106 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL AKTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. I 2 



dance and the festivities continued until after 

 midnight. 



The following comments reveal the sentiments, 

 attitudes, and expectations which accompanied 

 and defined this new experience in the life of the 

 local inhabitants : 



What a dream ! I scarcely can believe that I"m seeing 

 the jardineira there in the praga!" 



Now, If you have to go to Boa Vista, all you have to 

 do is grab the "big beast" Cbichona) and you're iu town. 



Tou can't even imagine how much improvement this will 

 bring. 



As soon as people get accustomed to riding in this thing, 

 you'll see lots of new faces here. 



Now, with all this progress, no one can call us caipiras •°° 

 any more. 



People will have to admit that the caipiras de carcanhd 

 rachado "' do amount to something. It was us who put in 

 this jardineira. 



In these and similar remarks, one notes a pride 

 in achievement and a sense of the realization of 

 long-deferred hopes. Predominant is the consid- 

 eration that the village is now linked with the 

 outside world as it has never been before. "The 

 fessoar de fSra (the people outside)," remarked a 

 man, "will now come to know our village." The 

 former isolation, which is commonly referred to 

 as "abandonment," is now expected to disappear. 

 "Nois sempre vivemo abandonado e esquecido neste 

 oco de mundo (We have always lived abandoned 

 and forgotten in this hole of the world)," said a 

 villager. One observes, however, a note of appre- 

 hension mixed with the satisfaction; satisfaction 

 over the achievement, apprehension over the 

 changes that may come. 



The bus makes two round trips daily. It is 

 scheduled to leave Piracema at 6 o'clock in the 

 morning and, after passing through the village, 

 reach Boa Vista at S o'clock. It leaves Boa Vista 

 on the return trip at 10 : 30 and, after once more 

 passing through the village, is scheduled to ar- 

 rive in Piracema 2 hours later. It sets out the 

 second time from Piracema at 2 o'clock in the 

 afternoon; and, from Boa Vista, on the return, 

 at 5 : 30. 



The arrival of the bus each time it passes through 

 the village has become a major event of the day. 

 Even before it is in sight, several men gather at the 

 point where it is to stop, to converse while await- 



=»° See the following spction, p. 107. 



2" Literally, the "caipiras with rough and cracked heels ;" that 

 is, very caipira. 



ing its coming. As soon as it arrives, it is sur- 

 rounded by men and children who admire it and 

 peer shyly in to see better the passengers who are 

 going through and to listen to their conversation. 

 The meanwhile, the women and older girls lean 

 out of the windows of their homes to observe as 

 much as they can. Four times a day, this event 

 has become an experience in the village to be looked 

 forward to, bringing a new and pi'eviously un- 

 known contact with the outer world. 



Eiding on the bus is also a new and satisfying 

 experience for local residents. Although it has 

 a seating capacity of only 26 persons, on one of 

 the first trips 64 persons crowded inside. On an- 

 other occasion, 58 persons were observed to be in 

 the bus at one time. The following page fi'om the 

 researcher's notebook describes more fully this de- 

 sire to try out the new experience : 



Upon arriving at the store in Boa Vista where the bus 

 stops, I found it literally "jammed to the doors." 

 "Da," ^°' however, someone said. While I was looking 

 about to find a place to plant a foot inside, a boy pushed 

 past with a "Dd licenQa!",'"" climbed up and wriggled 

 through the mass packed around the door. I sought to do 

 likewise and managed to squeeze in far enough to grasp 

 the iron bar behind the driver. Three men stood between 

 me and the windshield. A man and a boy were to my left 

 near the bar I was grasping. Two persons were seated at 

 the side of the driver on a short bench built for one person. 

 Behind us, the aisle was packed all the way to the back so 

 that a person could scarcely pass. On one of the front 

 seats, hardly wide enough for two persons, were four 

 persons, one of whom had his feet so far out into the 

 aisle that I could move only with difficulty. Three little 

 girls and five men were jammed in between me and the 

 door while three other men hung by their toes and finger 

 tips, part in, part out of, the entrance. In all, 07 per- 

 sons were traveling on the bus, without counting pas- 

 sengers who were picked up from time to time along the 

 way as others got off, squeezing their way out with great 

 diflSculty through the packed mass. 



Persons who had rarely, if ever, been away from 

 home, began to get on at points along the way, and 

 to ride over to Boa Vista or Piracema, usually re- 

 vealing in their behavior the newness of the expe- 

 rience. On one occasion, a man of about 30 years 

 of age, whose features strongly suggested Indian 

 ancestry, appeared rather dazed at the nearness of 

 so many strangers. The bus was extremely 

 crowded. Although the aisle was full of passen- 

 gers who were standing, the man sat, during the 



=°= Roughly, "You can make It." 



*" Literally, "Give me permission l" 



