#BLM Art and Former Statues

#BLM Art and Former Statues

Not only have there been gorgeous murals going up around the world in support of Black Lives Matter, but they are also painting the streets themselves. Black Lives Matter in huge letters, visible from space, or at least from small aircraft.

And the statues, ALL the statues seem to be coming down, all the ones which lack compassion.  And even the ones of old men, who might be on the good side of history.  In these days, it is better to rethink everything.  Even those who fought, did they not fight hard enough?  Did they do everything and we are still stuck in this world? Would their ghosts be fighting for change, along with the protesters? 

I imagine the ghosts on the better, more equitable side of history, cheering on the living.  All the energy (both living and dead) are contributing to the new world.  And even the ghosts with regretful pasts, are changing their minds.  Even they can change their minds, even they can fix things for the better from the grave.  

All the souls in the world want mercy for the future.

Even in Portugal,there is a sense of reckoning.  The idea that "Portugal is not a racist country" has been brought up again-how can the country which started the slave trade and commissioned histories to define the hierarchy of races- Prince Henry the Navigator has lots of statues-but we must now understand who he really is.

https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/06/06/black-lives-matter-movement-to-hold-more-rallies-across-portugal/

https://lithub.com/ibram-x-kendi-how-racism-relies-on-arbitrary-hierarchies/

Socially Distanced Sopas Festival!

Every summer, it is traditional for there to be many celebrations of the saints.  And for every island of the Azores, there is a special feast for the community.

We were able to celebrate the feast of Saint Anthony at his church in Cambridge, MA. Saint Anthony Parish

Of course, we are all in the middle of a pandemic.  Instead of a long line in the sun and then crowded into communal tables and large bowls of soup, each car was given a to-go pan of soup. (Open your trunks, do not get out of your car)

My mother missed the arroz doce the most.  I missed the ability to mix the table wine with orange soda-a drink for old ladies and aspiring children.

We also missed the idea of getting together-although a drive thru line was a new experience!  It makes me value the memories of actual experience even more, and makes me look forward to being able to do it again in the future.

Porco de chao vs Marmota

Porco de chao vs Marmota

We had a groundhog in the yard last year for the first time.  He came out in the middle of the day, in the middle of the yard, to check everything out.  We thought it was cute the first time we spotted him. 

But then this animal began digging.  I like to think of myself as a basic gardener, but this little guy made holes bigger than anything I've ever dug with a spade or a shovel.

As my mother was trying to describe this animal/monster to her sister in Sao Miguel, she could only translate it as the Pig of the Ground. Which it is. Totally appropriate.  I looked it up and found another name for it. but I like hers better.

Rebuçados-Cough Drops

The world has stopped for coronavirus. Everyone is at home, trying to hide from the world, hoping nobody breathes on you. Watching for every little sniff, sneeze or cough.

My mother just stormed into my room, telling me that I've been coughing and asking if I need any Rebuçados.  I know its serious when she teaches me a new word. She had an operation recently, and I've been taking care of her.  But she's a Portuguese mother and prefers to mother me.

A few months ago, talking about whether she should get an operation or not, we had a lot of life or death discussions.  Everything seemed depressing and sad.  And now, we are at a similar place again. Wondering about mortality, how lightly to take this serious threat.  We haven't been around a lot of people lately-except for people in the hospital.

The waiting game is hard.  But not as hard as the coughing and the gasping for air.  I hope you have lots of cough drops, everyone.  Good luck, stay safe, stay at home and stay healthy!!!

Rabugenta: Cranky

My mother called me out on one of my behaviors, and frankly I'm surprised it's taken this long for her to name it. 

Cranky, grouchy. As in: Oscar the Rabugento.

She's been sick lately, and by rights, should have been the one to be grouchy and in a foul mood. And frankly, I haven't been any worse than usual, but sometimes the subconscious comes up with great descriptors for the world around us.

And oddly enough, it made the both of us laugh. Enough to get us both feeling good and to kick us out of any kind of cranky mood. 

So next time you are cranky, you can cheer yourself up by thinking of all the ways you can describe yourself. And how you can surprise yourself and others by how you can laugh at your new nicknames!

MIT Hackathon in Virtual Reality

This month, I'm not talking about Portuguese, but about a new technology that can bring us across borders in time and space.

==
I attended the MIT Hackathon about XR, actually called a Reality Hack.  I crafted and scripted the narrative about Desegregation in Miami in 1957-specifically a story about Frank LeGree and how his family had picketers outside his house, threw rocks and eventually erected a cross on his front lawn-all in order to get him out of a neighborhood.

The video of the AR experience we created is here: https://youtu.be/C6w3e4wqwfk

Our team would love to do more with AR and explore this and other stories of America's growing pains further. Desegregation of schools, different neighborhoods in large cities i the 1950's. Life for a growing country and how that time period brought forth change that is still unresolved today. 

Connect that period with When They See Us-and #OscarsStillSoWhite and you will see how America still exists in black and white for so many people. The best part of the Hackathon was the idea that so many different people could come together to build a new reality. One in which the only judgments issued are on a lack of imagination.

Mark Twain at the Dabneys in Horta, Faial

I've been doing some research on Twain's visit to the Azores. He stopped in Horta on his way to Palestine-a series of correspondences that would become his book,  Innocents Abroad.

Most of what he wrote about the Azores in that book was not kind, he was trying to create jokes-and also created a cynical sense of the superiority of the American traveler. He made himself the joke of an ugly American-especially viewed from the perspective of today.

In the Book about the Dabneys, there is evidence that he was in their house. Below is a quote from one of the female residents.

