Immigrant Heritage Month: Growing up with a Portuguese influence

By Mark Muckenfuss

The Azores draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to its nine idyllic islands, 1,000 miles west of mainland Portugal, each year. From stunning landscapes and black-sand beaches to adventures in caving and swimming with dolphins, the vacation spot has a lot to offer. 

But for residents, the opportunities are limited. So, when Sandra Amorim Ruiz was just a year old, her parents left their home there and immigrated to Turlock, in California’s Central Valley. Ruiz is now the director of procurement and contract services for CSU Monterey Bay. Her story is one of a series being told as part of June’s Immigrant Heritage Month.   

Without childhood memories, Ruiz said she feels little pull from the islands – which are Portuguese territory – even though she still has family there. But her upbringing as an immigrant was infused with the culture of her home country. And it still plays a prominent role in her life. 

“I always consider myself to be an American but there were definitely Portuguese traditions,” Ruiz said. “There was this really big Portuguese community in Turlock. The center of it is the Catholic religion.”

And the traditions were often expressed in celebrations called festas.

“You have a Virgin Mary festa and a Holy Spirit festa,” she said, adding that these and others often filled the weekends of her young life. “I probably didn’t appreciate it when it was happening. But it’s what I grew up doing.”

She was even a key element at one point.

“I was the Portuguese queen,” she said. “I was 13 or 14. You got to buy a big fancy dress and have a crown. For a girl, it was really special. You do parades. You go to festas in different communities around California.

“There are still festas and there are still queens,” she added. “There was a festa in Gilroy not long ago. There’s one in Monterey. There’s one in Santa Cruz. There are even [mock] bullfights.”

In the Azores, Ruiz’s father had a small farm with a few dairy cows. In Turlock, he worked in the dairy industry, saving enough money to eventually start his own dairy in Watsonville. Because he had only been able to get a third-grade education in his home country, Ruiz said, her father encouraged her and her siblings to take advantage of the American education system.

“There was definitely value placed on education as a tool for economic advancement,” she said.

She earned a double major, English and political science, at CSU Stanislaus, and was looking at going to law school. 

“I was waiting to take the LSAT,” she said. “l was working as a bartender and I thought, ‘I need to get some [applicable] experience.’ A person I interviewed with said, ‘If you’re interested in contracts, procurement has a lot of contracts.’”

So, she got a job in procurement and decided to stay in the field, working for several companies in manufacturing and public transit before coming to CSUMB a year and a half ago. 

“I really love it here,” Ruiz said of the campus. “The culture is what makes the job either enjoyable or not and I think they have a great culture that is supportive and collaborative. It’s a great place to work.” 

As an adult, she became a U.S. citizen. 

“I wanted to vote,” she said. “I need to vote and have a voice.”

Even though she has that status and grew up almost entirely in the United States, Ruiz said she still feels her experience as an immigrant straddling two cultures has helped form who she is. 

“It gives me empathy and a real interest and appreciation for everyone’s story,” she said. “I do feel like different perspectives make everything more interesting.”