My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

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
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