CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE — ^PIERSON 



105 



the road, when do you think we ever would have 

 gotten this far toward having a jardineiiu?" "Now 

 things are beginning to change," remarked a vil- 

 lager. ''People are opening their eyes. We've 

 voted for this man and for that and we've been kept 

 waiting and hoiking, and nothing more. All it's 

 amounted to has been that segurwmo a cobra pros 

 otro mamd (we have held the goat for others to 

 suck)." 



The importance of the inauguration of the new 

 bus line was reflected in the ceremonial sanction 

 given it. The date of the first trip was set for 

 October 19. On the morning of that day, the bus 

 set out, with a band, from the neighboring town 

 of Boa Vista. As soon as it was seen coming on the 

 road outside the village, the church bells began to 

 ring and rockets were set off as on a day of festa. 

 An enthusiastic crowd of villagers and farmers 

 had already gathered in the village square. When 

 the bus pulled up, the members of the band got out 

 and played several marches. Then, accompanied 

 by the crowd, at whose head were the padre and 

 two acolytes, one of the latter of which carried a 

 vessel with holy water and the other the aspergill, 

 the band escorted the bus to a point at the edge of 

 the village where a school teacher had strung up 

 across the road leading out to Piracema a green 

 and yellow ^^^ ribbon. The band then played an- 

 other march, after which the padre took the asper- 

 gill and sprinkled holy water over the hood, the 

 door, and the interior of the bus. He then read a 

 passage from the prayer book and turned to the 

 crowd and said, 'T am greatly pleased to perform 

 this ceremony. You, my friends, are to be con- 

 gratulated upon this great achievement. From the 

 bottom of my heart, I offer a most sincere prayer 

 that this step of progress, this giant step, will be 

 fol- the good of all. I now cut this green and 

 yellow ribbon which closes off the way of progress. 

 Surely the way of progress will always remain 

 open, by the will of God, for my friends in the vil- 

 lage and in all the municipioy The padre then 

 cut the ribbon with a pair of scissors, after which 

 several women and girls took the two pieces and 

 placed one to either side of the bus so as to make 

 it appear that the bus itself, in its passage, had 

 broken the ribbon. The school teacher then called 

 for a Viva! in honor of the Empresa Nossa Sen- 

 hora da Penha (Our Lady of Penha Enterprise), 



189 Tije colors of the Brazilian flag. 



the name of the local company which had been 

 formed to operate the bus, to which the people 

 responded with enthusiasm, followed by a second 

 Viva! for the men who had formed the company 

 and a third for "the peojDle of the village." 



The members of the band and as many other 

 persons as could crowd inside then got into the 

 bus and it was driven to a spot in front of the 

 church, where the band played another march; 

 after which, followed by seven trucks, filled with 

 other villagers and farmers, the bus set out for 

 Piracema. The remainder of the crowd either 

 went into the church to pray or dispersed, since, 

 as a man put it, "no one has had armogo and it's 

 way past time." 



At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the bus and 

 the accompanying crowd returned from Piracema. 

 As they approached, they were again saluted by 

 the ringing of the church bells and the setting off 

 of rockets. Pulling up into the village square, 

 the bus halted for the band to play "gay music," 

 and again was surrounded by an admiring and 

 happy crowd. A half hour later, the band from 

 Boa Vista was joined by the village band which 

 had been playing at a festa at the church near 

 the river to the north of the village. At the edge 

 of the square, the members of the village band 

 got out of the truck in which they had been riding, 

 formed into ranks and marched up to the bus 

 where they "saluted" the band from Boa Vista 

 with a march, to which this band then responded. 

 The members of the latter band then got out of 

 the bus and greeted personally each member of the 

 local band. After a few minutes, the members of 

 the village band climbed into the bus and played 

 while the bus went slowly round the village. The 

 assembled crowd then broke up, to take food and 

 other refreshment, either at the homes of friends 

 or the village stores. 



That night, a dance was held in honor of the 

 event, attended by villagers and farm families and 

 aijproximately 50 other persons from the towns 

 of Boa Vista and Sao Jose dos Patos. The vil- 

 lage band first formed in front of the house where 

 the dance was to be held and played until all the 

 men who had organized the bus line had arrived. 

 The members of the band then entered and struck 

 up a waltz to which these men alone danced, after 

 which they were given a vigorous round of ap- 

 plause. Other persons present then joined in the 



