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Listen to Rosa's story as you read the translation below.... click here. Interview with Rosa Rodrigues August , 2000 by Patricia Rodrigues |
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| My grandfather was born in Brava, but
he worked in the United States. He worked on a whaling
ship out of New Bedford, MA. He married my grandmother in
Brava. They went to the United States together, and my
mother was born there. They visited Brava once when my
mother was eight years old, and then returned to the
United States. My grandmother finally moved back to Brava, but my grandfather stayed in the United States. While he was working on the whaling ship there was a harsh storm at sea, and he fell overboard. His shipmates could not save him, because the storm was too severe. While my mother was in the United States, she married my father, who was from the island of Fogo. When she was about eighteen years old she went by ship to visit Brava. On her voyage to Brava there was a sea storm. During the storm, the ship’s masts broke. All of the passengers had to throw their furniture and belongings overboard. There were many of them on board the ship. They were at sea for one month, before finally arriving at their destination. During the voyage my mother was pregnant, she was expecting my older brother, Benjamin. This made her fearful of traveling by boat, so she did not return to the United States for fifty-three years. My father was a chief steward on an oil ship in the United States. He got this job in the United States, because this type of employment was not available in the Cape Verde Islands. He traveled back and forth between Cape Verde and the United States. One day, he left the ship to do some grocery shopping. When he returned to the ship, and it was very dark outside. The vessel had moved slightly away from the dock, but he could not see well so he fell into the ocean. It was winter and the waters were frozen. Therefore, they did not find his corpse for several months. This happened at a port in New York City. My brother Benjamin, like my father, worked as a steward on an oil ship. He married in the United States, and had children there. He resided in New Bedford, MA. There were a total of five siblings in my family. Two died in Brava, and my brother died in New Bedford. Today, my sister and I are still living in the United States. *Note: This piece of information is not on the audio. My sister and I came to United States on my mother’s (who was a U.S. citizen) papers. I have been here for a little over thirty-three years, since 1966. Interviewer: Do you miss Cape Verde? Rosa: Of course I do………… that is my country. |
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Developed by: Patricia J. Rodrigues..author's note Copyright 2000 |
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