Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute Collection

Angela Costa Simões Interview

Simões, Angela Costa

Luna, Gloria

ENG

Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute

11/14/2021

SCUAD_pbbi_00044

Gloria Luna: Hi. Can you hear me?
Angela Simoes: Hi. I can hear you, yeah.
Gloria Luna: Okay, awesome. Thank you so much. I am so sorry about all
the confusion.
Angela Simoes: Oh. That's okay. I’ve never had that happen to me
before, so I don't know what that was about, it was weird.
Gloria Luna: Yeah. So um, are you able to send me the recording or am
I able to get the recording from here?
Angela Simoes: I can send it to you. It's fine.
Gloria Luna: Okay. Sorry, let me try, and let me try to change. My son
used to use this um as well, so let me see if I can change my name.
Okay. There we go. Okay. Alrighty. Perfect. Okay. Okay. Thank you so
much. Um so, very nice to meet you.
Angela Simoes: Nice to meet you as well.
Gloria Luna: Uh okay, so um I'm gonna go ahead and get started.
Angela Simoes: Mhm.
Gloria Luna: Okay, so what is your full birth name?
Angela Simoes: Birth name is Angela Marie Costa.
Gloria Luna: Angela Marie Costa. And how do you say your last, Sim
Simoes?
Angela Simoes: Simoes. I always say Simoes rhymes with toes.
Gloria Luna: Got it. Simoes rhymes with toes. I like that. Okay, and
were you named after anyone? Is there a story behind your name?
Angela Simoes: I wasn't named after anyone but my, so at, you know,
back in that day they weren't able to tell, I don't think they had
ultrasounds, so they couldn't really tell the sex of the child for
sure.
Gloria Luna: Uh huh.
Angela Simoes: And the the doctor had told my mom that I was going to
be a boy and my and they and she had picked out the name Nicholas and
my dad was like, it's gonna be a girl and we're gonna name her Angela.
So the whole pregnancy, my mom was like, it's gonna be Nicholas

Nicholas Nicholas, my dad was like it's going to be Angela Angela
Angela, and he was right. So, there you go.
Gloria Luna: Wow. Oh that is awesome, I like that story.
Angela Simoes: Mhm.
Gloria Luna: I love it. Uh, when were you born?
Angela Simoes: Uh, July 12, 1976.
Gloria Luna: Awesome. Alrighty. And where were you born?
Angela Simoes: In Sacramento. California.
Gloria Luna: In Sacramento. Awesome.
Angela Simoes: Mhm.
Gloria Luna: Um so what early memories do you have of a child, as a
child in the Portuguese American community, or in Portugal?
Angela Simoes: Yeah, so I was born here. I'm third generation um,
American born. Um so, I mean, we were going to festas before I could
walk and so being Portuguese has been part of my life my entire life.
Um, I mean I remember uh going to, going to the festas, being on a
float, walking in the parades. I, you know, I was a Side Maid when I
think I was four, so very early on um. And I think most of my spring
weekends for the 1st 17 years of my life were marching in parades.
Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: Yeah, I mean we, if, I was Side Maid four times, queen
twice, and if we weren't one of those, we were carrying a flag, we
were Miss America, Miss Portugal, Miss Sacramento, who, you know with
the sash. We were carrying a rosary. We were always in the parades
some way somehow. Um and then, you know, my family always had um, I
would say Portuguese deserts mostly. There wasn't a lot of like full
on meals that were Portuguese growing up, except maybe like linguica
and eggs in the morning, haha.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: But you know, sweet rice and [Portguese dish – chloz?]
and um, sweetbread and you know, there was a lot of that kind of
stuff. Always.
Gloria Luna: Oh wow. I love Portuguese sweet bread.

Angela Simoes: Mhm.
Gloria Luna: I look forward to the festas here in Visalia for that
reason.
Angela Simoes: Yeah. Well, and Ea Easter's coming up. So, there should
be, it should be flowing out of Portuguese houses this weekend.
Gloria Luna: Hahaha. It’ll be everywhere. Um when did your family
immigrate to the United States?
Angela Simoes: So, on, on both my mom and my dad's side, my great
grandparents came over around like 1910, 1911.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And they came um, in different ways. Like on my mom's
side they came. How was it? I think my grandmother told me that uh my
great grandfather came by himself, and he, he had to come three
different times because at that, in those days you needed a sponsor.
Gloria Luna: Oh.
Angela Simoes: Like somebody that, that was going to say uh, I'll give
this person a place to live and a job. So, I'm their sponsor. You
didn't need a company. You just needed a person. And usually that was,
you know, an uncle or you know, a relative or a friend. And my great
grandfather didn't know anybody. So he would get here, no sponsor,
they’d send him back. He'd get here,
Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: no sponsor, they’d send him back. And so, on the third
trip, the um, the captain of the boat that he was on, it was the same,
it was like the same boat and the captain was like, it's your third
trip like you what's going on, like you really want to come. He's
like, I really want to come but I there's no sponsor, so the captain
sponsored him apparently
Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: and said yeah like you know, I'm gonna refer you to a
friend and and so um he started out in Rhode Island um and then made
his way west. I don't really know much other other than that. And then
on my dad's side and that's just one grand, great grandparent. I
don't, I think you know once he came over, and he was already an adult
at that time. And so, when he finally got settled, he sent for my
great grandmother and brought her over.

Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And then um, on my dad's side, I know my one um great
grandfather in the Azores was being raised by his grandfather who
apparently was a really mean guy. And so I think it was at like the
age of 11, he was a stowaway.
Gloria Luna: Oh god.
Angela Simoes: And it just was like, get me out of here, I want to get
away from my grandfather.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: So, he stowed away on a ship and, just made his way
west. Hahaha.
Gloria Luna: Wow. And made it. That is amazing.
Angela Simoes: At 11. Right? At the age of 11.
Gloria Luna: Oh my gosh.
Angela Simoes: Yeah, right?
Gloria Luna: Like I think about I was doing at 11 and I would have
never even considered.
Angela Simoes: No.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: Yeah.
Gloria Luna: That is amazing. When there's a will, there's a way.
Angela Simoes: Right, right? I mean I guess if your situation is bad
enough you’re gonna like, anything is better than this.
Gloria Luna: Right. Right. So um, so it seems like question seven is
very similar to question six. So why, or actually, why did your family
leave the Azores?
Angela Simoes: Um, so only my dad's family is from the Azores. Um, my
mom's family is from the mainland.
Gloria Luna: Okay.

Angela Simoes: And, I mean as far as I know, you know like I said, my
um great grandfather left because his grandfather was just so mean,
and he just had no other where to go. So, he said, you know,
Gloria Luna: Got it.
Angela Simoes: it's America or bust.
Gloria Luna: Got it.
Angela Simoes: And then I think my, on my mom's side um, that family,
one of the, they were one of nine siblings, and one went to Brazil,
one, I think they kind of started leaving to see if there was a better
life somewhere else.
Gloria Luna: Got it.
Angela Simoes: Um and of course, you know, you had heard of America
and so I think the intention was to go, make a lot of money, and then
come back. Uh and unfortunately my great grandfather um passed away
when my grandmother was, I want to say, elev- 12.
Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: And um, it was really unfortunate because, the way I
understand it from the way my grandmother sells it is that um, you
know, they he had come here. They had actually bought a a ranch in
Auburn, they were doing that and my great grandmother was just like, I
just, I really want to go back, I really want to go back. And so they
had like bought tickets and they were gonna go back and then he got
hit with, I think it was appendicitis and um, was in the hospital and
apparently it was like, okay you're gonna go home tomorrow and you're
gonna go home and um, we're gonna go back to Portugal. And overnight,
I don't know what happened, he got worse and he ended up passing away.
So then they never,
Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: So they never went back. And he had a brother that also
had come over and lived like across the street, so they had like
ranches across the street from each other.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: So my great grandmother ended up marrying her brother
in law, um and they stayed they and they never ever went back. So.
Gloria Luna: Wow.

Angela Simoes: Yeah. It was a bummer.
Gloria Luna: Was there a sense of longing for your grandma? Like was
was that always the, did you ever feel like that was always in the
back of her mind?
Angela Simoes: You know, I imagine it was. You know I knew her um,
when I knew her, she was already in her 90's right? And so, she passed
away, this is my great grandmother, she passed away when I was like
10, 10 11.
Gloria Luna: Oh okay.
Angela Simoes: And she didn't speak much English at all. So, you know
us kids not knowing Portuguese really, our communication with her was
very limited, so I never got a, all these stories I heard from my
grandmother which is her daughter right.
Gloria Luna: Okay. Got it. Got it.
Angela Simoes: Um, so yeah. I mean I imagine that she was very sad and
you know, they lived, you know at that time it was kind of a hard
life. You lived on the ranch.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: You made everything from scratch. You made your own
soap. You made your own clothes. You made your own everything, right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah, no for sure. Wow. That's a good, thank you.
Angela Simoes: Mhm.
Gloria Luna: That's a wonderful story. Um, and so where did your
family originally settle and why there when they came to the US?
Angela Simoes: Um, so I know that my, so again I don't, I don't know
exactly know. So my maternal, so my my grandmother's parents you know,
he's the one that came over three times and I think he ended up coming
um you know somehow straight to the east coast.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: But my grandfather's parents had family in Rhode Island
already. So, when he when they came over, they stayed in Rhode Island
for I think a year and then the the winter was so harsh that they were
like, no we need we need sun. So again, they had heard about
California and and so, took a train and headed headed west. Um, my on
my dad's side, yeah my one grandfather at age 11, I don't know how he

found his way west but I know on the other side um, he had connections
you know, people that were already in California farming and so they
went straight to the Stockton area.
Gloria Luna: Got it.
Angela Simoes: Um worked on a dairy.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: Did that whole thing, right? So.
Gloria Luna: Got it. Alrighty. Perfect. Um, did your parents
grandparents ever tell you what it was like to adjust to life in a new
country? And what stories did they share with you, or did they pass
down regarding that, their earlier experiences?
Angela Simoes: So, I I I think um yeah, both my parents shared stories
of um they each grew up on, well. My dad grew up on a dairy for sure,
so that's the side that went, that was from the Azores and they went
straight to Stockton and he grew up on a dairy, and so he would uh,
you know, tell me stories. They would have the matanzas, you know the
pig killings and big celebrations and um, you know the, the life of a
dairy man getting up early and having to change the water hahaha and
what all that's entailed. Um, and I think the the stories that, uh you
probably get this a lot but people cry but um. Because my dad passed
away four years ago so.
Gloria Luna: I’m sorry.
Angela Simoes: And my dad would get really emotional talking about his
grandfather. Um, but I remember, he helped, he used to tell the story
about uh how he helped his grandfather study for the citizenship test,
to become an American citizen and like, when he did that, he was
really proud and all that, so I think that's really special. Um, and
then, on my mom's side. So my mom, I should actually ask her more
details about this, but I know she was born in Richmond.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And they lived in Rodeo for a time, for a few years.
Now, I don't remember why or how they ended up in Rodeo, but she's
actually even driven me by the house that they used to live in cause
she has memories of it being this big white house, you know, and just
very clean and you know beautiful and. But my grandfather or my great
grandfather at the time was really kind of an asshole and couldn't
hold a job so he would do like, odd jobs here and there to earn money
but could never like hold down a job because he never got along with
anybody. Um, and then

Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: Somehow, I'm trying to remember, I don't remember
exactly um they moved to Sacramento.
Gloria Luna: Okay okay.
Angela Simoes: And, but they moved. I’m trying to remember because,
they lived in Rodeo, but then. I'm gonna have to ask my mom again
because now I'm confused. Because they had the the ranch in Auburn,
right?
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And that's where my grandmother was born and you know
grew up there, but then they also lived in Rodeo for a time and my
mom, so that must, so that must have been after, but we still had the
ranch, so I don't know. So somehow there was like dual Rodeo and then
the ranch, but then um, actually I think I know what it was. My
grandfather's parents lived in Rodeo.
Gloria Luna: Oh okay.
Angela Simoes: And my grandmother's parents were in Auburn. Yes,
that's what it was. That's what it was.
Gloria Luna: Oh got it got it. Okay. Okay.
Angela Simoes: And so once my grandmother and her sister met my
grandfather and his brother through friends, and it was one of those
things like, now it's now it's all coming back to me. Um because they
had a ranch, and the Portuguese community network, and they had two
young daughters who they were gonna have to marry off at some point,
right?
Gloria Luna: Right, right.
Angela Simoes: Oh I, you know, you should come and go hunting with me,
take bring your boys and we'll go hunting up at the at the Moraes
Ranch. They've got two daughters and you know,
Gloria Luna: Hahaha.
Angela Simoes: we'll go do a matchmaking thing.
Gloria Luna: Yes.

Angela Simoes: So, my grandfather and his brother went with his dad up
to Auburn to go hunting and that's how they met. So, the two brothers
married the two sisters, right?
Gloria Luna: Oh wait. That is awesome.
Angela Simoes: And so that's how that happened. But I think my great
grandfather and great grandmother's kept their house in Rodeo, right?
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: So, they got married um and, had my mom and then there
were two other, so my mom has one sister and then my great aunt and
uncle had one daughter. So they all were kind of living up there, and
then I think at some point, you know, because my grandfather was such
a jerk and they couldn't maintain the house, my great grandparents or
my at that point my grandmother and grandfather said we don't want to
live in Auburn anymore, we're gonna buy a house in Sacramento. So they
moved to Sacramento.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And my grandfather said, hey mom and dad, if you, you
know, why don't you move from Rodeo, come to Sacramento to be with us
and so that's how that happened. Um, so I think that's how they ended
up in Sacramento. Yeah.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: And we had the, we had the ranch in the family up until
about 20 years ago. Yeah.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And then the family sold it.
Gloria Luna: And uh, and was it, I have to ask, was it common for like
brothers to like marry sisters? Um, like back in the, back then, or
Angela Simoes: Um, I don't know that it was common. I think it was
certainly convenient, right? Like if the ages worked out well.
Gloria Luna: Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Like if the ages worked out well. You've got three
single boys and there's three single girls, you know, I mean, I guess
it, you know, it would work out well, but um, I don't know that it's,
Gloria Luna: Yeah.

Angela Simoes: I've never heard of it as a, as a thing, you know? So.
Gloria Luna: As a common thing. Got it, got it. Okay, so as a
third generation um American, was it important that your parents,
uh was it important to your parents, that they raised you with
strong, uh with a strong Portuguese identity?
Angela Simoes: Uh I think if you ask them well, just my mom now, she
would say yes. Um but I, I don't, it wasn't one of those things where
it was like, we I grew up and there was like Portuguese pride signs
everywhere, right? It was just who we were, right?
Gloria Luna: Got it.
Angela Simoes: Going to the festas was what we did. Eating Portuguese
food is what we did, you know?
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: It's like um, and I think they, they enjoyed it. I
think it it made them feel connected to something.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: Um you know, I wish they would have, uh passed on the
language to us a little bit better or more.
Gloria Luna: Got it.
Angela Simoes: Um, but you know, it is what it is, but I mean we, it
was a lot of fun. I mean growing up, like I said I was Side Maid and
Queen so many times and it was always like the same group of girls
because I had three cousins and another friend, so that made five of
us and it literally was like always us. Like okay, it's your turn to
be Queen, we're all gonna be your Side Maids. Your turn to be Queen,
we're all gonna be your Side Maids.
Gloria Luna: Yeah. Aw.
Angela Simoes: My turn to be queen, we're all gonna be Side Maids. So,
it was like literally the five of us just kind of rotated Queen, we
just rotated positions, right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Angela Simoes: And we would, and we would like, so we were from
Sacramento. If we were going to Manteca or Gustine or Monterey or