“At 10 the parlor was quite full….One young man had his note-book out all the time and remarked as I gave him some verbena,’I am taking notes as I am a correspondent of a paper’. 

‘Horrors;, writes CPD, “how we may appear in print,’

Never too early to plan the next trip to Provincetown!

Having spent Thanksgiving in Provincetown, with all its associated Portuguese heritage, I noticed that there is an Annual Blessing of the Fleet and weekend-long Festival at the end of June (6/25-28/2020) More information can be found here:
https://provincetownportuguesefestival.com/

It's never to early to plan your time in this seaside town, especially bc it fills up so quickly in the summertime. See you then!!

Toronto's 40th Festival of Authors: Anthony De Sa

Last night, I attended a marvelous reading and discussion with the author Anthony De Sa and Wilfried N'Sonde. Both authors were amazing, and revealed the excellent approaches they took about research and their backgrounds and how they contributed to their work. Both were WRITERS first, their backgrounds were just pieces which informed their writings-not characteristics by which they needed to be pigeonholed.

I admit, that I came because De Sa had grown up in the Portuguese neighborhood of Toronto, and I had read Barnacle Love while in the Azores. There aren't enough children of Portuguese immigrants writing fiction today and I loved what I had encountered-feeling as if I was not alone in the experience.

De Sa's new book is about Mozambique, Children of the Moon.  In an aside, he revealed that even though his uncles had fought in the wars (including Angola and Guinea), he had never gotten a fuller story out of them.  When I probed further, he mentioned how difficult it was for them-the strong macho characteristic against the idea of losing a war-and what they had to go through-and make other people endure. De Sa mentioned that everything in the media in the 1960's was about America and Vietnam. And sometimes stories came out of that war-or WWII, which made the soldiers feel like they were fighting for a noble cause.  But colonialism is harder to reconcile and understand. 

I've yet to get the fuller stories from my own uncles. I want to know. War is never easy for anyone, but I hope they have been able to process their memories and make some meaning out of them. I'd love to hear it.

Fuxicos: Visiting a Brazilian Artist's Studio in LaGuardia

I was walking to my flight at the Jetblue Terminal and saw a tiny art studio in the lobby area.

Stopping, I chatted a bit with the woman who was running the space, Anna, but was rushing to my flight and I couldn't linger.  What a funny place for a popup art location, I thought.

And then I came through again, and my plane was delayed. Finally I had the proper time.

This time I stayed for a good while, and spoke to Davi Leventhal, an enchanting man who told me about being raised Brazilian in NYC, something I related to, being raised Azorean in Boston. Anna was there as well.

His art was based on fuxicos-simple circles of fabric, which when combined, make a giant tapestry of color and energy.  Visitors are invited to make one and leave one. I made 3, but one fell apart.  He gifted me one-which I will attach to a blanket my Vovo made me.

His assembly method reminded me of my Mousetrap Project, creating small pieces of beauty which are seen as a strong presence when mounted together. And because there was the interactive element, of getting to sit and sew (especially in what is normally a stressful environment), the was a performance piece that I was happy to have experienced.

==

For more info:

https://www.davileventhal.com/about.html

https://www.aviationpros.com/airports/buildings-maintenance/press-release/21076449/the-port-authority-of-new-york-new-jersey-local-artist-residency-program-returns-to-laguardia-airports-marine-air-terminal-for-second-year

https://www.queenscouncilarts.org/2019-artport-artists

Cousins Visiting America

So I have a cousin and his family-wife and 2 daughters, visiting America.

They were flying into Boston-because that's where the flights go. But they wanted to go to Disney World.  I told them to fly, They rented a car and 3 days down, 3 days there- 3 days back, they have seen more of America than I have!

Boston, NYC, Cape Cod, all the good stores, all the cheap souvenirs.

I'm amazed.  They are world travelers, but still, this was the first time in the US.

When we asked about the most amazing things, they loved the authentic food in NYC's Chinatown. And being off an island.  The idea of driving for 3 days-and not falling off the island-that is something.

Thoreau/Twain in Concord

And now for some of my other achievements. i wrote a play....


I'm happy to report that the performance of Thoreau/Twain: Brothers in the River for the Thoreau Society was a tremendous success.

Brent Rinalli, Tammy Rose and Joel Hersh

The main performers were Brent Rinalli, who has been in and around Concord giving lectures and historical interpreting as Thoreau for the past few years and Joel Hersh, a local actor known for his varied musical ability-played Twain.

The main conceit of the show is that an Academic is trying to summon the spirits of the authors, to have them discuss a major, and underexplored parallel of their lives.  Both of them had a deep relationship with a brother on the river of their childhood, and both of them lost that brother to a sudden event. This happened before either of them began to write-but both found inspiration in their brothers and documented the influences strongly in their writings.

The authors -who had never met in real life- get deep into conversation, about their lives, commonalities they share-and especially their brothers. Most of the text of the play is taken directly from journals, letters and the formal published writings of the authors-and their contemporaries. They argue with each other using their own words and get a chance to recount a major emotional moment in their lives. (No pop-psychology or therapy here-the drama comes directly from their own words and existing texts).

Thanks to the Thoreau Society and to all the amazing and attentive attendees!  Especially those who took pictures and gave me feedback on new areas to explore between the two!

And extra special thanks to my fellow Tourguides who make all the research and the entire experience of Concord SO MUCH FUN!!!

Imperio Mariense De Saugus

Check out the upcoming event at Imperio Mariense De Saugus, coming up for the first weekend in July.

