What I know:
What I don’t know:
Nobody?
Well, I think you should fish for salmon rather than hunt them.
Not in Alaska. You use a .30-06 for salmon if you want any amount of respect.
Anthony Bourdain did an episode dedicated to the Azores. Check that out.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you meet a lot of people who speak English. My great-grandfather’s family came to the US from the Azores, and already spoke English before he got here.
I know there is a US military base there…you might want to google around a bit on that, see if there are any forums? Just a thought.
I can only speak from my experience of living in Lisbon. The Portuguese are a fairly closed society and suspicious of foreigners, but certainly nice people when you get to know them. The older folks are more likely to speak French as a second language, the younger folks English. I’ve never heard anybody rave about a vacation to the Azores, but haven’t been myself. Given the choice, I would go to Alaska, since I lived there for a number of years: better scenery, more to see and do, etc.
A friend of mine lives there at the moment because her husband is stationed there. When she came home for a visit last September, she told me this about living in the Azores:
“My life is worth less than a cow.”
Apparently cows are supremely important there and people who damage cows (like, with a car) are treated much more harshly than you’d expect, coming from a place where cows don’t have free reign.
So, if you’re going to visit the Azores (at least according to my friend) watch out for the cows if you’re going out driving.
I work in a pharmaceutical factory that is stocked mainly by Portuguese immigrants including many from the Azores as their front-line manual labor. They are nice people although a little hot-headed but I notice that they seemed to have no problem fleeing their homeland rather recently forever and chose to move to Massachusetts to live in some of the crappier areas working in a steady but bleak environment. I have never been there but that doesn’t speak well to the place as a whole but I guess you could say the same about Mexico. I would go to the Azores if it was a free trip but it doesn’t seem like it would compare to a salmon hunt in Alaska as long you are brave enough to face off against the salmon and hold your ground long enough to ensure victory or a safe escape.
All I know about the islands is that there is indeed an Air Force Base there, so you are at least reasonably likely to find Americans if you poke around, if that interests you.