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LONGING

(Saudade)

Yanked by a desire for better living
and riding on the wings of destiny.
I left...
Forget will I never
the trilling of the wild canary
or the whistle of the black bird;
the variagated color of the hydrangeas
dividing the fields,
or the multicolored azaleas
in the parks and gardens;
the gentle waves kissing the black sandy beaches,
or the fury of the surf pounding
on the volcanic shores of the Island.
Thousands of miles away,
wearing out the leather soles of my adulthood,
I long for the basaltic cobbled stones of my youth,
where, so many times
I left the skin of my feet.

José Manuel Vicente Jorge Raposo poems

It is an awesome decision to leave one's country, especially if one is an islander. The island's shoreline surrounded by the sea can be physically imprisoning but what lies within this frontier is familiar and friendly. Out beyond there is the frightening unknown that will never be as easy to comprehend as the little world that is one's island.

In the nineteenth century, many Azoreans seeking new opportunities sailed with the American whalers. In a way these were bold and brave men because the work was arduous and the voyages could last for years leaving the men to live lonely existence separated from their families. Due to these circumstances, many of the Azoreans jumped ship in New England ports. Then they settled down to make a new life in the strange land. Those whale-men were the forerunners of some of the Azorean communities that presently exist in the U.S. and Canada.

In contrast to those former times, the culture shock for a newly arriving immigrant today has been greatly mitigated.

Like other European nationalities that came in great numbers to the North American Continent, the Azoreans over the years have formed so called 'kinship networks'. These are neighborhoods of immigrants who have organized themselves in the same geographical groupings that they lived in when they were in the islands. Thus a newcomer from the town of Ribeira Grande in São Miguel will be directed to those of his village living in an area around the Canadian City of Toronto. A person from Cedros in Faial will go to New England and live among friends and relatives from Cedros.

here the Azorean immigrant finds those who practice the same customs, speak the same language, and are able to give him a start in his new country.

In a sense, the kinship networks have fostered a closer relationship between nations because they have the practical effect of making the movement of people between them less traumatic for both the immigrant and those who receive him.

The estimate immigrated population counts, today, about 1 million Azoreans among first, second and third generation, having, that way, four times the amount of the actual population living the islands. It is why sometimes the New World is so called the "Tenth Island".

Recently, the well-travelled trails of emigration have begun to reverse themselves and people are coming into the islands. Of these, the majorities are Azoreans returning to the land of their birth. It is common to see them back in their retirement years. Financially secure, they have nostalgia for the Azorean way of life and its traditions; a way of life also valued by individuals of other nationalities. This has resulted in a slowly growing non-Portuguese populace in the archipelago.

Both of these population groups, the returnees and the foreigners, desire a lifestyle different from that found in the well-developed nations. There is much about the Azores that has great appeal. Within the society, there is less of a sense of competition as most people have work and while not rich in a material way, have enough to live comfortably. Newcomers to the Azores often remark that the atmosphere seems reminiscent of a time in the past.

This is a valid observation. Social life in the Azores centers on the family, older traditions are cherished, and the concept of change for its own sake to foment 'progress' is not an idea that is held in great esteem by Azoreans. Let us hope that it remains that way.