaction. The process
took a couple of hours. Deodete told me that she thought that after
I got the vaccination in Bristol, I probably started joking and
talking to Mary Lou, Dr. Da Silva’s secretary, and she forgot to
stamp the card! My wife was right. Many times I can’t keep my
mouth shut – always talking and joking around!
When we finally arrived at our hotel, it was after midnight and
they had given our room to someone else and we had to go to
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another hotel. The next morning, we took Singapore’s city tour.
We were delighted to feel the cultural mysteries and exotic beauty
of the city’s old ancient temples. It’s a small country off the
southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, in Southeast Asia. During the
Second World War, as a British colony, it was occupied by the
Japanese and bombed terribly. It is now an independent country
that was rebuilt after the war and is today an incredibly beautiful,
modern, developed city, full of skyscrapers. Although very small,
it rates as the 5 th wealthiest country in the world, where multinational
companies are based. Singapore’s laws are very strict.
When we were taking the city tour, we noticed that the tour guide
was required to stand at attention for the duration of the tour, much
like a soldier standing guard at his post. By talking to the tour
guide, he stressed that the entire population had to conduct
themselves rigorously, otherwise the person could be tried in
Court, without a jury, or whipped as many times as the degree of
the misconduct. It reminded me of a story I saw on TV about an
American teenager in Singapore, a few years ago, that had sprayed
an automobile with paint and was brutally whipped.
Hong Kong
We arrived in Hong Kong on an airport runway strip built on the
water, which I had never seen before. We checked into a hotel.
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the
world. The city population is 95% ethnic Chinese and 5% from
other groups. There are about 7 million people. I felt as though I
had wandered onto a movie set, standing at the railing of the
famous Star Ferry as it sailed across the harbor, and riding a
rickety old tram as it wound its way across Hong Kong Island or
marveling at the stunning views from Victoria Peak. It looked as
if we had landed in the middle of an epic drama, where the past has
melted into the present. We saw wooden boats bobbing up and
down in the harbor alongside huge ocean liners. We saw crumbing
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tenements next to ultramodern high-rises and squalid alleyways
behind luxury hotels, old Chinese people pushing wheelbarrows as
Roll-Royce’s glided by them; market venders selling chicken feet
and dried squid and other exotic food, and so on. It’s an incredibly
beautiful city full of contrasts. After a 3 day visit to Hong Kong we
took a one hour jetfoil trip to Macao.
Macao
We sailed on a jetfoil from Hong Kong and took a taxi to the Hotel
Lisboa with a casino for gambling 24 hours a day. The driver was
Chinese and my wife asked if he spoke Portuguese and he said no.
I was surprised, because it was a Portuguese territory for centuries.
He told us the majority spoke Chinese and only a few people spoke
Portuguese, only the ones who worked and administered the
government and other Eurasians, who intermarried between the
Chinese and Portuguese. As soon as we got to the hotel, I called
Dr. Lurdes da Silva a friend of Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva, who
had been his school mate at Coimbra University Medical School in
Portugal and was married to Dr. Carlos Da Assunção, Macao’s
General Assembly President, which is similar to the Speaker of the
House of Representatives. The following morning he sent a
government van with the Director of the Department of Tourism,
Mr. Jorge Rangel, to be our tour guide. We visited the most
important sites, the Historical Center, the evocative ruins of the
Old Fort and St. Paul’s Church, the Senate building, the statue of
Camões, the famous Portuguese poet and author of the “Lusíadas”
and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. We were very excited when
we noticed that many streets had Portuguese names. We had the
honor of being invited for a wonderful dinner at our hotel by Dr.
Assunção and his wife. Thanks to my good friend Dr. da Silva,
who had recommended us, we were indeed given the red carpet
treatment. Macao is the Las Vegas of the Orient. All casinos are
open day and night and they are frequented by thousands of people
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who come every day, from all over the world to gamble. Macao is
now a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of
China. It was administered by Portugal for 442 years, first as a
trading post, and subsequently as a Portuguese territory, until its
handover to China in 1999.
Japan
We flew to Kyoto, the former capitol of Japan before it was
changed to Tokyo. We stayed in Kyoto for 3 days. We took a
sightseeing tour and visited the Imperial Palace, the emperor’s
family residence until 1868; The Sento Palace with its beautiful
gardens; Kyoto Tower, one of the most important city’s landmarks;
and a huge Nishiki market with a large variety of oriental produce,
which was a spectacle. We took one day to walk and explore that
exotic city that we enjoyed tremendously. Kyoto is a fairly large
city with a population of 1.5 million people. We arranged for a taxi
from the hotel to Kyoto’s railway station, a state of the art
building, where we took the bullet train, with very comfortable
accommodations to Tokyo.
We arrived in Tokyo on a Sunday afternoon and stayed in a
beautiful hotel full of gardens, for which the Japanese are famous.
The hotel where we stayed was very popular for wedding
receptions, so it was wonderful to see so many brides and grooms
around the immaculate gardens. I volunteered to take the
newlyweds’ photographs with their cameras. To thank me, they
would smile, put their hands in a prayer-like position and bow.
By the end of the afternoon, I found myself doing the same
gestures, which they all thought was very funny. Deodete had lots
of laughs…What an enjoyable afternoon! The next morning, we
took the city sightseeing tour. We saw the highlights of the
Panoramic Tokyo, which included the most classical temples and
Shrines; the Imperial Palace East Garden; a stunning view from
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atop Tokyo Tower, where we participated in a Japanese tea
ceremony in a beautiful setting. We also visited the Tsukiji Fish
Market, that the Japanese say it is the world’s largest. We found
very interesting that when we went to a restaurant, to facilitate the
tourists, they display the different dishes in a window, so that we
can select the plate we want, because Japanese is a very difficult
language. Another interesting thing we found was that when we
pay the bill at a restaurant, there are no tips. I asked one of the
waiters why and he told me that, by law, the restaurant owners had
to pay decent salaries to their employees, and not depend on the
guests to pay extra for the service.
India
India is the second most populated country in the world. We left
New York and arrived in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, late at night.
We got a taxi at the airport to take us to the Sheraton hotel. The
cab was so small that none of our pieces of luggage fit in the trunk.
The driver placed our luggage on a roof rack on the top of the taxi.