The Sopas Festival is a tradition that dates beyond what anyone can remember. It is a giant celebration that happens throughout the Azores-the islands trade off weekends, maybe to give everyone an excuse to visit different islands.

The soups (sopas) are made of just a few ingredients, meat, cinnamon, mint and probably a host of whatever magical and regional tastes (or whomever is in charge of the kitchen). And BREAD.

Everything gets served in long tables, community style indeed. There is table wine, and ginger ale-which people sometimes mix.

Sometimes due to multiple seatings, it is required to stand outside in the heat-to wait for hot soup.

Maybe these celebrations were designed for travel in fair weather, and the food was designed for the cheapest, easiest way to be most generous to everyone. But hot soup in hot weather is an annual rite of passage. We all suffer, and laugh, together.

http://imperiomariensedesaugus.org/

Saab Center UMass Lowell Poor Planning Ruins Mariza Concert

First and foremost, Mariza always gives a solid performance. She was backed by 5 instrumentalists and she began and ended the main show with traditional Fado songs sung acoustically.  The rest of the show was from her varied career-complete with amplification and Mozambique-influenced styles. Don't  expect a traditional Fadista like Amalia Rodrigues, because she has taken Fado into a modern and innovative style. My cousin and I have seen her perform in Newark, NJ and she was magnificent as always.

It seems the event was designed as a fundraiser-which allowed table seating on the ground floor.  All the Orchestra Level seats were unavailable.  To create a more "intimate" setup, the organizers draped cloth around the seats on the main floor- not even an accessible area.  This left the remainder of the seats in the balcony. Note: there was NO indication on the website that this was the layout. I was taking 2 elderly women with me and would have paid a premium price for Accessible Seating-or at least something on the ground floor.

Lowell and the Portuguese communities have always faced issues of Rich vs Poor, the layout brought the differences into stark reality. This event was designed to celebrate both cultures, but instead served as a reminder that nothing has changed, and in fact, today's world is all about reinforcing the differences between the haves and have nots.

The whole show from the balcony was about looking down at the tables who were closest to the performer. Those with opera glasses or binoculars were lucky enough to be able to see her. The rest of us had trouble seeing anything other than a woman in a light blue dress from that distance.

My main disappointment is with the organizers of the event who set expectations and didn't encourage a good experience for any non-sponsors. I will NOT be supporting any future events that U Mass Lowell organizes because of this. I do not begrudge any fundraising efforts which seek to provide an elegant experience for those who sponsor an event. But they went out of their way to disadvantage and alienate the rest of the audience.

4 main issues that showed a clear lack of professionalism in a public event:

• Starting the show 30 minutes late, and then leaving the audience literally in the dark for an additional 5 without ANY explanation or apology
• Parking:difficult, far , unmarked and an additional $10 vs the Sponsor parking across the street which had several volunteers (they told me to take 4 rights to get to the garage across the river, and then there was a 10 minute walk)
• All non-sponsor seats (ranging from $39-$79) were in the BALCONY, no Accessible seating was indicated and the elevator required a LONG walk across the far side of the backstage area. No link for sponsor tickets, no indication that orchestra seating was not available
• Nobody had considered the experience of the rest of the audience, it seemed like the public was allowed in as an afterthought

When the lights were lowered (at 8pm instead of 7:30 as announced), the audience was left in the dark for a full 5 minutes.  Someone shouted "Anybody here named Maria?" which got a loud laugh and solid applause from an audience awaiting in eager anticipation. No greeting from the organizers-no apologies, no messaging to the audience about what was planned for and what was an accident.

No reflection on Mariza, it ALL reflected poorly on Lowell Memorial and the Saab Center at UMass Lowell.

It's Not Easy Trying to understand American

I met someone at a Satire Festival and we began to exchange experiences about our families coming to America from other places, trying to understand the culture.  Although Lady Liberty is a pretty nice symbol, she's not holding a bilingual dictionary-and the bigger secret is that even native speakers will have difficulties understanding everything.

My mother was catcalled at work by her manager; he called her a swinger.  Even though this was the 70's, she was still VERY offended and came home and told her husband/my father.  But she was still so mad, she couldn't come up with the word.

"He called me a---a --- a JUMPER!" she finally said.  Instead of empathizing with her, my father (a native speaker) laughed.

She laughs about it now, too.  In fact, it's one of her favorite stories to tell.  Now that she's not the butt of the joke anymore (sorry, mom).

There are LOTS of stories like this. (I wonder if technology will end the accidents, or just create more?)

Mariza-The Fado Singer-in Lowell

There will be a great gathering of people from the Portuguese diaspora! Mariza will be coming to perform in Lowell in April. (info below)

https://lowellauditorium.com/calendar/2019/4/20/mariza

She's sold over a million records, born in Mozambique.  There is a distinctive sound of Fado, starting with Amalia Rodrigues-who is like the Portuguese Edith Piaf, or vice versa.

Here's the traditional version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARS7Zi-Zpkw


Here's one of my favorite of Mariza's songs: Locura
https://youtu.be/BiU0fkwrviM

There is a particular sound of saudade that echoes in both.  And it's a language that goes deeper than translation.  No matter what the songs are actually about, it breaks my heart.

Caucasian or White? Article on the Portuguese in Hawaii

Where do/did Portuguese immigrants to America fall in the scale of race?   America has been so recently terrorized by Drumph's border wall and discrimination and hate crimes are rising. This country is again resorting to nationalistic screeds of who "belongs", with no actual definition and no rhyme or reason. Does the Statue of Liberty mean anything anymore?