wherever we were going, we'd stay the whole weekend. So it was like,
these little vacations that we would take on the weekends.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: You know, we'd leave on a Friday, get there, um spend
the night in the hotel. There was there was a dinner and a dance on a
Saturday, so we'd go to the hall and have fun there and then Sunday
was the parade, and we’d go home Sunday afternoon after the parade.
So, it was like
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: all these like little mini vacations on the weekends
all the time, which was really, it was fun. So, yeah.
Gloria Luna: Yeah, no, for sure. You gotta hang out with your cousins,
with friends. Yeah, for sure.
Angela Simoes: Yeah. And you're wearing crowns, and you know, you’re
Gloria Luna: Yeah. Hahaha.
Angela Simoes: people are clapping as you walk by. I mean who doesn't
want to be revered every weekend, you know?
Gloria Luna: Right? Right? And that's actually your answers, uh kind
of answers question 11 as well. Um it was just, how was this identity
expressed uh through language, foods, traditions and festivals, and
you kind of shared that, how it was, you know, shared through the
festas, through um uh being a Side Maid and Queen.
Angela Simoes: Yeah.
Gloria Luna: Was there anything else that you wanted to add to that?
Angela Simoes: Yeah, I mean, so in my early years were definitely the
festas, right? And um we even took dance lessons to learn the
shamarita. I don't know if you're familiar with the circle dance that,
Gloria Luna: Oh.
Angela Simoes: the shamarita circle dance that they do at the festas.
It's not like, you have to be certified or anything like that. It's
like it's like one of those things where the shamarita is on.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.

Angela Simoes: So everybody on the dance floor makes a circle and we
do the shamarita. But there are specific calls and if you don't speak
Portuguese or understand what they're saying, then you're going to be
totally lost. So so the hall in Sacramento actually gave lessons to
kids so that we would understand the calls and now we can do the
shamarita, right?
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And then when we were, I want to say we were like 13.
Somewhere around 12, 13. There's another organization called LusoAmerican Fraternal Federation and my parents had been involved in that
when they were younger and then my grandparents stayed involved. My
parents not so much. Um, but then they all of a sudden decided, you
know what, we should get the kids involved because they have a youth
program every year and it’s a, it's a summer thing where uh different
youth councils perform. So, they were like, you're gonna dance this
year. Okay, and so then we started dancing, you know, and we started
learning.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: And then I will say, that's when I, that was probably
my first real introduction to the language in terms of a structured
learning. Like I knew a couple of words here and there,
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: but then I actually sang. So, I had to learn the lyrics
and had to like actually understand what I was saying.
Gloria Luna: Oh.
Angela Simoes: So there was a mom in the group that helped me with the
pronunciation and actually know what I was saying and that sort of
thing. So I learned a little bit like that and then um, you know, we
learned some of the different uh steps, you know, different types of
dances. So that was fun. Um and I we did that until I was 18 and then
after that
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: Yeah and then after that, I took a little bit of a
break in college and then I got involved as a young adult so I don't
know, at what point you
Gloria Luna: Really?
Angela Simoes: Yeah. Yeah.

Gloria Luna: Oh my god. That is awesome.
Angela Simoes: Yeah.
Gloria Luna: Aw. I love that you like, carried that, you carried that
on into your adulthood. That is awesome. Um so
Angela Simoes: Yeah, some might say too much.
Gloria Luna: No that's that, I love that, that actually kind of leads
into question 12. Uh what cultural traditions have you maintained and
why is it important to you that you maintain them?
Angela Simoes: So um, so I feel like in high school is when I really
kind of realized looking back, I don't know if I realized it at the
time, but I real looking back I realized that um, being Portuguese and
going to the festas and having that community really um shaped who I
was and gave me a a a place that I felt comfortable because, you know
in high school. So I went to an all-girls catholic high school in
Sacramento.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: Um, it was clicky. There were mean girls, you know? I
you go to the dances and if you weren't like part of the popular
crowd, boys really didn't ask you to dance and you were, you know. It
was just awkward, right? And but at the Portuguese hall it was not
like that, you know?
Gloria Luna: Right.
Angela Simoes: You could have guys as friends and you could dance with
them, you know like partner dance and then you know, if you dance with
them, it didn't mean that you were gonna get with them. It just meant
you went for a dance right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: And so, it was so much more friendly and um welcoming
and open and you could like be who you were and. So I felt so much
more at home at the festas, at the halls and the festas and with that
group and so much so that I actually skipped uh homecoming like the
last two years of my high school because I was like, I would rather go
to a dance at the hall even if it's like a steak and oyster dinner,
than go to homecoming.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.

Angela Simoes: Because I know I'm going to have a better time at the
hall, right? Um,
Gloria Luna: Right. No. Absolutely.
Angela Simoes: So I I um it definitely um, I just felt so much more
connected. And I enjoyed the music. I liked the food. I mean, I didn't
like everything, but I liked, you know, the tremocos were fun because
as kids you spit them out, you know you, I don't know. Do you know
what those are? The lupini beans? Do you know what those are?
Gloria Luna: Uh uh.
Angela Simoes: So, do you know what lupini beans look like?
Gloria Luna: No.
Angela Simoes: So they're a little round, yellow beans that have a
skin on them and you, the way you cook them um you brine them, right?
Essentially for like
Gloria Luna: Oh.
Angela Simoes: many days and so they have a, they’re very salty. And
you bite the top off and then you pinch it and you squeeze the bean
part into your mouth and then you toss the the shell, right?
Gloria Luna: Oh, okay.
Angela Simoes: Well as kids, we would shoot the beans at people
hehehe. Because you know, you could shoot them and they'd go far,
right? So you're like, see,
Gloria Luna: Right. Hahaha.
Angela Simoes: shooting beans at people. And they’re like, eat one and
shoot one and eat one and shoot one and and so, you know, there was
that kind of stuff and um.
Gloria Luna: Oh. That’s so great.
Angela Simoes: And then um yeah, I mean there's like, so many great
memories. Like they would like, at that the annual picnic at the
Sacramento hall. Um you would go and buy a a a um a kebab. We called
them uh espet right? A espeto.
Gloria Luna: Oh.
Angela Simoes: Which is like a, like a, it’s a giant kebab. Basically.