We were not sure what was wrong with our driver, but it took
about 2 hours to reach the hotel. The next day we learned the ride
should have only taken 15 minutes. We began feeling scared so
late at night with him driving all over the place. On the way, we
saw some festivities, folklore groups dancing in the street that
reminded us of Azorean folk dancing during Mardi Gras. We came
to the conclusion, the next morning that the driver had been totally
lost. Since we were only going to stay there for 2 nights, the next
morning we hired a taxi with an English speaking driver to give us
a tour of the huge city of 15 million people. Although it’s a city
full of skyscrapers with banks, business and financial institutions,
and is recognized as the financial business capital of India, there is
also a lot of poverty. At the center of the city, the driver stopped at
a red light and I noticed a child crawling without legs in the middle
of the busy street begging. I opened the window and gave him a
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Deodete dressed in in a silk
sari Deodete of of India dressed during in a a travel
silk
conference sari of India in in New during New Delhi
a travel
conference in New Delhi
The famous Taj
Mahal The famous in in Agra,
Taj
India
Mahal in Agra,
India
Deodete in in an an Auto
Rickshaw Deodete in in an Old Auto Delhi,
India
Rickshaw in Old Delhi,
India

dollar. While the car was stopped at the light, all of a sudden our
car was surrounded by many kids that seemed to have just
appeared, like ants! The driver told me to close the window
immediately. My wife and I can never forget that moment.
Goa
From Mumbai we flew to Goa, the smallest Indian state on the
southwest of India that is a tropical paradise for tourists, bathed by
the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. Goa is the Miami Beach of
India with spectacular beaches and luxurious hotels and many old
churches, monuments, temples, shrines and museums. When I
describe Goa to my friends, I call it the Vatican of the Orient. We
marveled as we visited many Portuguese churches, most of them in
the same area. We were very happy to see the Basilica of Bom
Jesus, where the remains of St. Francis Xavier now lie in an
airtight glass coffin, placed inside a silver casket. It was interesting
to see Christianity and Hinduism exist side by side. It was always
our dream to go to Goa, which was discovered by the great
Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama and ruled by the Portuguese
for over 450 years, where we can still feel the European flavor,
such as food, religion, language, festivals, dances and names.
Deodete and I went to Church on a Sunday and were surprised to
see the women attending Mass. Some were dressed in European
style, but some were wearing saris with Hindu dots on their
forehead. When the Mass ended, I asked the priest why the dots.
He said that they display them for fashion reasons only and that
they had nothing to do with Hinduism. It was fascinating to speak
to a few 3 rd and 4 th generation Portuguese-Indians, who still speak
the language, even though with a characteristic accent. We
thoroughly enjoyed the entire tour of the city of Panaji, the capital
of Goa.
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From Goa, we flew to New Delhi, India’s capital. One of the
reasons we took the trip, was because we were invited to attend a
Travel Convention. New Delhi is an amazing city with captivating
ancient monuments, magnificent museums that the India’s Tourist
Board made arrangements for us to see. We stayed at the 5-Star
Meridian Hotel that had a feature we had never seen before. The
dining rooms were located on the four upper corners of the
building, from which we could see the beautiful scenery and the
fascinating city. We visited the Indian Gate, the Parliament
House, the Red Fort and many Holy places.
New Delhi is a very large city representing two different worlds,
the old and the new. After the programmed group tour, Deodete
and I decided to go and see the Old Delhi. Our fellow travel agents
cautioned us not to do it because it would be too dangerous!! Not
so, we are glad that we did it, because we found a labyrinth of tiny
lanes crowded with stores and rickshaws. Old Delhi is inhabited by
a predominantly Muslim population whose lives revolve around
work and the local mosque. Walking through the old city, we
found it interesting to watch the cows on the streets, along with the
human beings. Cows are sacred in India, so no one touches them.
We entered a very old store where we were told to take our shoes
off and sit on a comfortable cushion on the floor. Deodete bought a
beautiful silk Sari, the typical attire of India and a variety of
colored dots that Deodete wore during one of the receptions. We
kept on walking and entered many stores full of unique Indian art.
I purchased a few carved pieces, to add to my collection that after
so many years still has the same nice aroma of Indian wood. We
also had lots of fun riding on the cycle-rickshaws and watching the
people go by.
What impressed us most was the banquet at a beautiful restaurant
offered by the India’s Tourist Board, where Deodete and I, along
with other travel agents, were invited to ride on top of an elephant
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through an arch gallery of fresh flowers at a long entrance before
the reception. It was also fascinating to see marvelous typical
dances and folklore performed before the banquet. Although it was
a luxurious, rich affair, we could not forget the terrible contrast
between the very rich and the very poor…
We could not leave India without visiting the most referenced
landmark of India, The Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the
World. We travelled to Agra, not too far from New Delhi. It’s a
monument of immeasurable beauty, difficult to describe in words.
We visited the entire site made out of pure marble with exquisite
ornamentation and precious gemstones. What an experience!
North Africa
AFRICA
We flew to Malaga in the South of Spain and took a ferry to
Tangier which lies on the North Africa coast at the western
entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean meets
the Atlantic Ocean in Morocco. We took the historical tour of
Tangier, Ceuta and Fez, three cities that were occupied by the
Portuguese centuries ago. We were delighted to see and visit a few
Portuguese monuments,
South Africa
I travelled to South Africa as part of a group of travel agency
representatives. The group flew to Johannesburg, during the
apartheid, a terrible racial segregation system of government that
existed in South Africa back then. We went on a guided tour of the
cosmopolitan center of Johannesburg and then a tour of Soweto a
township, which was more like a ghetto, where the black South
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Africans were forced to live, after being evicted from the rest of
the city by the white supremacy rulers. The black South Africans
were required to have a pass to come to the city to work.
The highlight of the trip was to travel through the spectacular
Drakensburg Mountain Range en route to Kruger National Park,
where we spent the night in a tent. The next morning, we were
taken in an open vehicle for a safari drive in search of big animals,
elephants, buffalos, lions, leopards, and rhinos as well as many
other kinds of beautiful animals.
After our safari, we flew to Durban, a beautiful city on the
southeast coast of South Africa. We stayed at a nice hotel on the
beach facing the Indian Ocean. For a moment I thought I was in
South Beach, Miami. On my own, I explored the city to find the
monument dedicated to Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese navigator
who passed through Durban, during Christmas on his way to India,
which gave the name of Natal to the entire Province (Natal means
Christmas in Portuguese).
In South Africa, in those days, there were 3 types of groups.
During the 50’s, when I was in school in Alabama, I had been
shocked to see 2 water fountains. In Durban, there were 3 different
water fountains, one for whites, one for Asians, which was the
second largest ethnic group, and one for Blacks. Thank God and
Nelson Mandela that segregation does not exist anymore in South
Africa.
When I travelled to South Africa, I brought a banner from the
Bristol Rotary Club to present to the Rotary President in exchange
for one from Durban to be displayed at our Bristol Rotary.
Luckily, during the Club lunch meeting I sat with a Rotarian from
South Africa, who invited me and my friend Batista for dinner that
evening. He lived in a beautiful mansion up on the mountain. He
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gave us a tour of his incredibly luxurious place. I gathered that he
was a millionaire! We enjoyed the evening tremendously, with his
entire family. At the end of the dinner, one of the maids came to
the table with a hamster, placed it on top of the table and the
hamster ate all the crumbs to clean the table. He noticed that our
face had changed color and he asked, “Are you surprised?” I said,
“Yes we are!” He smiled, laughed and said, “This hamster is
cleaner than most people.” Another experience worth telling!