I've come across this discussion in my own life, but seldom does it seem to be addressed on a larger scale. "Portuguese" does not fit into the same category as "Hispanic"-even though the very word comes from Hispanola-the name for the Iberian Peninsula in Roman times.

A very interesting article can be found here, about historical treatment of the Portuguese in a society of clearly identifiable races, and how the races are stacked against each other:  http://www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/2016/07/caucasian-but-not-white-race-and-the-portuguese-in-hawaii/

It covers the variety of definitions used officially, and the most defining factor: skin color.  An "Olive Complexion" can be a flattering descriptor, OR it can be a way to define a version of race-without calling it out directly.

An interesting quote: "The Portuguese fell somewhere in between.  Their wages were set lower than White Caucasians but higher than Asians and Latinos.  They could not hold upper management positions, but they could work in supervisory positions."

Portuguese workers fell/fall(?) into an in-between category, which does not allow them to fully "pass" nor does it release them from discrimination. For those who imagine that American issues are divided into black and white, be advised that historically, and even now, there is a scale that is always being adjusted. 

Language, accent, economic status, culture-and background are ways to assess how "American" someone is. Even Tom Brokaw has said that "Hispanics should work harder at assimilation," but he has since apologized for his comments.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/business/media/tom-brokaw-hispanics-assimilation.html

At what point IS someone/a group considered assimilated? When THEY can begin to discriminate?

New year's Eve in Portuguese

Since Portugal used to be everywhere in the world, they will be shouting Feliz Ano Novo! in many countries tonight (and they have already begun)

One day, I plan to create a cookbook that will include Portuguese meals from Goa (India), the islands of the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde. Brazil! And of course, East Cambridge, Massachusetts, San Jose, California and Toronto, Canada.

And I want to include the 5 other African countries (in addition to Cape Verde) that speak Portuguese: Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and (since 2011) Equatorial Guinea.

I don't know if I would be lucky enough to make it for New Year's, but one can certainly hope! ;)

Portuguese Thanksgiving in America

Portuguese Thanksgiving include salted cod fish and massa suvada/sweet bread.

This year, there was also laughter about how my aunt made tuna sandwiches.  Spreading the mayo on the bread-like butter-and then putting the tuna on top-dry, instead of mixing it up.  I still can't tell whether it is funny or more time consuming. 

There is still a big divide between things that are American, and things that are Portuguese. And the bits that are Portuguese are fading with each year.

This year, there was no sweet bread. Only sweets.

DISQUIET WRITING PROGRAM

“Everything that surrounds us becomes part of us.”
–Fernando Pessoa

I've just come across a marvelous writing program for those who would be interested in a session in Lisbon, and then maybe Ponta Delgada, Azores.

http://disquietinternational.org

It is named after a certain Book of Disquiet by Pessoa, who explains that it is "the autobiography of someone who never existed" The program is based on:
"inspiration from The Book of Disquiet, the great Lisbon poet Fernando Pessoa’s masterpiece; from the city of Lisbon itself; and from the late Portuguese poet Alberto de Lacerda, who believed above all in the importance of literary community."

There are different levels of participation and fellowships which encourage Luso and Luso-American writers. It all looks like fun!! Anything that encourages Portuguese writers sounds like it could bring together a larger community in ways that can't happen under everyday circumstance.

A Walk in the Country with Saramago

Jose Saramago wrote a Walk in the Country in 1981.

The NYTimes reviewed it 20 years later, not understanding it and missing more than what is lost in translation. "The poet of Portugal is José Saramago, winner of the Nobel Prize, a fabulist with the power of some mesmeric storyteller at the fireside. So you might expect that a book by Saramago called ''Journey to Portugal,'' tricked out with pretty photographs, would light up a country that was once Europe's anchor and now is shamefully unfamiliar. Sadly, you'd be wrong."

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/01/reviews/010401.01pyelt.html

Not an auspicious start.

Is it a travel book? No. It offers no trips, just a record of where the author went, what he experienced and what he thought.
Is it a book written for Westerners? No. It was published in Portuguese.

At least the writers of the review have a better assessment of how it SHOULD be assessed. "All this is puzzling, unless you realize that ''Journey to Portugal'' isn't a travel book at all. It's a historical document in its own right -- a product of the year 1979, when Saramago's journey started. A seemingly interminable dictatorship had ended just a few years earlier, and the idea of Portugal, as Saramago writes, had been ''poisoned by a paternalist, conservative rural idyll.'....This book is best read as a snapshot of Saramago's mind just before the first of his great novels, ''Levantado do Chão'' (''Raised From the Ground''),"

Has he ever traveled through his own native-born country, ignored the monuments as being monumental and just let the place be? The reviewer is annoyed at Saramago for not living up to unexplained expectations: "What he leaves out is sometimes puzzling, sometimes infuriating. How could he have gone to the mountain town of Belmonte and missed the great drama of the Jewish community coming back into the light after 500 years of concealment? Why does he leave out the modern importance of that so-called Temple of Diana in Évora: as a meeting place for the military conspirators who brought democracy back to Portugal in 1974? Is it just that he's the kind of man who, faced with a dolmen that might be 5,000 years old, ''drops his head to listen to his own heartbeat''?"

For a writer of English, however, I AM glad he calls out the difficulties of translations from Portuguese.  I myself feel that the vague qualities of English can render the original incomprehensible: "The imprecision can't have helped the translators, Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor, but their attention does seem to wander. You fall over phrases like ''the voluntary disposition or the incompletion of its lateral buildings'' or the sudden, entirely unexplained question: ''Are there any reserve demarcations in these parts?'' And it is worrying to think of a great stone castle sitting in a town center ''like a jelly on a plate.' "

John Dos Passos: A Portugal Story

The other day, I came across a fun fact.  The "Lost Generation" author and artist, John Dos Passos had a father whose parentage was from Madeira.