Gloria Luna: Ooh. Okay.
Angela Simoes: Giant giant wrought iron kebab. You'd buy one of those
full of meat, you'd go barbecue it, and then your family brings potato
salad and fruit salad and other, like lots of other things, but you
all are,
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: you all are sitting in this giant picnic area and that
family's got that table and that family's got that table and. So that
was fun too because oh, it's time for the picnic and we're gonna go
and so there was lots of those kinds of things where
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: you know, there was coming together of family and it
was just fun and you saw other families so you saw your other friends
and stuff like that so um but yeah. So in high school I think I really
identified like this these are my people and then um, I went to
college and I took a break from the community just because, I went to
college in San Francisco and there really wasn't a community there
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: and I was so focused on school and you know that kind
of thing. But then um, when I graduated, my first job was with a
Portuguese organization out of Washington D. C. um.
Gloria Luna: Oh.
Angela Simoes: And I had always um wanted to go to Portugal, but I had
never been. My parents I think had been once um and it was like. So my
dad used to win trips because of sales um awards you know, it's like
oh you're the top sales person so you get to go to Germany or
whatever, that kind of thing.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: So I think on one of their trips back from another
place in Europe they stopped for like two days in Portugal, right and
that was it. And that was the only time my parents had ever been.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And so even though I had taken a break from the
community, I still was very interested in going to Portugal and seeing
what it was like and. You know because I had grown up going to

bullfights and festas and all this kind of stuff and I really wanted
to see, I was like, is that really what they do there? Like how, how
close is it to like what we do here, how close is it to what they
still do over there?
Gloria Luna: Yeah, for sure.
Angela Simoes: So my, so I saved up and my graduation gift to myself
was uh six weeks in Portugal, by myself. Yeah.
Gloria Luna: What? Oh my god.
Angela Simoes: Yeah, and though I did I did have um, I do have a
cousin there. I haven't spoken to her in 20 years because of my trip
actually. It was just kind of funny. Side story. Um she and her family
had come to visit us when we were like eight, right?
Gloria Luna: Uh huh.
Angela Simoes: And then, ever since then she and I would write
letters, we kind of corresponded, but it was like once every year
once, like it was very kind of random. Not, it's not like we were
writing all the time.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: But I wrote to her and I had said, hey, I'm coming, you
know? Can we hang out? Can I stay with you for a little bit? Yeah
sure. So the plan was I was going to stay on my own at like a little
hostel place for a couple of weeks, then I'd go stay with them. That
was horrible. Turns out, she's such a bitch.
Gloria Luna: No.
Angela Simoes: She was, she was really, she was really horrible. You
know, she like just would insult me to my face and I just thought, I'm
not going to spend the rest of my, like I have four weeks left, right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: I'm not going to spend the rest of my time with this
horrible person.
Gloria Luna: Yeah. Wow.
Angela Simoes: So I literally, so I, so I had like had it all planned
out. Because so, I was already friends and had already sort of started
dating um my now husband. He was my boyfriend at the time. Um and he
speaks Portuguese fluently because his parents are from Lisbon.

Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And so he had a much better command of the language and
everything and you know at that time the internet had just started.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And so I found a web cafe in Lisbon and I would go
there at least once a day and so he and I were exchanging emails, and
I was kind of telling him about my issue. So my plan was, because her
parents were really sweet. They were a little weird, but they were
sweet.
Gloria Luna: Hahaha.
Angela Simoes: Um and I and I was like, so my plan was to just like,
leave.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Like in the not even tell them I'm leaving. I'm just,
I’m just gonna leave, right? So um I, but I didn't want to just leave
and not explain to them why I was leaving. But they didn't read or
speak English.
Gloria Luna: Right, right.
Angela Simoes: So I wrote a letter, sent emailed the letter to my
boyfriend and said, can you translate this into Portuguese? And then I
I copied, hand wrote, a letter in Portuguese to them that basically
was like, listen, I'm really sorry, I don't know what I did to offend
your daughter, but I can't stay here. Best wishes. Whatever, right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Wrote that letter. In the middle of the night, slipped
it under the door, and left their house.
Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: Yeah. And I couldn't take all of my luggage with me so
I, in in the letter I said, I'll be back to collect the rest of my
things, right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: And she had, she knew where I had stayed before because
she had come to pick me up there, and of course I just went back there