From South Africa, we flew to Cape Town, on the south tip of
Africa. We took a panoramic tour of the beautiful harbor. We also
enjoyed a thrilling ride on a cable car up to an altitude of 3000 feet,
where we enjoyed a breathless view of one of the most beautiful
cities I have ever seen. No one should travel to South Africa
without visiting Cape Town.
Egypt
My trip to Egypt was one I will never forget. We landed in Cairo,
the capital and Africa’s largest city. The city is chaotic, exotic,
smelly, dusty and at the same time, beautiful. We took the city tour
and we marveled at the numerous historic buildings and of course
the Pyramids of Giza just outside Cairo, one of the Seven Wonders
of the World, and the old Sphinx. As most tourists do, we took a
camel ride; we visited Coptic Cairo, the oldest part of the city and
the original site of Roman-built Babylon; the Egyptian Museum,
where we saw many mummies and many other ancient relics that
represent Egypt’s archaeological glory. During the tour we saw the
City of the Dead, where millions of people make their home. It’s a
vast living cemetery with ornate tombs that have become the living
quarters of many of Cairo’s poor and for some their place of
business too. We visited the huge Cairo Bazaar. It’s an
unforgettable place to shop. It was so much fun to shop and
bargain with the merchants and to watch the thousands of people
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eing pushed around to purchase anything and everything from
cheap items to interesting antiquities. We had to visit a Mosque. In
order to enter, we had to be decently dressed, especially the
women, and everybody had to take their shoes off and keep quiet.
We spent an afternoon walking beside the great Nile River, which
was delightful. One evening, we took a taxi and went to a night
club on the Sahara Desert a little far out of Cairo, where we
enjoyed a beautiful traditional Egyptian belly dancing show. When
we finished our trip to Egypt, we returned home with the new
understanding of that mystical land.
Canada
NORTH AMERICA
Deodete and I have visited Canada many times. At least two or
three times a year, we travel by car to Laval, a city close to
Montreal to visit my mother-in-law, Maria dos Anjos, who is now
96 years old, my sister-in-law Maria Alice, her daughter Janette
and husband, Yannick. We love the country. It’s actually one of
the most urbanized countries in the world, where three quarters of
its population of approximately thirty two million people, live in
urban areas. We love the unique character of a few cities in each
region in terms of physical features, ethnic composition and
cultural life.
Quebec is the oldest city and, the entire province with the same
name, is a symbol of French civilization in North America.;
Halifax is Canada’s Gibraltar and the first British Imperial city.
The historic waterfront recalls Halifax’s great age of sailing. The
original parade ground, once used for drilling troops, is still the
city’s symbolic center.
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Montreal is Canadian’s bilingual metropolis, where everyone
speaks French. In fact, most of the population of the province
hesitates to speak English, which caused a rise of Quebec
separatism to a point of it trying to obtain its independence from
the rest of the country. It is one of North America’s most charming
cities with a distinctive French flavor and is located at the
confluence of the St. Lawrence River. Deodete and I visit the city
often, including going to the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in
Montreal.
Toronto is now the country’s largest city, with an enormous
concentration of financial power and cultural influence. It’s also
known as the Hollywood of Canada, because it is very involved in
theater and motion pictures. Deodete and I saw the play, Phantom
of the Opera there. Last year we attended the XXXVII Codfish
Academy World Congress, where I represented the New England
chapter. All members attending had the privilege to visit that
fabulous city.
Vancouver is Canada’s open door to the Pacific Ocean. Its superb
west coast location has shaped its ethnic history. It’s so noticeable
that Asians are the largest non-European group living there and the
city’s growth is due to Chinese immigration, especially after China
took over the Hong Kong territory. It was chosen to hold the 2010
Winter Olympic Games.
Ottawa is one of the greatest capitals of the world. It is wonderful
to visit Parliament, the Senate and the Supreme Court buildings
with their beautiful architecture. It is a very international city
where one can hear many languages spoken, including English,
French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic. We found it
interesting that the Dutch Royal family was exiled in Ottawa for
safety, during World War II. After visiting the Netherlands a few
times, the country known for its beautiful tulips, one of my favorite
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flowers, we were surprised with the magnitude and beauty of the
famous Ottawa Tulip Festival that is held every year during the
month of May. We visited the Tulip Legacy Exhibit, the Tulip
Painters, the Art Gallery, the Tulip Boutique and the marvelous
Music in the Tulips.
Finally Victoria, a city that I feel is the most beautiful city in North
America. It is the capital of British Columbia Province. It is
located on a picturesque island very close to Vancouver by ferry.
Victoria boasts many historic buildings and some of the most
fascinating museums in Western Canada. The city benefits from
one of Canada’s mildest climates, which allows the residents and
those that visit the city to pursue outdoor pleasures all year round.
All of the suburban cities and towns of Canada are full of greenery
and beautiful parks, which makes Canada an incredible destination,
so easy and inexpensive to travel to from the United States.
United States of America
Boston -We are so privileged to live in the small town of Bristol
and the smallest state in the country, about sixty miles from Boston
and two hundred miles from the New York City. Boston is one of
the oldest cities in the country with a rich economy and social
history. It is the capital of Massachusetts and the home of many
institutions of higher education, some of the world’s finest
hospitals and numerous cultural and professional sports
organizations. Every time I visit the city, I am enchanted with the
vast number of young people everywhere. It has a very nice public
transportation system that enables the residents and visitors to
enjoy the fantastic historical places, such as Faneuil Hall; the USS
Constitution; Paul Revere House; Boston Common, the Museum of
Science; Boston Children’s Museum; State House Museum;
Harvard Museum of National History and many others. Every time
someone comes to visit us from Portugal, we find it imperative to
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take them to Boston, the largest city in New England. We usually
have lunch at the popular Quincy Market, a very unique place with
a variety of foods and take an enjoyable Charles River cruise that
provides spectacular views of the city, especially in the evening to
enjoy the beautiful sunset.
New York, also known as the Big Apple - It’s so nice to live four
hours away by car to that beautiful city. Our son lives in
Manhattan, so we often visit him and explore new experiences
every time we go. Some of my favorite places are the Empire State
Building; Top of the Rock; Central Park; Metropolitan Museum;
FAO Schwarz, one of world’s largest toy’s stores in the world that
my grandchildren love to go with “vavô” and “vavó” (grandma and
grandpa). It is such a joy to see their happiness all over the store as
they see all the toys. Other sites we visit are, Ground Zero, the
place where the Twin Towers once stood before being destroyed on
September 11, 2001; the Statue of Liberty; Rockefeller Center,
Times Square; Rose Center for Earth and Space; Intrepid
Museum; South Street Seaport; St. Patrick’s Cathedra and
countless museums.