Dos Passos wrote 42 novels, and the screenplay for "The Devil is a Woman" starring Marlena Dietrich (1937).  Also, he produced over 400 pieces of art.

But the topic here is The Portugal Story (1969), a history.  He had also previously written about Brazil on the Move (1963).

I ordered the first book immediately and when it arrived, I was eager to see what an (almost) native son had written about it.  But....

Kirkus reviews it quite clearly:

It is difficult to think of John Dos Passos as a dull writer, or of the history of Portugal as a lusterless sequence of events. Yet, The Portugal Story manages somehow to make a reality out of both improbabilities. The narrative covers in some detail the ""three centuries of exploration and discovery"" that made Portugal, for a time, the world's leading commercial nation -- roughly from the middle of the thirteenth century until the extinction of the Aviz dynasty in 1580 and the subsequent seizure of the Portuguese crown by Philip II of Spain. It is a period remarkable for the complexity and color of its characters: Alfonso III--and Diniz; Nun'Alvares Pereira; Henry the Navigator, who laid the foundation of the Portuguese empire; Da Gama, Cabral, Almeida and Albuquerque, who raised their country to the pinnacle of eminence; Manuel I and John III, who ruled Portugal at its zenith. But out of this wealth of raw material, Mr. Dos Passos has been able to make only a textbookish tale astonishingly devoid of that love for life which animated Portugal during the centuries of her glory. Significantly, the pace quickens only when the author quotes, as he does too infrequently, contemporary narratives and chronicles. On the whole, the book has little to recommend it other than the author's name.

My Mother is in the Azores

And I am not.

It breaks my heart, but I am working, and saving up for the next time.

Hopefully, with my job, I'll be able to send her every summer. And me every OTHER summer!

Visiting Sao Miguel

My Mother will head to the Azores soon, a reunion with some of the family and friends. I'm still amazed at how much time she spends on the phone with everyone.  She still keeps in touch.

I'll miss her, but I know she'll be in good hands.  The one place in the world where I can trust that she'll be safe and treated with respect, other than home.

But then again, which side of the Atlantic is home?  Both, I think.

Pancada, Fralda and Contabilidade

Some random words.

Pancada=A kid who is a little zangada all the time, looking for attention

who needs a

Fralda="blankie", comfort object, to keep the kid from crying

and the opposite, philosophically.

Contabilidade=Accounting.  A grownup method for keeping track of finances, by reporting everything dispassionately and making sure that everything is in balance.

A short story if I ever heard one....

Visiting Portugal Again, CLARO!!

My mother, my poor dear mother. But when I think of how old my grandmother was when she was my mother's age, I think my mother is doing very well.

But every time we have made the trip, she thinks it is the last time she will muster up the energy.

Until I asked her recently. And she lit up.

"Do I want to go? Of COURSE! CLARO!!

I take that as a VERY good sign. ;)

Nicknames

There is a Portuguese word for a nickname that people have, a name they never learn themselves.

A name that is only a reference when they are out of earshot, not something that they would respond to.  An affectionate name (one hopes), yet also something that identifies a characteristic about them, which they may or may not recognize.

What do people around you know about you that you don't know yourself?

Who Am I? (Indeed)

Wondering who I am, who I am alone, in relation to my family, in relation to the distance I travel from my childhood home, the family who loves me.

The distance I feel I have traveled in this world.

I feel like Pessoa, all the different Personas he hid behind, or brought forth.

I am everyone, I have grown beyond my boundaries.

Sabes quem eu sou? Mi-Carena and Quaresma

Mom told me tonight about the 4 Thursdays before Lent.

The celebrations of Girlfriends, Boyfriends, then Godfathers and Godmothers.  And then just before Lent begins, like the Brazilians celebrate Carnivale, the children in the Azores wrap themselves in a white sheet like a ghost and go to their neighbors.  "Do you know who I am?"

During Lent, there was NO dancing, whatsoever.  She remembers at school, kids dancing and the teacher came over and STOPPED them.

But there was a repreive, during Micarena, the mid point of Quaresma (Lent).  Only in the middle, like relief from holding your breath, could you take a break and gain the strength to go another 20 days without dancing.

A Dream of Escape

A dream of escape.

Here in the Northeast in America, we are under a cold snap.

Since Christmas, we have been suffering with below zero temperatures and into the predictable future (according to the iPhone).

And then, with or without a cold (which I have), we are essentially trapped indoors.

I've been lucky to have a writing project to take me out of myself.

The BEST vacation I can ever have.

(But in Santa Maria, the weather is LOVELY right now!!)

A Non American Tradition

I met a new friend recently, and have been trying to understand what it IS about him that seems strange and familiar all at the same time.

He was NOT born in this country. He's an immigrant, with a strong sense of his own culture(s) and yet aware of the ones here, as well as lots of the peripheral cultures.  He is funny and quick to observe the absurdities that I blindly take for granted.

I wish I could be funny in Portuguese.  That is a certain kind of fluency I still struggle for.  And when i see it in another person-I think of their GENIUS.  And how odd it is that Americans don't value people who have multiple fluencies; as if the whole country has an inferiority complex. (As least I know that I do and why)

No Tradition of Halloween In Portugal

It is difficult to get my mother to celebrate, or play dress up, or to be silly as part of a holiday in this country.