because it's the only place I knew and um. Showed up at like two in
the morning, I'm like, do you have a room? Yeah, sure. Stayed there.
Um, the next day uh, I can't remember if I called them or they called
me. I think I called them because I wanted to say, hey can I come get
my stuff? And they were like, yeah and and it and very like. Imagine
if you didn't speak Portuguese and they didn't speak English and I'm
like, in my broken Portuguese trying to communicate something.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Well, I went out for a tour that day. I came back and
all my bags were in my, in the lobby of the hotel. I walk in and they
were like, there's your bags. So the, so the daughter had come,
dropped all my stuff, and left and I haven't talked to them since. And
this was in 1998.
Gloria Luna: Oh wow.
Angela Simoes: Hahaha. Yeah.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: It was so, it was like, oh it was just so horrible.
Like I don't even know if I saw her now it would just be so awkward.
Anyway so that so but, the rest of my trip was amazing, right? It was
the World Expo.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: It was the World Expo, um I felt so at home in
Portugal. I never, like my mom was like, don't you, aren't you scared?
I’m like no, like not at all. I totally feel safe. I would walk
anywhere by myself, at night or during the day. Like, it didn't matter
um
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: and I, and I ended up meeting up with some friends
there that I had, you know, people from the east coast that I knew. It
was like, oh you're going to the Expo and so um. So yeah, so that was
a great trip and that kind of like really solidified my, yes, I love
being Portuguese and all these kind of things, right? Um, so then I, I
moved to Washington D. C. to work for this Portuguese organization and
um yeah, and then that just kind of led to me getting back involved in
the community um, in lots of different ways and uh, only now am I kind
of starting to take a step back because of a series of our own,
Gloria Luna: Okay.

Angela Simoes: you know, trials and tribulations in life and just
needing to focus on family and but yeah, I mean
Gloria Luna: Yes.
Angela Simoes: I so I I lived in D. C. for a year. The organization
was great. I did not like D. C. I wanted to come back to California,
so I came back to California um, got involved with the Portugal Day
Festival here in San Jose um. Frankly, lead that, was chair of that
festival for almost 10 years.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: Um, got involved in a few other organizations on as
like advisory council members or board members just kind of like
helping to, you know? Um and then all the while still staying involved
with this national organization that was D. C. based. So I was their,
I joined their board of directors to represent California. Um.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: My boyfriend and I got more serious. Um they, he and
his sister had started a folklore group many years prior. I joined
that folklore group so I danced folklore for a while um. And then
yeah, let's say fast forward. I'm still on the board for the org that
organization. I was chair for six years. I just gave that up last year
or this this year I should say. Um yeah what else? I don't know. It's
like,
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: you know I've been so involved like, you know Danig,
right?
Gloria Luna: Yes. Yes.
Angela Simoes: Okay. So, kind of like Danig.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: Like, he still does way more than, I I mean, he's on,
he's doing a webinar on on Facebook like every day. It's kind of
crazy.
Gloria Luna: Hahaha.
Angela Simoes: But but that kind of that level of involvement. Just
like, it was who I was like it really became like, oh Angela? Yeah,
she's Portuguese.

Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Like it just became everything who I was so.
Gloria Luna: Wow. So you have just helped out the community, not only
like on a local state level, but like on a national level.
Angela Simoes: Yeah. Yeah.
Gloria Luna: Wow.
Angela Simoes: Mhm. Hahaha.
Gloria Luna: That is awesome. Like, wow. Um, so what so out of all
those accomplishments um, what are you most proud of? And what proud
moments do you remember within your uh Portuguese American community?
Angela Simoes: So I would say um, the most the thing I'm most proud of
is when I served as chair for this national organization um. I worked
really hard to turn it around. So when I took over as chair, it had a,
it had a kind of a bad reputation. Membership was really low. The
board at the time really didn't do much and um I just. You know how
you just like have this intuition like, I know what we need to do and
I'm just gonna do it. I'm not gonna even ask permission from anybody,
right? I'm just gonna do it. So I started doing all these things and
in six years, you know our membership has increased like 300%. We have
like almost a complete turnover of the board of all these new people
who are like young and energetic and have great ideas and want to do
stuff. We've introduced so many new like programs. We have a mobile
app like, so I would say the transformation of this the national
organization is my biggest accomplishment for sure. And there was
another question you asked and I don't remember what it was.
Gloria Luna: Um, what proud moments do you remember in the Portuguese
American community?
Angela Simoes: Proud moments? Um. I mean I would say the moments that
I have felt most proud um. One of the first that comes to mind is, I
actually, when I was involved in the Luso American Fraternal
Federation, I um took on the role of choreographer to teach the kids
the dance that they were going to do for the summer.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: And there was and there was one particular summer
where, and the kids just couldn't get the dance. It was really like,
everybody was struggling and it was towards the end like it was like
a week before the convention where they would have to perform, and we

were at practice and I remember standing on a table so I could see
like all you know, where they were and if they were doing it right
and they did it so perfectly and I started crying.
Gloria Luna: Aw.
Angela Simoes: Like, I was just so proud that they, you know they
stuck it out and they worked hard and they actually they finally got
it, right? So I remember that one.
Gloria Luna: Right.
Angela Simoes: That was a big one. Um you know, I feel like there are
moments where uh, once I got involved with the national organization,
I came back and gave a speech at that convention and you know, got a
standing ovation and you know because, it's one of those things
where, growing up even though um, we were proud to be Portuguese, I
was involved in all this stuff, on a personal level I was a very
self-conscious kid, right? Like I was always kind of the fat girl,
you know, and so I was just, there was, I had a lot of self-esteem
issues and so to have those kind of moments where people are like
applauding you and you know, giving you respect it, it meant a lot
and so then I would say, yeah, I mean um a lot of my proud moments
actually come back to my role within PALCUS and what I've done and
and things I've been able to do through that organization so yeah.
Gloria Luna: And um, I apologize, what is the name of the national
organization again that you?
Angela Simoes: Yeah, it's PALCUS. P A L C U S. Which stands for
Portuguese American Leadership Council of the United States.
Gloria Luna: Got it. Got it.
Angela Simoes: Which is why, which is why we say PALCUS. It’s a lot.
Gloria Luna: PALCUS. Got it. Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Angela Simoes: Mhm.
Gloria Luna: Okay so, to what extent do you believe being Portuguese
American has shaped the way you have moved through life, both
professionally and personally?
Angela Simoes: Um to what extent? I mean, we're talking like,
percentage wise or I mean, I think it's had a huge impact frankly. Um
every, you know, professionally because it it on, uh, on a couple of
things um. It's made me more aware of, that there are other cultures
out there and and being able to um adapt or or. For example, if I'm