Ellis Island - The place where over twelve million immigrants
entered the United States from 1892 to 1954, through the portal of
Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. It was an
experience for my wife and me, as immigrants ourselves, to take a
boat from Battery Park, stop at the Statue of Liberty and then go on
to Ellis Island. By studying its history and seeing the many birth
certificates, passports and artifacts, displayed in glass cabinets left
there, from people whose dream was to come and live on this
promised land, we discovered that on January 1 st , 1892, Anne
Moore, a 15 year old Irish girl accompanied by her two brothers
entered history books and a new country when she became the
very first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island.
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Greenwich Village is a large residential neighborhood on the west
side of Lower Manhattan. It is full of art galleries and shops that
attract many tourists. It was known as a Bohemian capital and the
East Coast birthplace of the Beat movement. We always like to go
there and usually have lunch at an Italian Restaurant in Little Italy,
connected to the extraordinary China Town.
We cannot forget Broadway with all its theaters, where we make
sure we see one of many plays, whenever we visit our son, Paulo.
It is mandatory that Deodete and I drive to New York during the
Christmas season. It is spectacular to see the beautiful store
decorations as well as the very tall Christmas tree with thousands
of lights in Rockefeller Center and the breathtaking Christmas
Show at Radio City Music Hall. Our son Paulo fell in love with the
city a few years ago and that is the place he chose to live and work.
Washington, D.C. - My wife and I have travelled to our country’s
capital that I call the Monuments’ City. It is always a very
enjoyable and educational city for us to visit. The points of interest
are numerous, the White House; Lincoln Memorial; Supreme
Court, the Capitol (both, the House of Representatives and
Senate); The Smithsonian Institution that houses the largest
number of museums in America, such as the Air and Space
Museum, American Indian Museum, American Art Museum,
National History Museum and many others; and the National Mall.
The time of the year that we enjoy visiting Washington is during
the Spring Cherry Blossoms Festival, which is breathtaking!
Grand Canyon – Another Natural Wonder of the world is an
incredible steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the
State of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon
National Park, one of the first national parks in the United States.
History tells us that President Theodore Roosevelt was a major
proponent of preservation of the area that he visited on numerous
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occasions to hunt and enjoy its unique beautiful scenery. It is one
of the most visited parks in the United States.
Las Vegas - The largest and most visited entertainment and
gambling city in the world. It is the city of light, where at midnight
it looks as if it were noon. The hotels are super deluxe and the
casinos and shows are the very best. You don’t have to be a
gambler to enjoy Las Vegas. My wife and I have visited the city
several times and we usually stay at one of the hotels on the strip.
We walk from hotel to hotel, watch the events and entertainment
and spend a maximum of two hundred dollars on slot machines.
Las Vegas is a city of fun. There is even entertainment for children.
It’s a fascinating city that is constantly changing, where hotels are
demolished and replaced by new ones built with state-of-the-art
architecture and all kinds of amenities. It is a formidable
experience! Our travel agency used to sell three- and four-night
packages for as little as four hundred dollars a person, including
flights, hotels and transfers from the airport. It is a destination
where you don’t have to spend a lot of money, unless you are a
gambler. We have had the opportunity to see show performances
with famous stars, including Bob Hope, Doris Day, Cher, Dean
Martin, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra and many others. What a thrill
to see so many world celebrities. I remember that in the seventies I
took a group to Las Vegas. My mother heard that Dean Martin was
going to perform that week, so I invited her to come along. She
was so happy. When she returned home she liked to brag to her
friends that she had seen her favorite singer in person!
Unfortunately, she passed away on December 20, 2005. May God
bless her soul! She was a very special lady and mother.
California – One of my favorite places to visit is the San Francisco
Bay area. I rent a car and drive through that beautiful region and
visit San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and other smaller cities
around. We usually drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and have
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a nice dinner at a seafood restaurant in Sausalito, a charming town
on the other side. We like to follow the rugged, scenic California
Coastal Highway 1 – sculpted by earthquakes, wind and ocean to
the stunningly beautiful Monterey Peninsula, which has been
called the greatest meeting of land, sea and sky. We continue to
drive and see the vistas and wild life along the scenic 17 Mile
Drive and visit the lovely coastal town of Carmel-By-The-Sea,
where actor Clint Eastwood was once the Mayor.
We continue to drive down Route 1A south, by California’s scenic
coast, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Along the way we make
several stops, stay at motels and visit many charming cities and
towns like San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura, ending
up in Los Angeles, where we spend a few days to visit that huge
city, take a tour to Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, to see the
movie stars’ mansions. We also take a tour of Hollywood and visit
the studios and sites where films are produced. The trip from San
Francisco to Los Angeles is approximately 350 miles long. It is, in
my opinion, the most interesting way to explore California.
A two hour drive from Los Angeles brings you to the beautiful city
of San Diego, where the average temperature is 70 degrees
Fahrenheit. It is perhaps the best climate in the United States all
year round. The beautiful white beaches are more that a boundary
dividing land and sea. In San Diego, the beach is a way of life. The
city was the host for the America’s Cup that had been held in our
city of Newport, Rhode Island for many years, until the U.S. lost to
New Zeeland and later to San Diego. It is wonderful to visit Balboa
Park; University Heights and Hillcrest; La Jolla and Del Mar.
We also explore the beauty of the Hotel Coronado that radiates
with a confidence of gracious Victorian splendor that is without
equal. It was built in 1888; a classic beachfront property that has
long been heralded as one of America’s most beautiful resorts, also
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designated as a National Historic Landmark. When I owned our
Travel Agency, that’s where I always tried to place our VIP
clients. After their return, they either sent us a thank you note or
came to our office in person, to thank us for sending them to such a
beautiful resort.
Cabrillo National Park is the site where the Portuguese
government, many years ago, paid for the monument in his
memory, for being the first navigator to arrive in California in the
beginning of the 16 th century. The Cabrillo National Monument
statue sits on top of the world, or so it seems, with spectacular
views of both, San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, where one
can watch as boats and ships enter and leave the harbor below.
João Rodrigues Carilho, a mercenary seaman, shipbuilder and
adventurer, has been long promulgated by scholars of being born
in Portugal.
Alaska – Purchased from Russia and became the 49 th State on Jan
1 st 1959. My wife and I sold many tours to Alaska, so we know
how to discover the Alaskan paradise. We decided, based on its
history and unusual beautiful scenery, to take a cruise. We sailed
from Vancouver and took the inside passage, stopped in Ketchikan,
Misty Fjords National Monument on to Juneau, its capitol and then
to Skagway, where we saw the Glacier Bay National Park. It’s
impossible to explain the beauty every where we looked. It was
also very entertaining and a great experience to see the ship go
through icebergs!