There is a notion of All Saints Day, which I feel she takes more seriously.  As if everything is somber, and she is closer to not laughing than laughing. She is comfortable in cemeteries, and even more so at church.  As if she invests in all the superstitions of church, she can be making payments towards a painless death.

On the other hand, I like Edwin Gorey, his macabre drawings of skeletons and hauntings.  I laugh at ghosts, while honoring them at the same time.  I expect it will all come about in its own time.  Dying at my father's age or at twice that has allowed me to not be afraid of the passing over, but to include everything I can while I am on this side.

I have no deep understanding of the subtleties of the spirits of the Islands, the Azores.  The shipwrecked ghosts, the people driven mad by the isolation or their own internal madness.  But I want to learn, not just about what happens after death to my ancestors, but how the long traditions of keeping the bad spirits at bay.

Saudades

Saudades for Portugal and the Azores.  I miss being there, i miss being there in person to talk to my family & be there for them.  To see things with my own eyes and to hugs with my own arms.

Never does the ocean seem so vast as when you are missing people across the waters.

Even the devastation in Puerto Rico from the hurricanes, I cannot imagine knowing that my family was suffering and I was stuck and unable to help.  I worry that it is always a matter of time, until our own number comes up, until we are each hit by our own earthquakes and fires.

Portugal, my family and friends, I miss you. 

My heart aches.

Orange Cake or Caramel Cake

When I was young, all great Portuguese gatherings were attended by a great spread.

Every event included either or both an Orange Cake and a Caramel Cake.

My cousin is having a baptism for her much beloved baby.

The cakes will show up.

Portuguese Consulate in Boston: Cartao de Cidadao

Now, if you are like me, you might have a parent or grandparent who was born in Portugal.

Which makes you eligible for citizenship, the right to work in the EU, etc.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS!!

(The grandparent clause was added in 2016, I think, not enough descendants are going back)

The only problem is, you need a LOT of patience with the paperwork.  And it certianly HELPS if you have that parent/grandparent or someone who speaks the language to help you.

I had my mother, who is fluent, is a kindly old lady, and is naturally patient.

We have had SEVERAL appointments and every time, I leave puzzled.

There is no "process" that I can see. No CONFIRMATION system.

Our last visit 3 months ago, was me bringing ALL of my paperwork to fill out a Cartao de Cidadao.  (Online, i had selected a "Passport" appointment, which NEVER asked or told me what I needed).

3 months later, I emailed a week ago to see if the paperwork had gone through.  No answer.
My mother picked up her renewed Cartao and was able to process her NEW passport.  She's 77, but I keep convincing her to keep everything current, she's my translator and FRANKLY, if I must take care of her, I'd rather do it in Portugal.  Where I can write, hopefully!!  My fantasy is to "retire" there, or at least write and make enough money to survive, when this Tech thing dries up. (Always have another career in your back pocket, my generation will NEVER retire!)

The lovely lady-who we are getting to know-flitted in and out because the system was down in Lisbon.  She had called and sent an email for my mother's passport.  I was never sure if she checked about my paperwork.  We were there from 10:15 until 12:50.  Never fully dismissed, we had appointments at 10:40 and 11:05, although we were never called for them.  We were still there as the whole room emptied out. It was crowded when we arrived, full of people who were there for the first time.

Later that day, she sent me an email that it had gone through. All I needed to do was to pick it up. And make another appointment.

National Days of Mourning for the Fire

A few days ago, a bolt of lightning struck a dry patch of land and ignited a giant fire.

If you want to send a message to the Portuguese Consulate in Boston, reach out to:

consulado dot boston AT mne dot pt

Below is what I sent:

My dearest Portugal,

May you never fully be consumed by flames.  

The flood and the earthquakes couldn't defeat you.  

Always, may you explore the rest of the planet, always sending out roots, like a giant-strong-inflammable-tree to ground yourself in the earth.

May the earth receive you and your people, in beauty, in gentleness. 

The smoke will dissipate, the skies will be clear once more.

May your future be clean with oxygen and green

and may the waters quench the thirst of the heat

and float your roots and tendrils

across

to connect the rest of the world.

Love, 

Your daughter and granddaughter and great grand-daughter and more,

Me

Portugal Day & Poetry!!

I'm experiencing many saudades over all the pictures of SOPAS on my Facebook feed.  So to remedy that, I try to take a quick tour of Portuguese poetry on the internet.

Here is an article about Feminist Poets, written by someone from UMass Dartmouth (one of MANY of my alma maters!!) :
Back into the Future : Feminism in Portuguese Women's Poetry since the 1970s

From Canada, an interview with Vamberto Freitas (are we related??)

And if you want to know about Portugal Day here in NY, well-you have to go to Newark, NJ.

Drink to Luís de Camões and read Os Lusiadas, if you get the chance to be inspired!!

Nesperas on the Tree

I know these leaves very well. I grew up with a plant in our New England house. One long skinny trunk and a few of these leaves on the ends. No fruit.  

I always wondered why my mother was so loyal to this plant.  Hoping someday it would look like the pictures below. 

From my uncle's farm/orchard/backyard trees.

So many!!

Again, if you want to try these fruits, save this link for next near.  They accepted requests as of April 15 and were sold out by May 18.

http://www.loquatworld.com/LoquatFruit.html

Paposeco-Proper Spelling

After many moons of imagining that nobody ever reads my blog, my uncle sent me the following correction on a past post, where I admit I had no idea how to spell the word for the common sandwich bun. 

My uncle:

Let me try to teach you how to spell “Papo-seco”:

Papo: “a” as the “a” in “father”; “o” as the “oo” in “roof”;

Seco: “e” as the “e” in “rent”; “o” as the “oo” in “roof”.

