Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute Collection

Kristin Pires Interview

Pires, Kristen

Diaz, Sage

ENG

Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute

4/29/2023

SCUAD_pbbi_00053

Kristin Pires: Okay.
Sage Diaz: Okay. It's recording. Okay.
Kristin Pires: Okay good.
Sage Diaz: All right. How are you doing?
Kristin Pires: I'm good, thank you. How are you?
Sage Diaz: I'm doing great. All righty. So let me pull out my notes
and um okay. All right. So, I'll begin with the first question. What
is your full birth name?
Kristin Pires: Kristin, K-R-I-S-T-I-N Michelle, M-I-C-H-E-L-L-E Pires,
P-I-R-E-S.
Sage Diaz: Okay. Thank you, Michelle.
Kristin Pires: Kristin.
Sage Diaz: And what were you gonna say? I'm sorry.
Kristin Pires: It's okay. It's uh Kristin is my first name.
Sage Diaz: Okay, Kristin. All right.
Kristin Pires: There you go.
Sage Diaz: Um were you named after anyone and is there a story behind
your name?
Kristin Pires: No, I was not, not really a story, no.
Sage Diaz: All right then. Okay. Second question. When were you born?
Kristin Pires: I was born on the 20th of August, 1975.
Sage Diaz: And what year by chance?
Kristin Pires:

197-, 1975.

Sage Diaz: 1975. Okay. Um the next question is, where were you born?
Kristin Pires: I was born in Visalia, California.
Sage Diaz: Um what is an early memory of your child-- um from your
child. What early memories do you have as a child from in the
Portuguese American community?
Kristin Pires: Okay. So, I would say early memories um would be
probably going to the festas as a child, um the Portuguese
celebrations uh in Tulare um and then probably over in Pismo too. And
then also just being out, my dad's side of the family is the
Portuguese side. So, being out at my grandparents' house and around
like my great grandmother who was from the Azores um and just like

probably mostly kind of food related memories. Um and then the festas
and then stuff that's connected kind of I would say with being
Catholic too.
Sage Diaz: Okay. And so, this is an off-topic question but was like
being a Catholic in a Portuguese American community, like was that
very big?
Kristin Pires: It is in Tulare, um just because we have actually a
Portuguese mass here. Um so there's my entire life there's a, at the
Catholic church in Saint Aloysius, they have one mass on Sunday
morning, and it's done in Portuguese.
Sage Diaz: Okay. Because-Kristin Pires: And we act-- yeah, would occasionally go to that mass.
Not often, but sometimes.
Sage Diaz: Because I believe there's a hall in um Visalia by right
around like the Main Street area and it's the Portuguese—
Kristin Pires: Yes.
Sage Diaz: --Hall and I went there recently, and I saw a lot of like
pictures of like the sort of like the kind of like the quinceaneras to
like the Mexican Americans. But it was like the coming of age, like
the coronations for the young ladies.
Kristin Pires: Like the, it's closest to in the Mexican community is
um like the, is it our Lady of Guadalupe. Is there like a festival?
Sage Diaz: Yes.
Kristin Pires: It's, it's like that because like in Tulare you have
the Fatima celebration where the Virgin Mary appeared to three
Portuguese children in the city of Fatima. And she came back to them
like several times and premade predictions about what was going to
happen in the world. Um and so it's to honor the Virgin Mary and the
Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, so.
Sage Diaz: The next question is, when did your family immigrate to the
United States and uh when did, oh, it, it, it's just when did your
family immigrate to the United States?
Kristin Pires: So, I believe they came over in the early 1900s um and
it's my great grandparents on my dad's side um and I think, yeah, I
think it's probably the early 1900s, maybe late 1800s, early 1900’s.
Sage Diaz: Um was there a reason why your family left the Azores? Was
there something that attracted them to come to the, to Central
California?

Kristin Pires: So, I know that my um maternal, no, sorry, my dad. So
my dad's mom's mom. So my dad's maternal grandmother um she came at
the age of 15 by herself on a boat um to basically kind of be a nanny
for, I think a cousin who had married and just there's his wife had,
had a baby. Um but for the most part, the reason I think was
economics. So, our family on the islands of São Jorge and Pico were
from um small villages where I don't think there was a lot of economic
opportunity. And so, they came to California where there were already
Portuguese people um and settled here to make a better life.
Sage Diaz: Okay. And the next question is where did your family settle
and why there?
Kristin Pires: Um, so my understanding is that they've settled in
around the Han-- my dad's, dad's family settled um in the Hanford area
and then my um dad's mom's family settled in kind of the Visalia area.
Sage Diaz: Okay. And did your parents or grandparents ever tell you
what it was like to adjust to the new, um, country?
Kristin Pires: Um, not so much. I know that my great grandmother, even
though she came at the age of 15, she never really learned very much
English. Um, so I think she just always kind of worked in the places
where she didn't have to know a lot of English. She lived near um
Saint Mary's Church in Visalia. And so, she would walk to church to
mass every day um and then I think everything she needed was kind of
right around her. So, um, and then like my dad's, my grandfather's
side of the family they were involved in agriculture um, and I think
that they, you know, they struggled like most immigrants do to kind of
just work really hard and save money and then eventually they had
saved money where they could buy a little bit of land and start
farming themselves and then that would, that grew over time.
Sage Diaz: Um what stories were passed down to you regarding their
early experience?
Kristin Pires: Um So I know like the story I said about my great
grandmother who came over to be a nanny for a family. So, she left,
she's from a very, very tiny village in São Jorge. It's called Fajã
dos Vimes um and you actually, it's, you have to like, you take
there's a road um on a ridge and then you go down. Today you would
drive down on like ATVs like in zigzag until you got to the bottom
where the village is. But when she was a child and growing up, you had
to go there by boat to reach it. Um and there were just a few houses
there. So, there was really like almost nothing. Um and so I think
that that kind of hardship, that hard life um was a driving factor for
her to leave. Um and then I don't know a whole lot about my
grandfather's family as to why they came, um but I do know that they
settled in the Hanford area, and they farmed.