It was fascinating to see and learn about the life of Alaska Salmon.
Starting out as small eggs in a stream bed, they hatch and travel
downstream toward the Pacific Ocean. They spend a couple of
years in the streams and rivers growing. At the mouth of the
streams and rivers, they get together for the trip into the ocean,
where their bodies change to adapt to the sea water. Once they are
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fully mature, they swim back to their original spawning grounds.
Once they get back to their natal stream, they breed and lay their
eggs. After spawning, they die within a week, fertilizing the stream
and creating a nutrient-rich environment for the young salmon that
are about to hatch. It’s very educational and interesting to observe
and learn about the famous Alaska Salmon.
Hawaii -- Our 50 th State and the only one that is not geographically
located in North America. It grows coffee, is completely
surrounded by water, is entirely an archipelago, has a Royal
Palace; and does not have a straight line in its state boundaries.
Deodete and I have travelled to Hawaii a couple of times. Once
during an ASTA Convention in 1981, we landed in Honolulu, the
largest city, its capital on the island of Oahu, the third largest
island. We explored the entire island, including Pearl Harbor,
where we visited the Arizona Memorial, which marks the resting
place of over one thousand sailors that where killed on the USS
Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December
7 th , 1941. It was so sad. We also visited the Punchbowl, where the
cemetery is located, and an area of the city where we found many
streets with Portuguese names, because there was a big influx of
Portuguese emigration during the 19 th century, especially from
Madeira Island. There are a great number of people of Portuguese
ancestry in Hawaii. We enjoyed speaking to some
Portuguese/Hawaiians and found that they were eager to explain
that some of them had 10%, 20% and 30% of Portuguese blood in
them! We also learned that they still celebrated the traditional Holy
Ghost Feast, similar to what we have here in New England. We
also found that the Ukulele, a small guitar typically played in
Hawaii, was brought by the Portuguese. We stayed in a Waikiki
beach hotel. The weather is always great in the archipelago, the
temperature ranges from 70º to 84º all year round.
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We took a short flight to the island of Maui where we rented a
sports car and drove to a nice hotel. We toured the entire island and
enjoyed what we had dreamed of Hawaii to be, and most certainly
more than we imagined. We woke up the next morning with
birdsong swell into days of pure exhilaration. From staggering
natural beauty to one-of-a-kind adventures, Maui is a magical,
playground like no other.
Again we took another short flight to Kauai. It has the nickname as
the Garden Isle. It is the Hawaiian destination treasured for its lush
tropical greenery, the most beautiful flowers and sparkling white
sandy beaches. The entire island is like a postcard everywhere you
look. Part of the program given by the ASTA Convention was
enjoying an evening of traditional Hawaiian celebrations. Upon
arrival, we were welcomed with a lei greeting and offered a Mai
Tai from the open-air bar, followed by a beautiful ceremony and an
all-you-can-eat buffet dinner. We were amazed by the beauty of
the hula, a traditional dance retelling the stories of many Hawaiian
legends.
Finally, we flew to the Big Island. It is a volcanic island in the
North Pacific Ocean. Contrary to the other islands’ the so-called
Big Island only has black sand beaches, due to the volcano, very
much like the beaches in the Azores where I was born. The island
was built from volcanoes that erupted somewhat sequentially, one
overlapping the other. It was a must to visit the five shield
volcanoes, especially the Kilauea which is still active and has been
erupting continuously since 1983. It was fascinating to be close to
the lava and experience the heat of it. What a beautiful example of
Mother Nature! Although, it is a long flight from the East, we
found those Polynesian islands an absolute paradise.
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Mexico
We have travelled extensively to Mexico. It is a country that my
wife and I enjoy tremendously, not only because of its beautiful
Mexican art, music, folklore and cuisine, but its people as well. To
begin, Mexico City with approximately nine million people is
replete with ancient built churches and monuments. We visited the
famous Basilica de Santa Maria Guadalupe, that is not only a
Catholic church, but the central place of worship for Mexico’s
patron saint. We saw the blue–mantled Virgin of Guadalupe,
which is the most revered image of the country and observed the
devotion of so many pilgrims. The Basilica may be the second
most visited shrine in the entire Catholic world, second only to St.
Peter’s in Rome.
We spent wonderful vacations in several tourist locations, where
we enjoyed the beautiful sandy beaches, such as Acapulco, Cabo
San Lucas, Cancun, Cozumel, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and
others. The service is always friendly and it is always wonderful to
be entertained by the Mariachis and typical Mexican music and
dancing. It is a destination within North America that does not cost
too much. The most memorable part of our tour was the visit we
made to the very ancient ruins of Chichen Itza. The area is known
for the history of the Mayan civilization, their advanced
mathematical knowledge of that era and their incredible
understanding of the solar system, centuries ago. It was a fantastic
education for us.
It was during one of our trips to Mexico, where my entire family
was enjoying a beautiful condominium, on a beach in Mazatlan,
that we received a telephone call from my sister Adriana, giving
the bad news that my nephew Bobby Gullage, 25 years old, had
passed away in a motorcycle accident in Middletown, Connecticut.
He was the son of my deceased sister Manuela, who had also
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passed away in an automobile accident in 1969, at the age of 30.
Naturally, we shortened our vacation and flew to Hartford for his
funeral. My mother went crazy with another disaster. It was so sad!
Cuba
CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
We have travelled to most of the Caribbean Islands, but it was
always our dream to visit Cuba, a country with a population of
more than 11 million people, more inhabitants than Portugal, my
country of birth. We flew on Cuba Airline, with our Portuguese
passports and arrived in Varadero. We stayed in a very nice resort.
The purpose of our trip was to satisfy our curiosity and interest in
visiting that Communist country and to see, with our own eyes,
how people lived and survived under an oppressive regime. The
first thing we did was to book a tour to the city of Havana, which
took about an hour in a very uncomfortable van packed with
tourists. On our way to the capital city, we witnessed dozens of old
cars stopped on the road with their hoods opened. All cars in Cuba
are from the 1950’s and before, due to the US embargo. The only
new cars that we saw on the road, none from the US, were all
owned by the government. According to our host, employees had
to use them for government services only, such as doctors,
inspectors and police. Every one had to keep a roster, registering
the kilometers used and the reason for their use.
Havana is an incredibly beautiful historical city in terrible shape,
where most buildings are falling apart. We visited the city
extensively, with a tour guide, who told us best things about Fidel
Castro and his doctrine. We visited the Capitol; the huge Plaza de
la Revolucion (Revolution Square); and the hotel where Ernest
Hemingway, the great writer, who loved and lived in Cuba for
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many years, used to spend time. It was so much fun to see so many
photographs and paintings of one of my favorite American authors.