 

PAPO-SECO

Os primeiros papos-secos surgiram no século XX sendo destinados aos mais abastados. É um alimento tradicionalmente Português de pequeno formato e de carater rústico. Composto por uma crosta crocante e um interior de miolo fofo. É entre os pães pequenos, o mais comum e o mais vendido em Portugal. O nosso papo-seco é confecionado com água, farinha de trigo, fermento e sal

---

 And he also put the above through a translation machine. See below about "chat-dry";

From no won, is computer translation:

CHAT-DRY (?)

The first chat-dry appeared in the 20th century being destined for the more affluent. Is a traditionally Portuguese food of small format and rustic character. Composed of a crispy crust and an interior fluffy kernels. Is between the small breads, the most common and the most sold in Portugal. Our chat-dry (?) is made with water, flour, yeast and salt.

 And when I wrote back, I called him "Tiu" instead of "Tio", because that is how my child-Portuguese mind spells.

Nesperas in Bloom

My mother is so in love with Nesperas/Loquats that they put her on the website.

LoquatWorld.com

Have one today, if you can!! ;)

Immigration is like Cold Leftovers

My Mom and I have just come from a long American-Portuguese day.

First, we had an appointment at the Consulate. I thought it was to apply for a Portuguese Passport, but it was to register for a Card (like a Green Card).

Seriously. I've been ASKING for the steps of the process for forever. I have all the paperwork. I brought a translator (Mom). But the bureaucracy is not transparent. 

They told me I that I couldn't do anything. They asked if I was Portuguese. But I could not tell what they meant.

"My Mom was born there and I was born here"

Yes, but are you PORTUGUESE?", they asked again.

After finding a nice Brazilian lady to help translate for the younger bilingual kid, I've started on my process of "Applying" for the Citizenship card. Now I wait 4 months, and then bug them again. To make sure I get the Card. And then, I still don't understand what the requirements are to get a Passport.

Then we went to Fernandes Fish Market on Cambridge St in Cambridge, MA. A real treat.  It reminds me of old timey grocery stores with products on dark wooden shelves against the wall.  All kinds of herbal teas in plain white cardboard boxes, sold not for the fragrances, but for the illnesses they cure.  Popciques (which I still don't know how to spell!) fresh from the oven, simple rolls to be served with cheese. Ready made pasteis de bacalau & cebolada de peixe, for those of you who do not cook at home.  And Quiejo Sao Jorge, cheese-very piquante and heavy. My Mom indulged and bought the last slice off the wheel. $20 of pure cheese gold.

Finally, we went to Filomena's Hair Salon.  She is from Flores (!!) and all we talked about was the scary boat to Corvo. And how beautiful the islands are. The American customers started feeling left out, so we showed them pictures of Pico on our Facebook pages. Sigh.  It's not this cold over there ("ova dere"!)

And so, we came home.  Opened our packages of food and ate them. Like cold leftovers, they can only give a hint of the original flavor.

Muito saudades!!

 

Vovo's Journal

I've started to photocopy some of my grandmother's (Vovo's) journal. She filled a 5 subject notebook (8 times-one for each of her kids!)

All in Portuguese.  My goal is to transcribe it all, in Portuguese AND in English.   A huge undertaking. I've been trying to do it bit by bit for years.

If I keep it up, it just might happen.

She has an entire index of events.  It's a lot of straightforward narrative, but I'd love to explore the details.  Especially while my Mom is still alive!!

Obstacle Course

Every so often, a word bubbles up in my mother's brain.

Our street was being repaved, but the construction was taking a long time to be completed. The manhole covers were several inches above the road; you never realize how many there are until you have to drive around to avoid them. 

"Gincana", she said. 

"Obstacle course" I said.

Exactly!

Xmas Present: A Visit

I spent Xmas with an older Portuguese lady.

She has spent years in the US.

She discovered a box of books in the basement, left by the previous owners.  She gave me a book with gold leaf edging from 1895.  Because it was in good condition.  Literally judging a book by the cover.  She had not even read the title.

We had a discussion on how I should ask for a raise.  And how, since I'm eating vegetables, I should try that diet that Marie Osmand went on.  On tv.  It worked for her!  This was not so much a discussion as free advice.  From her.

What we did get into a heated discussion about was facts.  And how something she had heard was something she understood to be true.  For instance, she had heard there was 7 women of every man.  And if it was not true now-although you must admit there are more women in government and in colleges now!!  If it's not still true, it was true once.  When she heard it.  I asked her if it might have been true about just the senior population.  She seemed puzzled by a confusion of the facts.  And why more words would make a statement more true.

I remember having a difficult discussion with her son when I was 14.  I said that I was in the middle of literally 100 books.  He said, "Literally?"  and fought me like all teenage boys do, with forceful logic.  (Think Hendrik in Little Night Music)

She said that he called her, so that she could speak to her grandkids for Xmas.  All she told us was how mad she was about her daughter in law.  She was on the phone with her for half and hour and the girl didn't even introduce herself!

Massa Souvada

I wanted to bring a fresh baked loaf of Massa Souvada for Thanksgivibg to a new set of American friends. 

My mom got increasingly more anxious, until she had to encourage me not to.   "The kitchen isn't ready" which meant that SHE wasn't. 

A clean kitchen is one of her pride & joys. And something she was taught by her 5 sisters and mother. She praises me for being fearless in the kitchen, but I am now afraid of her and the ghosts of all the women in my family who hate anyone else entering their kitchen.

