Journeys to the Azores are commonplace for many West Siders who trace their own roots back to the mid-Atlantic island chain known for its breathtaking beauty and rich culture.

For the Rocha siblings – and a good number of their own family members – a June expedition to the islands proved an opportunity to build family ties with distant relatives and explore their own heritage.

By the numbers alone the delegation was impressive.

No fewer than 17 family members, including Rocha siblings Delbert (with his wife Tammy and son Colton), Carmen (with husband Rich Bergmann), Tony (with wife Diane, son Chad, daughter-in-law Jennifer and daughter Allison), Lucia (with husband Jaime Faro, daughter Gracie and Jaime’s father, Jaime Sr.) and Norbert (with wife Bernie), as well as cousin Manuel Rocha, comprised the delegation that descended on the Azores in mid-June for a two-week stay that exceeded all expectations.

For several of the siblings, the visit was the first back to the islands, the family and the life they had heard so much about from parents who had grown up in the small village of Posto Santo, outside the city of Angra, on the island of Terceira.

“Our great-grandfather and his brothers built this church which is still there, and was rebuilt after the earthquake in 1981, with the help of a lot of contributions from people here,” Norbert reflected. “The house dad grew up in was alongside the church, and mom grew up two blocks over.”

Carmen and Lucia had visited the islands previously; for the brothers the trip was their first....or at least the first in memory. Tony was born in the Azores but left with the family at a young age, turning 2 during the trip.

“I hadn’t been back. It wasn’t until the last five years, from hearing about others talking about it, that I decided I wanted to go,” Tony remarked. “Now, I am ready to go back.”

The best part of the trip, the family members agreed, was the opportunity to meet many relatives for the first time.

The brothers had never met their only surviving uncle, Paul, or many of their cousins on the islands.

“We have seen pictures and heard about them,” Norbert explained. “My dad used to sit at the kitchen table, and he could talk all night telling stories.”

Joyful meetings quickly turned to solid family bonds, the siblings said.

The group also looked up relatives of Bernie and Diane, who are cousins, and were greeted as family.

They also soaked in the culture and the experience of the islands, and attended a festa in Angra.

“One night they had singing and dancing from different groups and different islands, 3,000 people in that alone, all dressed up in costume and dancing. It is very colorful,” Norbert noted.

Bullfighting remains a major pastime.

“People are fanatical about it,” Jaime said.

That is one of the things that has not changed in time on the islands.

“Our dad loved the bullfights,” Lucia recalled. “Now we know why. After they did their work, they would come home, change clothes and go to the bullfights.”

Life in many ways remains simple in the Azores, where many families are self-sufficient, meeting their needs with gardens and their own livestock.

The islands are modernizing and promoting tourism, but many remain very poor.

Dairies are common – but on the islands, 150 cows is a good-sized herd.

“Most of them are 20-30 cows, and they go out and milk them right in the field,” Jaime stated.

“They move cows on the street, and the cows are given priority,” added Norbert. “On the island of Terceira, they are building overpasses – but to cross the cows, not for cars. There is getting to be so much tourism that they are trying to get the cows off the main roads.”

The trip was a special one for the entire Rocha family, and for the senior Farao as well.

“My dad was 40 when he came here. Whenever he goes back, he feels like he is home. That is his country,” Jaime reflected.

“Everywhere we would go, he would know somebody,” Lucia added.

The group spent most of its time on Terceira, but also visited St. Jorge, Pico and Faial, enjoying the natural beauty of the islands as well as the family relationships they were forging.

“It is absolutely gorgeous,” Tony remarked. “The pictures do not do it justice.”

The family’s first vacation together since high school proved to be a memorable experience.

“We are going to be talking about this for years,” Norbert concluded. “We lived the stories that dad talked about.”