We spent one week, enjoying the resort, with outstanding services,
amenities and a beautiful sandy white beach, which was first class.
People that know me well understand that I cannot keep my mouth
shut; I started talking to the employees in the hotel, asking
questions about their salaries and their standard of living. They
were very open to my wife and me to a point that one of the
receptionists at the hotel, who seemed to like us so much because
we were both Portuguese/Americans and I could speak Spanish
fairly well, that she invited us to her house in a town about half an
hour from the hotel. This was a big risk for her, due to the
constant spying that goes on. She arranged for a taxi to pick us up
at the hotel to take us to her modest house, where we were invited
for dinner. That’s where we were really briefed as to the
incredibly difficult life the people have. No one owns any property
in Cuba, unless the home you live used to belong to your ancestors,
which was the case with our host. She had a very small TV. The
programs were all in Spanish and full of communist propaganda. It
was showing Richard Nixon in 1974 on top of the stairs of the
Presidential Air Force One, after resigning from his presidency.
We also watched John Lennon from the Beatles who was
assassinated in New York City, etc, etc. Every single program on
Cuban TV only serves to brainwash the peoples’ minds to prevent
anyone from seeing what it is to live in a free world and to avoid a
coup-d’état.
Even though, she owned the house that used to belong to her
parents, she had been trying to build an extra room for one of her
children. The problem she and many others have is that the salaries
in Cuba range from $20.00 to $50.00 US dollars per month. The
exchange rate was 23 Cuban pesos for one US dollar. Her husband
is a chemist and worked for the government as a food inspector.
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That’s the reason why he had such a high salary. She told us that
Fidel Castro’s regime was about to collapse. People can’t live
decently. They cannot leave the country, nor have any freedom at
all. The only fringe benefit is that everyone has free education and
health care, but the cost for food and clothes is not cheap, so
everybody struggles to survive. It’s so sad. People are well
educated and beautiful; she confessed that all they needed was to
be able to live freely and decently! She gave an example of her
personal hardship. She has been saving money for 5 years, from
the total household income, to purchase a bag of cement each
month. She said that in order to add an extra room to her house, it
will take another 10 years to complete the project. She mentioned
to us that, although very difficult, one day there will be another
revolution to eradicate that terrible communist dictatorship and end
the embargo, which is also the cause for the terrible economy and
poverty She said that her dream was that Cuba would become a
paradise again for tourists with freedom and democracy. There is
no entrepreneurship… Even the people, selling souvenirs in the
stores and on the streets, have to share their sales with the
government.
At the beach near our hotel, there were always college professors
entertaining the tourists for tips. I spoke to one of those professors
and he questioned why he needed to acquire a PHD. He was
hopeful that, one day, there will be a revolution and Cuba will be
free and prosperous again!
Haiti
The recent news about the terrible earthquake in Haiti, and the
calamity that affected millions of people reminded me of a trip I
took to Haiti many years ago, with other travel agents, sponsored
by a tour operator, who was interested in developing the tourism in
that poor country. We were supposed to stay there one week to
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observe the potential of making Haiti into a tourist destination, like
the Dominican Republic, its neighbor next door.
When we arrived in Port-au-Prince and passed through the city of
about 3 million people we were shocked by the poverty that was
everywhere. We were placed in a compound of villas with private
swimming pools. As usual, I walked with a few travel agents
around the city. I remember visiting the market. The people
surrounded us like flies, begging to be our private tour guides. It is
really the poorest country on the Western Hemisphere. As I could
speak some French, I was told about the misery that exists in the
country, where 80% of people did not have jobs. Many had not
worked for years and in order to survive, had to exchange
vegetable and other produce among themselves. Some told me that
they had not touched money for years. The President at the time
was Jean Paul Duvalier, a corrupt thief who ran away with
millions of dollars and now lives in Paris.
Before the trip, I knew that Haitians were very talented, and many
were extraordinary painters. I purchased a few paintings, very
inexpensive, especially a famous one entitled The Market Place, a
popular scene of the market in Port-au-Prince, showing a colorful
portrait of many heads and faces with lots of colors, like yellow,
blue and red that is very common with Haitian art. The thing that
impressed me the most was the material that they used. They had
no money to buy canvas or even paper, so they used empty burlap
bags that had been used to contain sugar sent by the United States
and other countries. In my house, I am privileged to have several
beautiful pieces of art, where on the back I can see the written
words, sugar, flour, etc. Incredible…What an injustice! I was so
sad and frustrated that I was given a villa with a swimming pool
and the locals did not even have water for soup. Three days after
arriving there, I took a flight to Chicago, called my wife. She
asked me how I was enjoying Haiti. I told her that I was in
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Chicago on my way home, because I could not stand the living and
social injustices I witnessed with my own eyes.
I hope and pray to God, that in spite of the terrible catastrophe, the
US and other countries will not only rebuild Port-au-Prince, but
help to establish a plan to install factories and other infrastructure
to give employment to the human beings who want and need to
work to become independent, instead of receiving hand outs of
food and other necessities. I strongly think that former President
Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, former President Jimmy Carter and other
Foundations can convince the G8 countries to do just that, instead
of moving their companies to China. It’s inconceivable that in the
21 st century we have a neighboring nation within the American
Continent that is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere!
Panama Canal
CENTRAL AMERICA
We took a cruise to cross the Panama Canal, which is a 48-mile
ship canal that joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is one of
the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.
It was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial
World. The canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the
two oceans, replacing the long treacherous route via the Drake
Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America.
A ship from San Francisco traveling via the canal travels 5,900
miles, which is well under half the 14,000-mile route around Cape
Horn. It was a great experience going through the canal to watch
the locks that determine the maximum of ships allowed passage
and how narrow a space the ships had to maneuver. What a
fantastic spectacle.
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Costa Rica
Deodete and I flew to San José, Costa Rica, that means Rich Coast
in Spanish. Contrary to other countries in Central America, Costa
Rica is a very stable democratic republic with a strong constitution.
It is bordered by Nicaragua to the North, Panama to the east and
south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean
Sea to the east. We did our home work to its history before we
decided to travel there. We were very surprised, after being in
other Central American countries that Costa Rica’s literacy rate is
an amazing 97%, one of the highest in Latin America -- no wonder
so many Americans chose to retire there! It is a very peaceful place
to visit and live. It was also interesting to find that the government
had permanently abolished its army in 1949. It is the only Latin
American country included in the list of the world’s 22 oldest
democracies. Surprisingly, Costa Rica has consistently been
among the top Latin American countries in terms of Human
Development. It ranks 3 rd in the world and is 1 st among the
Americas in environmental performance. Costa Rica plans to
become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. I like to cite these
statistics, because most people, including my wife and I had no
idea of the magnitude of characteristics and development of that
country. We spent a few days as part of an organized tour and
viewed the beautiful mountains and its greenery and a rich variety
of plants and animals. We were taken to the Monteverde Claud
Rain Forest Reserve, where we marveled to see thousands of plant
species, including many beautiful orchards. We also had the
privilege of attending Mass at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de
los Angeles (Our Lady of the Angeles Basilica), the country’s
patron saint and Costa Rica’s National place of pilgrimage, located
a few miles from San Jose. It was one of the most fascinating trips
we have ever taken.