working with somebody from another country and I'm writing them an
email, I know how much I appreciate it when somebody kind of throws in
something Portuguese. So I'll use google translate or I'll look up a
phrase and I'll reply in their language, right? And that always gets,
that always gets a great response, right?
Gloria Luna: Aw. Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Um you know, understanding some customs or
understanding why people do things or even just trying to understand
um has made working with people in different parts of the world a
little easier and more enjoyable, right? Because they don't feel, they
don't feel like I'm this brash arrogant American that thinks everybody
else is shit, right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Like, oh no, she actually appreciates other cultures,
right? So I think from a professional standpoint that's had a big
impact and also the work ethic part.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: I mean, Portuguese are known for their work ethic.
Unless you're from the Alentejo, and then everybody says you're lazy,
but um.
Gloria Luna: Oh. Okay.
Angela Simoes: I don't, I don't know that, I don't know if that's
actually true, but that's that's the uh, that's the joke. Um but yeah,
work ethic, I mean I'm a work horse to a fault, right?
Gloria Luna: Hahaha.
Angela Simoes: Like um you know, if you ask my daughter, what's
mommy's favorite thing to do and she'll say, work
Gloria Luna: Aw.
Angela Simoes: and it's kind of disheartening to hear that, but it's
kind of true.
Gloria Luna: Right right.
Angela Simoes: Um so there's that. And then personally, yeah, I mean,
it's who I am. Like there's no, there's no way around that.
Gloria Luna: I love that.

Angela Simoes: Yeah.
Gloria Luna: I love that. That is awesome. I love that, I love that.
Um, so what does Portuguese American mean to you?
Angela Simoes: Um. There's two answers to that and I only have eight
minutes left, so I'll try to answer. I don't know how many more
questions you have, but so, for me personally, it means um having
kinda the best of both worlds, right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simeos: We live in, we live in America and it's a great place
to be. Tons of opportunity. Um you know, it's it's kind of like there
are so many resources, like if you can't make it here. I mean, yes,
it's gonna be hard sometimes but
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: there's there's so many resources and programs and
things to take advantage of that, that if you really want it, then you
can make it happen, right?
Gloria Luna: For sure.
Angela Simoes: Um so there's that, but then I also really love the
cultural part of being Portuguese because the food, the music um the,
the art, the uh all the different aspects of it and and being able to
go back to Portugal and love it and appreciate it and feel at home
there. Like I have two homes, you know?
Gloria Luna: Yes yes.
Angela Simoes: So for me, so for me it's it's very much having the
best of both worlds. Now, when I think Portuguese American, I think of
the community and I'm a little, I get a little not sad, but, you know?
I feel like sometimes people have um, what’s the word I'm looking for?
Like sometimes I'm not, like I see a group of Portuguese Americans or
I see how they're behaving or I hear a podcast and I'm like, that's
not who I want to associate with, you know?
Gloria Luna: Ah.
Angela Simoes: Like, they're they're either being crass, they're being
disrespectful, basically they’re being punks, you know?
Gloria Luna: Okay. Okay.

Angela Simoes: And so I feel like, and I think that can actually be
applied to maybe it's a generational thing across the board across
cultures, right?
Gloria Luna: Yes, for sure. Yes yes.
Angela Simoes: That, you know, you're not understanding and grasping
really how important this is.
Gloria Luna: Absolutely.
Angela Simoes: Or how important it is to maintain the proper
pronunciation of something. The proper way to describe something. It's
not a joke. It's not meant to be fodder for your act, you know what I
mean?
Gloria Luna: Yep. Absolutely.
Angela Simoes: Um, and if you're representing my community to people
who are not Portuguese, well God help us, because,
Gloria Luna: Mhm.
Angela Simoes: they're just going to think that all Portuguese people
are assholes and, and we're not, you know what I mean?
Gloria Luna: Oh absolutely.
Angela Simoes: So I feel like, I feel like there's this generational
degradation of integrity, frankly.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And um, we're really trying to raise our daughter to
have integrity, right?
Gloria Luna: Absolutely. Yes.
Angela Simoes: And and that comes down to some of the basic things of
having manners and know your place meaning, you can have fun and be
silly, but when there's other people around you know, there are other
people around, you're not the only person in the space, so be
respectful of other people, you know?
Gloria Luna: Amen.
Angela Simoes: You don't have to be, you don't have to be loud. You
don't have to, not everybody wants to listen to your music. Not