Sage Diaz: And I believe in the last meeting which wasn't recorded you
mentioned that you were a third generation Portuguese American,
correct?
Kristin Pires: Yeah. Yes.
Sage Diaz: Okay. Um how important was it to your parents that you be
raised with a strong Portuguese identity?
Kristin Pires: Uh probably not extremely strong, um so my dad's family
is, is of Portuguese descent, but my mom is not, she's Italian
American, um so I mean, we did things like as kids, like my dad served
on the board for like some of the celebrations in the, the Portuguese
halls for a while and he was involved in Cabrillo Club. But um they
not, they're not as involved as my grandparents were. My grandparents
were really involved in the Luso American Foundation, which is like a
Portuguese American foundation community. Um and so they would go like
all over California to conferences and and be involved with that for
many years. But I think my dad, he started his own business, and he
was too busy, I think with work to kind of really focus on doing a lot
of other things, so.
Sage Diaz: And question, did your grandparents ever like take you or
your siblings like to any, not any of the conferences, but were they
just like, “oh, like you should come with us” and it was just like
Portuguese based?
Kristin Pires: Um yeah, I mean, definitely going to the festas around
here and then um I don't, I'm one of the youngest of cousins so, I'm
thinking probably my older cousins went with my grandparents to
probably some of the Luso meetings. Um but for me, it was more, I
think just going and being involved in the festas.
Sage Diaz: Okay. The next question is, how was this identity expressed
through language, food, tradition, and festivals?
Kristin Pires: Um, so my great grandparents of course spoke fluent
Portuguese, my grandparents spoke decent Portuguese, but they never
taught their children. So, which would be like dad and his sisters. Um
and so then I didn't grow, did not grow up knowing Portuguese, but I
did learn Portuguese because I spent a few months living in Brazil.
And so, I learned Brazilian Portuguese at that time. So, I know
Portuguese um but not, I'm not fluent in it. Um food was definitely um
something I think that we connected with so, my, my grandmother is a,
was a fantastic cook um and so she would make some Portuguese recipes.
And then my aunt, one of my aunts, my dad's oldest sister, she married
somebody who was very Portuguese, and her mother-in-law taught her a
lot of [audio cuts out]

Sage Diaz: Um. Did it cut out? Did it cut out? I think you're muted,
or can you hear me?
Kristin Pires: [video cuts out] Okay. Yes. Yes. Now, can you hear me
now?
Sage Diaz: Yes, I can hear you now.
Kristin Pires: Okay. So, it cut out but it's not, it still shows that
it's recording so.
Sage Diaz: Yes, it's still recording.
Kristin Pires: Okay. So, yeah, I mean, food was definitely a part of,
of the Portuguese connection.
Sage Diaz: And the next question is what culture, um, cultural
tradition have you maintained? Why has it been important to you to
maintain them?
Kristin Pires: Um, I mean, aside like the recipes, I mean, some of the
food definitely like this weekend I, my parents came over and my
brother and sister-in-law and we had sopas, so which is like the
Portuguese soup that's really popular here. So, we had that for
dinner. [audio cuts out]
Sage Diaz: Uh oh.
Kristin Pires: [video cuts out] Oh, okay. Are you there, Sage?
Sage Diaz: Yes, I'm here.
Kristin Pires: Okay. I don't know why it keeps cutting. Okay so you
asked me about like that part of the culture I'm still involved with,
is that right?
Sage Diaz: Yes.
Kristin Pires: Okay. Yeah, I would say the food, um, when I talked to
Tulare Western for a few, um, I was there the first eight years of my
career and I was involved, um, a couple of the years with the Sopas
Club. So, the Portuguese Club on campus. Um and so I was the advisor
for that. And then I don't know, I mean, yeah, not, not so much now,
um I was for a while, I would help Diniz uh be involved with the Luso
conference that came to Tulare for a couple of years. Um [audio cuts
out] I don't know why it keeps cutting out, it is weird. Okay, so then
the other thing is Diniz organized through his connections with the
Azores in Portugal a trip for educators to the Azores a few summers
ago and so, the, that was really an amazing experience to go to the
Azores for the first time and see like where my ancestors came from.

Sage Diaz: So, in the last, the last like uh meeting we had you
mentioned that you had been to the Azores and what was that experience
like for you?
Kristin Pires: Um So I've been to mainland Portugal, I think three
times and the Azores twice. Um and I love it, like the first time I
was in Portugal, just kind of, I like it looking [audio cuts out].
Okay, look. [video cuts out] Um yeah, so going to Portugal for the
first time, um it was really exciting. Um you kind of look around,
people look kind of familiar with their features and stuff, it looks
like people from Tulare um and the Azores, I mean in Portugal it's so
beautiful, everybody is really friendly. Um I felt very, very
comfortable there, very much at home. I loved it.
Sage Diaz: The next question is um if um some of your experience
growing up in Port-- Portuguese American communities in the Valley
throughout your life? Yeah.
Kristin Pires: Okay can you hear me?
Sage Diaz: Yes, I can hear you.
Kristin Pires: All right. Okay. So, um can you read the question again
because you’re cut out? It cut off.
Sage Diaz: Yes, it's um so your experience growing up in the
Portuguese community in the Valley throughout your life, what were the
experiences like?
Kristin Pires: Um so not a ton of connection to the Portuguese
community um other through then through like maybe a little bit with
the festas um but then just maybe like in town and at school, I don't
know, recognizing people with [audio cuts out].
Sage Diaz: Hm. One--