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Brazil
SOUTH AMERICA
Brazil was discovered by the Portuguese Navigator Pedro Alvares
Cabral in 1500. My wife and I have travelled to Brazil a few
times. We have visited a few cities, including São Paulo, the most
populated city in the Southern Hemisphere and the country’s
business and financial center. It’s a huge city with lots of people.
The first time we visited that extremely busy city, there was no
subway. We had to wait, sometimes an hour, to catch a taxi.
Today, it’s still a crazy city, but much more organized, similar to a
large American metropolis.
Salvador da Bahia is also known as the Brazilian capital of
happiness due to its easygoing 80% population of Black African
ancestry and countless popular outdoor activities, including the
street Carnival, Mardi gras. It is also known for its cuisine, music,
folklore and architecture. We found it to be a fascinating colorful
city, with beautiful churches, monuments and beaches.
My wife and I had always wanted to visit Florianopolis the capital
of Santa Catarina, because we knew that’s where many
Azorean/Portuguese people emigrated in the 18 th and 19 th
centuries. It’s a beautiful city with an Azorean flavor, in its music,
folklore and cuisine. They still maintain Portuguese street names
and the houses are very similar to the ones their ancestors lived,
prior to settling in Brazil. We visited an interesting museum which
displayed many Azorean artifacts. We had a marvelous time
swimming in their many beautiful white sandy beaches.
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We flew to Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil, since 1960, that is
situated in the highlands of central Brazil. It is one of the most
modern cities ever built, without intersections or street lights. The
plot plan of Brasilia is in the form of a bird or an airplane.
Government and administrative buildings form the body of the
plane, while residential and shopping areas and schools extend out
the wings. It is a city in the middle of nowhere, with extraordinary
unique architecture.
Rio de Janeiro, the former capital of the Portuguese Empire, is in
my opinion, the most beautiful God-made natural city in the world.
Although we spent some time at the hotel-lined tourist beaches like
the Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, we also visited the most
famous landmark in the country, the giant statue of Christ, the
Redeemer atop Corcovado Mountain, one of the Seven Wonders of
the World. The most breathtaking panorama of the entire city is the
view from Pão de Açucar or Sugarloaf Mountain. We took a cable
car to the top, with a stop in between and arrived at the
mountaintop, overlooking Rio, whose nickname is Cidade
Maravilhosa or the Marvelous City. It’s impossible to describe its
beauty. To take advantage of the scenery, one must go up before
sunset, stay there for a couple of hours, see the city and wait for
sunset to enjoy a beautiful lighted paradise. It looks unreal, like a
fantasy world!
Peru
We spent a couple of days in Lima, the capital of Peru and took a
city tour. It was interesting to discover the fine Spanish Colonial
Mansions, the impressive San Francisco Church and other
historical sites. We flew to Cuzco, the center of the Inca Empire,
where we were surprised to learn that no one was allowed to leave
the plane until a musical folkloric group arrived. The reason for the
custom is very practical. The city is at an altitude of about 11,000
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feet and, as a precaution for people with heart problems due to the
lack of oxygen, passengers are asked to follow the music group
slowly to the terminal. This one was totally new to me.
The bus was waiting at the airport and transported us to the hotel.
A little while after checking in, we went to our room to relax. A
few minutes later, we heard someone knocking at the door. I
opened the door and there was a nice young lady with tea. I
thanked her. We learned that tea is served to all hotel guests when
they arrive. The tea is made out of a combination of herbal and
coco leaves to make you relax. I looked at my wife and laughed,
“My God! Now we can’t deny that we have ever experienced
drugs.”
The following morning, we took a tour of the Sacred Valley, where
we watched and learned about llamas and alpacas, and ancient
weaving techniques that are still in use. We also visited beautiful
churches, full of silver decorations. It was fascinating. But the real
reason to travel to Peru was to see Machu Picchu, one of the Seven
Wonders of the World. We took a train ride passed the Andean
peaks, where we got an understanding of Incan history, culture and
civilization. The next morning, after breakfast, we walked to see
the unmatched sunrise at Machu Picchu, and visited the numerous
ruins and the Temple of Moon. It was another adventure I’ll never
forget.
Argentina
After a trip to Brazil, we took a flight to Buenos Aires. On the way
from São Paulo, we flew over the beautiful Iguassu Falls, on the
border between Brazil and Argentina. It was an unbelievable
panorama from the air. We took a tour of Buenos Aires and visited
the most important tourist attractions, Plaza de Mayo; the Casa
Rosada, (Pink House) the official office of the president; the grand
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façade of Colon Theater; then La Boca, the colorful district where
the Tango originated. The city is known internationally as the city
where tango music and dance was nurtured. We had a nice dinner
and lots of fun watching a Tango show in the evening. In fact,
Tango is one of my favorite rhythms that I always enjoyed dancing
to when I was younger and even today. It is very romantic and
beautiful.
Every Buenos Aires barrio has a park, gardens or wonderful green
squares, where you can walk, relax and enjoy the sunshine. I have
never seen any city in the world with so many parks and statues.
We visited the Bosques de Palermo, one of the most famous parks
and gardens located on Avenida del Libertador.(Liberty Avenue);
Avenida 9 de Julio (July 9 th Avenue) perhaps the busiest in
Buenos Aires. Argentina is famous for leather goods and beef. The
center of the city is very chic and we found that people are usually
very well dressed, European style, which is a little different from
most South America cities we have visited. It is a very busy,
charming cosmopolitan city, where women and, even men, go
crazy to purchase leather coats and shoes.
Although I know that this is not a history book, I like to end it with
a little bit about Evita Peron’s life, who died at a young age, and
therefore unable to write her own story, so that the entire world
could understand what it was to come from modest poor
beginnings and become an immortal example of a champion
human being.
One of the reasons I wanted to travel to Argentina was the
attraction I had for Evita Peron. She was a beautiful woman. I
always wanted to see the city where she grew up, very poor with
five brothers, a mother and no father. They all lived in a one-room
shack. Her mother did not send her to school, but made her work in
kitchens of rich families. Eva moved to Buenos Aires at age 16,
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where she became an actress and made a few films. In 1945 she
met Juan Peron and helped him to get elected as president of
Argentina. History tells us that she started her own foundation that
built hundreds of schools and hospitals for the Argentines.