everybody wants to hear your conversation. Not everybody wants to, you
know what I mean? It’s like,
Gloria Luna: No. I fully agree.
Angela Simoes: just, you know, so there's, there's a lot of that.
Gloria Luna: Okay.
Angela Simoes: And so, there's a little bit of a struggle, right?
Because I want to be helpful and I want to provide you know,
opportunities and hey, there's this, but if you're gonna act like
that? I I don't want you to come and do this, you know?
Gloria Luna: Right. Right. For sure.
Angela Simoes: So so there's there's a little bit of that. I think
there's certainly, there are a lot of people in our community that are
still very respectful and have integrity, but they tend to be either
my age or older, right? So I'm 46. Maybe they're in their thirties,
but even even then I find some young 30-year-olds where I'm just like,
how old are you?
Gloria Luna: Right, right. Yeah, no for I
Angela Simoes: You know, are you 16? Like, come on dude.
Gloria Luna: Like, you should know better uh kind of thing.
Angela Simoes: You should know better yeah. And and if you think
that's funny, some people are gonna think it's funny, but it's going
to be a very small group of people that think it's funny, you know?
Gloria Luna: Oh no. For sure. I I'm I'm in my early 40s and I just had
a conversation with a coworker that is 19 and had to kind of explain
the same thing. Like listen what you think is, I'm from a different
generation. I don't find it funny.
Angela Simoes: Yeah. Funny. Yeah.
Gloria Luna: He he thought it was okay calling me hon. I'm like, you
know my name. Please do not call me
Angela Simoes: No. No. I am not your hon.
Gloria Luna: I’m older than, I'm yeah. I'm old enough to be your
mother.
Angela Simoes: Yeah.

Gloria Luna: Please. And he tried to tell me he calls his mother hon.
I'm like um, as Mexican American, I greatly doubt that but okay. But
yeah I, yeah I I, so I fully agree with you on.
Angela Simoes: Oh my God. If my daughter ever came home and was like,
hon, can you make me something to eat?
Gloria Luna: Right?
Angela Simoes: I’d be like, I'm sorry, who? Like, who are you talking
to?
Gloria Luna: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
Angela Simoes: Hell no. Hahaha.
Gloria Luna: I was like, yeah. I’m like, you are full of it. You're
full of it kid. You’re, no. No. So yeah, he’s definitely stopped
calling me hon because I’m like,
Angela Simoes: That’s good. Yeah.
Gloria Luna: do not, do not speak to me that way. Um, so actually uh,
you an, you answered the last question. The last question was, how do
you see the Portuguese American community today and you just answered
that.
Angela Simeos: Mm.
Gloria Luna: So, you definitely shared that um and that was pretty
much the last of it um.
Angela Simoes: Okay.
Gloria Luna: Is there anything that we didn't cover that you wanted to
share? Anything that, lasting comments or anything.
Angela Simoes: Um you know, I I wish that, you know the other thing I
would say about the community in general is, I wish we had a more um
united and supportive mentality collectively that, you know?
Gloria Luna: Mm.
Angela Simoes: That that sense that sense of a rising tide lifts all
boats, not just yours, you know?
Gloria Luna: Oh I love that.

Angela Simoes: And um we just tend to be so competitive with each
other, and it's to our own detriment, right? Like if you look at the
Armenian community or the Greek community or um, you know some other
communities, Indian, my gosh.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simoes: But you know Indian, there's a lot more Indians than
there are Portuguese. But um you know, they support each other. Like,
their accountant, their banker, their baker, there tailor, like
everybody that they go to is Portuguese and those services make sure
that their clients, who are of their ethnicity, get the best service,
right?
Gloria Luna: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
Angela Simoes: It's not like, it's not like, I mean, I can't
tell you how many times it's like a contractor will come in and like
redo a kitchen. Oh but it's a Portuguese family so you know. Whether
it's conscious or not, they either leave it unfinished or they don't
do 100% good job and it's like, because they they have this idea that,
well, they have to go with me because I'm Portuguese so they're like,
obligated. And it's like, I'm not obligated at all, right?
Gloria Luna: Right, right, yeah. Right, absolutely.
Angela Simoes: So or if there's like a restaurant you know, we're not
going to go to that restaurant because I can cook better than that.
Well yeah, you probably could. But do you want to cook every night? It
it's kind of nice to go out to dinner once in a once in a while, you
know?
Gloria Luna: Yep. Yeah, for sure.
Angela Simoes: So I just wish that there was a more um uh collective
sense of uh, we will support each other. I don't even want to say
unity. I want to say a collective sense of support for one another.
Gloria Luna: Absolutely.
Angela Simoes: Um and then I would also say tolerance, but I think the
tolerance issue is is nationwide.
Gloria Luna: Yeah.
Angela Simeos: I don't think it's a Portuguese specific thing. It's
like, okay, you know, I don't like who you voted for, does that mean
I'm never gonna speak to you again? For some people it does, you know,
and it's unfortunate.

Gloria Luna: Right? No, for sure. I I agree. Well thank you so much
for your time. I really, really appreciate it.
Angela Simoes: Oh, no problem.
Gloria Luna: And I uh I apologize for the mishap earlier with Zoom and
everything. So thank you.
Angela Simoes: Oh. No problem. No problem.
Gloria Luna: Thank you.
Angela Simoes: I do have to jump because I'm actually leading the next
call that has probably already started,
Gloria Luna: Okay. Alrighty.
Angela Simoes: but I'll send you the link to the recording and just
let me know if you have problems downloading it.
Gloria Luna: Okay. Okay. And if you ever get a chance um, if you can
send me just a couple of photos that you feel comfortable so I can
include them. I would greatly appreciate that.
Angela Simoes: Okay. Sure.
Gloria Luna: Okay. Thank you.
Angela Simoes: Alright. Thanks. Okay.
Gloria Luna: Take care.
Angela Simoes: Uhuh.
Gloria Luna: Bye.
Angela Simoes: Bye.