Tobias Barreto (the man, not the city)

If you come to Tobias Barreto from Aracaju - the state capital - you'll probably see a statue, sculpted in bronze, which is basically a guy in a suit holding a book. This guy is Tobias Barreto, the man who left a very important legacy.

He was born in June 7, 1839, in the village of Campos do Rio Real, where nowadays the city named after him is located. He was a philosopher, poet, essayist and jurist, and he is the patron of the chair number 38, at Academia Brasileira de Letras.

His work is significative, considering the fact that he never came to know the Brazilian capital, Rio de Janeiro, back then. Barreto was a skilled speaker, and his lectures captivated everyone who watched them. He was an admirer of German authors; such admiration was fully expressed in his work German Studies. His name is present in squares, monuments and even a theater, in Sergipe, Rio, and Germany. I have no information about his works translated into English.

Every year we have in our city a day dedicated to remember Tobias's work and life. This day is June, 7 - the day he was born. Many locals don't know anything about him. No wonder they can't tell a single story on his life; it's very common in Brazil people forget their roots, their poets, their heroes.

But things are changing here. The life of Tobias Barreto is becoming more and more known by the students, especially because schools are giving classes about him, and the word is being spread. Maybe someday we will have plenty of knowledge on his work, his poems, his inheritance.

There are some really interesting Tobias's quotations, and I'll dare to translate one of them into English, for you:

The heart is also a metaphysician / It trembles for forms that are invisible  / It wanders, dreaming of enchanted worlds / And wanting some things that are unattainable 

Welcome to Tobias Barreto

View of Tobias Barreto, June 7th Avenue

My main purpose with this blog is to write about what is like to live in a small northeastern Brazilian town. Tobias Barreto - the town I live in - is located in the south of the smallest Brazilian state, Sergipe; the city is well-known for its handmade textile products, like embroidery home stuff (you know, table cloth, towel, blouses, shorts, baby clothes and so on). Such products are all produced and sold here, and there's an outdoor market, called the Owl Market, which is crowded during certain periods of the year, like Christmas, Mother's Day and sacred holidays. It starts on Sunday evenings and goes on through Monday all day long, that is the reason of the name "Owl". Few local people have become rich by selling these products. Of course they had to take some "detours" in law in order to achieve such wealth, but that is only a tiny detail. At least it is for them.

The reason why I'm saying this is because here in Tobias Barreto, just like most cities in Brazil, there is one main characteristic called "Brazilian Way" (Jeitinho Brasileiro, in Portuguese), which works as an excuse for some people to break some uncomfortable laws in order to achieve their purposes. Allow me to explain: there is this tract in our culture that if you need something to be done, it doesn't matter how you manage to do it, as long as you fulfill your task. The ends justifiy the means. That is why Brazilian people are seen so negatively among hotel employees around the world. We throw our garbage away wherever we want; we think everything can be achieved just by offering bribes. And so on.

Surely we cannot be so general about these things, since there are people who don't offer bribes nor throw their garbage on the floor. But they are quite rare. Almost invisible. A little walk around the town shows us that no matter how clean you are, or how concerned about environment you must be, the streets are dirty, the alleys are stinky, and people just don't care.

"Bordadeiras", the craftswomen who create the best selling products of the town

Anyway, I was describing my town, so let's go ahead. Textile products are the moving wheels that make money flows in Tobias Barreto, and people come from all over the region just to buy themselves a new table cloth or towel. They also take the opportunity to buy these things here in order to resell them in their cities, to their neighbors, or in shops elsewhere. Things are cheap, so it is really worth. There are people from Bahia (Tobias is located right on the state limit between Bahia and Sergipe), Alagoas, Minas Gerais, etc. Even from other countries! I have already met a group from Italy, who came here just to buy stuff. Some guys from the Netherlands have come here to settle a commerce project that didn't work out, and they just loved all the embroidery craftswomen who work all the day in their houses, sewing, painting and packing their work.

If there's one thing people hate about in here, it has to be the way the shop owners treat the customers. They're rude, as if they didn't earn nothing from the customers. Sometimes they refuse to deal with a customer they don't feel like getting along. It is something really weird, but that's the way it is.

In coming posts I will do my best to tell stories about my city, which I have adopted (I was born in Rio de Janeiro). I also want to write about my region, the northeast of Brazil, a place very different from the Brazilian worldwide known cities, like Rio or São Paulo.

I really hope  you enjoy my blog!