[su_label type=”info”]Community in Focus[\/su_label]<\/p>\n
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<\/b>I have always felt special being the daughter of an immigrant. Because of it, I feel like I have a super power running through my blood: the power to adapt, to endure and to push through. Recently, I\u2019ve been thinking about how important is it to understand the experience of an immigrant from another culture, or the experience of someone who is also the daughter of an immigrant.<\/p>\n
Something about the Portuguese culture has always intrigued me. \u201cIf you know Spanish then you will be able to catch on to Portuguese quickly,\u201d Andrea de Francisco tells me. Andrea is the owner and founder of a Portuguese-inspired cafe in the Outer Mission called Cafe St. Jorge.<\/p>\n
I first became aware of Andrea when on Facebook one day she posted: \u201cMy cafe would not be here if it weren\u2019t for immigrants, my parents fled civil war for a better life.\u201d That post was in response to Donald Trump\u2019s recent travel ban, which barred travelers from seven majority Muslim countries (The ban was blocked by the courts, but has since been updated and reissued to include immigrants from six of the original seven countries.)<\/p>\n
Andrea\u2019s family history is rooted in immigration; her family was among a huge wave of Portuguese who relocated to Angola, Africa from the Azores islands in the \u201860s. During that time, Angola was a Portuguese colony and offered more opportunity than the islands. But after the formation of the People\u2019s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), MPLA forces clashed frequently with the Portuguese army. The fight for Angola\u2019s independence forced many to flee.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother came to the United States in 1975, with my father following in 1979,\u201d Andrea said, describing with admiration the entrepreneurial spirit of her family. \u201cWhen my mom came to the United States, she found work right away and has held several jobs throughout the years to support the family. She is like a chameleon: always adapting and making it work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrea\u2019s father had a fascination with diamonds, eventually starting the Francisco Diamond Imports Store in California with her mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents are no longer together but I have always had examples of what it means to have good work ethic,\u201d Andrea said. \u201cThat\u2019s why when I was opening my cafe, I didn\u2019t have time to be scared. I just worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
This fearless energy is what motivated her to open Cafe St. Jorge in 2013 and create a piece of Portugal in San Francisco. Although she\u2019s a San Francisco native, she\u2019s traveled back and forth to the Island of S\u00e3o Jorge her whole life. When I ask her what she loves so much about Portugal, she describes the calm lifestyle, the beaches and of course, the bread.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing to get fresh \u201cpapo secos\u201d (dried bread) every morning for 10 cents,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is something really special about the bread in Portugal.\u201d<\/p>\n
And making people happy through food and drink is a passion of Andrea\u2019s, and her culture has influenced that passion. \u201cThe Portuguese love caring for people through food and drink. We are the type of people who will constantly want to feed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
While at Cafe St. Jorge, I try the tosta de queijo (a Portuguese spin on grilled cheese) and I fall in love with it\u2019s signature topo cheese.<\/p>\n
I also have a slice of strawberry jam cake, which is an original recipe from Andrea\u2019s 93-year-old grandmother. Her recipes for baked goods are all original and made from scratch. She tells me that another dream of hers is to create a cookbook with her family history and recipes. Andrea is now a mother herself and wants her nine-month-old daughter, Ana Maria, to have something that can be passed down to her.<\/p>\n
This is what you get when you talk to Andrea. She is incredibly strong and passionate about what she does. And she believes in herself.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s refreshing to talk to another woman who has such a deep desire to connect with her culture. I learned what I thought might be true: Whether you are Latina or Portuguese, those of us in the second generation of our cultures do have something extra special. Our families\u2019 histories have influenced the way we approach the world, and in Andrea\u2019s case, that is to grab the bull by the horns. I\u2019m pretty sure she has a super power running through her blood as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really important that we learn about other cultures and try to connect in the ways that we can,\u201d Andrea said.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[su_label type=”info”]Community in Focus[\/su_label] [su_carousel source=”media: 33224,33225,33226,33227,33228,33229,33230,33231,33232,33233,33234,33235,33236″ limit=”60″ link=”lightbox” width=”800″ height=”540″ responsive=”no” items=”1″] I have always felt special being the daughter of an immigrant. Because of it, I feel like I have a super power running through my blood: the power to adapt, to endure and to push through. Recently, I\u2019ve been thinking about how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":33232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12897,12905,12901,12899,12895,3845,12903],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-33223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-andrea-de-francisco","tag-angola","tag-azores-islands","tag-cafe-st-jorge","tag-community-in-focus","tag-immigration-en","tag-portugal","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n