I’m a picky eater. And it’s not my parents fault. As a child, my parents fed me “Portuguese Holy Ghost soup,” morcela (blood pudding), octopus, and queijo de cabra (goat cheese). But pretty much since I started to be able to feed myself all of this faded away from my intake. I grew up eating grapes off the vine, and now won’t even eat grapes … Continue reading One Portuguese-American Lapas Story: A Luso-Kid’s Day at the Beach

If one thing is true about Portuguese Americans, it is that we love a good party. Almost any reason for a festa is a good enough reason. Make no mistake about it — we do it up. And everyone is invited. It’s one of the things I love about our culture.  A baby is born? Send everyone to the hospital. Kids receive their First Communion? … Continue reading A Luso-Kid’s Complicated (and Uncomplicated) Relationship with Celebrations and Holidays

We pulled up to a house in an unassuming working-class neighborhood in East Providence, R.I. Like so many times in my young Portuguese-American life, I was going to someone’s house I didn’t know. My Portuguese family more often than not just shows up at someone’s house, the notion of calling ahead seen as a very unnecessary American formality. But, this time, it wasn’t to pray … Continue reading Two Times Portuguese Americans Taught Me Not To Diss Healing: A Luso-Kid’s Spiritual Skepticism

It was a family party at the Crystal Palace Restaurant, which served traditional Portuguese cuisine at the downtown corner of South Main Street and the heart of Portuguese culture in Fall River: Columbia Street. No older than 10 years of age, I moseyed over to the next room, following one of my tios to the bar, hoping to score a maracuja-flavored Sumol or a non-alcoholic … Continue reading A Luso-Millennial’s Story on Netflix’s ‘Trial By Media’ and the Big Dan’s Rape Case

Dear Portuguese-American Graduates of the 2020 High School Graduating Class: Your high school experience is but a mere single thread in the variegated tapestry of your life. It is a moment. You may feel frustrated perhaps feeling robbed of a traditional graduation ceremony or the sort of festa in your honor that involves all your cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. For this, I do not … Continue reading A Luso-Kid’s Letter to the Portuguese-American Class of 2020

Today marks the anniversary of the Portuguese National Team’s 2016 UEFA European Football Championship win. For me, it remains the greatest moment in the history of my sports fandom, so it only seems right to revisit the goal that delivered Portugal’s first major tournament title. The ball gets thrown in. Joao Moutinho, a player who unquestionably didn’t get enough minutes (in the tournament and throughout … Continue reading My Favorite Moment As A Sports Fan

Growing up Portuguese, the love of the Beautiful Game was something that felt so intrinsic to my very existence. The only girl among grown men and my older male cousins, I joined pickup soccer games narrated only by the sounds of Portuguese male voices; the phrases “passa aqui” and “méto no baliza,” strung in between swear words and guttural sounds that I had only ever … Continue reading The Portuguese-American Beautiful Game: A Luso-Kid’s History of Futebol in the United States

I had a bit of an aversion to history as a child, struggling to memorize dates. But if you asked me to recall the story of America, I could recite the ubiquitous rhyme with ease: “In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue.” It’s funny how those things stay with us.  We might not remember the year in which Lizze Borden was tried for murder, but … Continue reading What History Do Statues in America Preserve?

The daughter of two Azorean immigrants, I grew up in a city with the largest percentage of Portuguese descendants in the United States. One study published by the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in 2005 reported that 49.6 percent of the city’s residents were primarily of Portuguese ancestry. Born and raised in the enclave of Fall River, I had no chance of sidestepping the obligation to walk … Continue reading The pain and gain of growing up Portuguese

I didn’t know how much I missed my culture until my undergraduate professor Doctor Igel pronounced my last name in Portuguese, asking me to turn the lights off, so she could put on the projector – and I nearly cried. I literally got teary eyed. Absurd, I know. But, after nearly two years in Maryland, I realized I had taken that thing for granted on … Continue reading Portuguese Unicorns