Ironically, my mom doesn't cook at all. Nor does she eat what I make. She lives on cold roast chicken from the supermarket and potatoes in the microwave.

 Everytime I enter with my food, I mess it up for her. I cannot clean it (because she doesn't approve of the dishwasher).  She insists on keeping a bowl in the empty (?) sink to catch any grey water from anything. Which makes everything less appetizing and ergonomic.

I like to make vegetables, and by that I mean chopping them or stir frying. Anything more and it drives her crazy. I've become a vegetarian chef because it's less messy for her.

"It would be better if you didn't", finally. 

Minneola, Long Island

Another Portuguese community, near NYC, which I've never heard of.

Because it is not Azorean!

A friend brought back pasteis de Nata.

Which tastes amazing, no matter which region they come from!! 

Swimming A Secret

I plan to swim a certain stretch of water.

It is about 5 miles long.  I am good in the water, for at least an hour at a time.  Maybe 2.

Not sure if I can make it yet.

But I am training.

"Nadando um segredo!"

SATA becomes Azores Airlines

With the name change, comes an entirely new rebranding:

Compare the new site

https://www.azoresairlines.pt/

With the older one:
https://www.sata.pt/en/content/home-page

Visually, you can easily ID a more advanced UI. Luckily, they have also preserved the best thing about the site.  If you want the cheapest flight and have the flexibility around your dates, you can view a few days ahead and a few days afterwards.

My last trip was designed around exactly this feature.

EXCEPT the previous site allowed you to view ALL the prices of your trip within the span of a month.  I had randomly chosen one date and could easily find the cheapest time to travel.  Now it's a little harder.

Speaking from personal experience, it's worth the effort.  Use the money you've saved to travel back more often!! ;)

A Far Azore

I am a playwright and artist.

I can say this because not only do I write and paint, but I also bring my work into the world of audiences.  (Which is sometimes harder or easier than you or i might think)

Lately, I have been working on a play about an African American woman, who was a contemporary of Thoreau.  She has a lot of amazing letters and the foundation which adores her wants to make her a hero.  I'm in full support of this.

One problem I keep hitting my head against is my strong Portuguese heritage.

Knowing that the Portuguese transported slaves.  Somehow, i feel not directly responsible because of the Azores.  Far enough out of the way to be guiltless, and never benefitting directly from the Slave Trade.  The farmers and fishermen were generally forgotten after Columbus.

Henry David Thoreau wrote the above line, "A Far Azore", far from everything indeed....

(I think it should be the name of a book in my future....)

Hudson Holy Ghost Festival (that I didn't attend)

Sometimes it's just not worth driving 40 minutes to stand in the hot sun (90 degrees) waiting for the hot soup.

Traditional Holy Ghost Soup which burns you from the inside out.

I was in Sao Miguel last year. Such Saudades!!

Festa

Never enough festivals & craziness.

A tourist knocked over a treasured statue while taking a selfie.

Hundreds of years in Lisbon, smashed in seconds. By technology.

"Culturally" Portuguese?

Here's a fun article about the tiny details of being "culturally" Portuguese.
http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/15-signs-youve-become-culturally-portuguese/

I grew up with a lot of these little quirks & ideas, in addition to LOTS more habits & norms which I could never quite keep separate from my own Mom/family's personal traditions.

Good luck with your own attempts to fit in!!

ALSO,
If you'd like to hear about some of the other stuff I've been working on as an Artist/Playwright, check out the link below.
http://artofmousetraps.blogspot.com/

And mostly, pay attention to the opening of a new arts space on Santa Maria, which now has one of my paintings on display!
http://atelierfreitasleandres.blogspot.com/2016/04/espaco-em-cena-in-santa-maria-azores.html

Poetry Read in NYC, 3/20/16:Parallel Ippipedos!!!

Lost in translation

I dreamt I swam the waves, a few days ago

Somewhere between my bed sheets and the Atlantic

I was gently rocked

I saw a picture of Luis’ new piano, an upright with history

my paintings on his walls,

the ones that can be seen from the streets

Of cobblestones

My new favorite Portuguese word

Parallel ippipedos!!!

Through the giant picture windows

I spent the summer painting views, flowers & people

Such simple subjects

Which cause such longing in me

I'm still there

(I imagine living in his house as an old lady,

Or running the museum of my past loves

Building a cushion of work and community

And finding a room where nobody asks me to do chores

I suspect they love me

In any language,

Especially the words spoken by the ocean

Translations lost to the waves

And every flavor of food

Eaten at the round table in the kitchen

My gay cousin that my mom wants me to marry

My divorced cousin who thinks he's James Bond,

But who needs his mom to keep him fed.

Miguel& I played modern American hits

Which I would hate in America

on the radio in the cheap euro car

The yellow dragon

Gliding past glorious fields in the haze of sunset

Awkward conversation yielding to jokes

Everything ending with a dip in the ocean,

If the waves cooperate

We can swim

And only once was it calm enough

And we were brave enough to touch the white buoys

Which look yellow when you squint from the shore

Too much beauty to turn into art

They don't need my alchemy

I have confusing dreams today

Where you can go back to the starting point

Start the scene over again

And play out both choices

In whatever language you want

And I love the idea of the modern “SHARING” economy

Which implies all the benefits of socialism

And all the drawbacks of capitalism

We will share everything and have nothing.

I know I should FIGHT for a house of my own

For my own physical things

But I believe the fewer things I have

And the more art that I can give away

Or SELL on a good day

Strengthens my value in this world.

And then I wake up, and like a big girl, I pay my bills

And cry.