Although she never officially held a government post, she
performed as Minister of Health and Labor, because of her own
persistence. She did make many enemies during her life. She did
everything in her power to step on the toes of the rich Argentines.
She had a short political life. She was active for four years of her
husband’s term, but was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1951.
Evita’s story can teach us all that it is possible to defy fate. She
was born into the lowest rural life and climbed the ladder to
become the most powerful woman in the country. She did all this,
at a time when the place of woman was in the home, not behind a
desk. Even after her death, Evita remains loved not only by
Argentines, but by people all over the world. As most of us know,
Broadway made a musical play about her life and Hollywood made
a movie as well.
After completing this long last chapter of my book, I must express
my deepest and sincere gratitude to my wife, the love of my life for
49 years, who helped me to recollect the many episodes described
in the book. She was and continues to be my inseparable
companion.
My life did not end. I will continue to be involved in this beautiful
Town of Bristol that adopted me more than forty years ago, and
enabled me to attain the American Dream. This is undoubtedly my
favorite place to live among so many Bristolians that have
accepted me as one of its citizens for which I am very proud. This
is my story - the life of an immigrant who, one day, decided to
leave his country of birth to live in peace with the freedom of
expression. As I said when I ran for the Rhode Island State Senate
in 1974, the first time I voted freely, was for myself.
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I hope that perhaps, my memoirs could help future immigrants, and
others, to deal with the problems and aspirations typical of anyone
who decides to come to this God Promised Land.
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EPILOGUE
Just before my book was ready to be printed, my son called me to
say that he would not be able to go to Madeira Island and Lisbon
with his mother and me to celebrate the New Year. His plans had
unexpectedly changed because a baby that he had committed to
adopt was on its way! The doctors at the hospital had called him to
let him know that the baby’s mother was rushed to the hospital and
ready to give birth a month prematurely.
Naturally, my son, his partner Paul Brennan and our granddaughter
Isabel took the next flight to be there for the baby’s birth. It was a
very special day for my son because not only was the baby born on
Christmas Eve, but the doctor, who knew that my son was a
medical doctor, asked if he wished to deliver the baby himself. He
immediately agreed. He was overwhelmed with joy and emotion to
experience this unforgettable moment.
Paulo and Paul had thought of many names before the birth, but
decided to name the newborn baby Nicolas Alexandre,
Alexander, because he
was born on Christmas Eve. All our family and friends were very
happy to receive this most precious and blessed Christmas gift. My
wife and I were already very content and happy to have three
wonderful granddaughters. Now we feel even more complete with
the arrival of our first grandson. When holding that precious new
baby, it is difficult to comprehend how someone could opt for an
abortion rather than give God’s gift, the gift of life. Nicolas’
mother had the inner strength to make the right choice through
adoption knowing that Nicolas, like his sister Isabel, will have a
wonderful life and become a very special part of our lives. I am
very grateful to our Lord for bringing this angel and all my
grandchildren into our lives. I love them all with all my heart and
soul. I am also very happy and humbled to know that Nicolas will
carry on our family name.
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ABOUT THE EDITOR
Diana Botelho Campbell, herself a descendent of immigrants, grew
up in Bristol, RI. Her maternal great grandparents, Antone and
Mary Borges were from São Jorge and her paternal grandparents,
Joseph and Louisa Botelho, were from São Miguel. They came to
the United States early in the 20th century. Her parents, though
they both attended St. Elizabeth’s Church in Bristol, didn’t meet
until they were teenagers. It was their dream that their daughter
would go to college – a dream that was almost lost when her father
died as a result of an accident with a drunk driver. Ms. Campbell
was determined, though, to go to college, which she did with the
help of scholarships and student loans.
She met Donald Campbell while in college and married him soon
after graduation. Unfortunately, Donald passed away after a long
battle with cancer, leaving her a widow with a young daughter,
Sarah. Sarah, now a grown woman, with a degree in Mathematics
from Boston University, works as an analyst.
Ms. Campbell has a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s
Degree in Instructional Technology. She is currently the Executive
Director of Mosaico Community Development Corporation. She
manages all Mosaico programs, including workforce development,
Sense of Pride, mentoring, and community development programs,
and oversees the rehabilitation of the Bristol Industrial Park.
Ms. Campbell serves on the Bristol Warren Regional School
Committee. She is the sole proprietor of Seal Island Enterprises,
developing websites for small businesses and non-profits. Her
other work experiences have been in education and corporate
industry, involving technology, training and communications.
Ms Campbell met Fred Pacheco when she invited him to
participate in a community forum, Voices for Bristol’s Future.
Since that time, Ms. Campbell and Mr. Pacheco have become good
friends, sharing a love for the community of Bristol, world travel,
family and friends.
245

About the Author:
Fred Pacheco is one of my close friends and thus I fell at liberty to say
that he is a very remarkable person. I have known Fred for over forty years,
almost from the day he stepped off the plane from the Azores. He was then,
and still is, an amazing combination of energy, intellect, good humor and
ambition. While is a true Azorean, he is as American as it gets! He loves
his adopted town of Bristol, serving it in many capacities, and in return
being honored by it as Chief Marshal of the Fourth of July celebration, and
president of the Bristol Rotary Club. Now Fred has written recollections
of his remarkable career, which we know will be a solid contribution to the
history of this great American town
—Ros Bosworth, Publisher Emeritus, East Bay Newspaper
I have known Frederico (Fred) Pacheco since he moved to Rhode Island,
as a young married man with his wife Deodete and two children, Angela
and Paulo, as an immigrant from the Azores Islands. Over the years, he has
founded and developed a successful travel agency in neighboring Warren
and eventually in the town of Bristol, RI. Fred has served as founder, officer
and chair of several community organizations in the greater Rhode Island
area. He has contributed, most notably, to the creation of the “Mosaico
Community Development Corporation” and, viewed by area citizens as
a leader and spokesman for many public causes. With the authorship of
his “Memoirs” he has offered a more inclusive compilation of his extensive
world-wide travels that many feel anxious to read and share. His focus,
precision and perseverance in the undertaking of his life story will serve
as a permanent and introspective account to both his children and grandchildren,
as well as to future generations of immigrant families coming to
the United States, who may be inspired to emulate Fred’s example.
—Robert C. Arruda, D.M.L.
Emeritus Professor of Romance Languages – Bridgewater University, MA
During a lifetime we meet many people from all walks of life. Many impact
our lives far more than others. Fred Pacheco is a man who has affected many
lives including my own. He is a caring person who sincerely cares for his
friends and family. Fred is a wonderful resource, having traveled the world
throughout his life. His love of travel is addictive and has encouraged me to
become more adventurous. Fred has been great fun to work with and I shall
always consider him to be my friend.
—Anne B. Bates
Ex-President, East Bay Chamber of Commerce