The Bread Man Returns!

In my post The Bread Man Alarm Clock, I told you about a guy who walks up my street each morning with a big basket of bread on his back, calling out to let everyone know that he is coming. ‘The Bread Man’ unknowingly acts as my alarm clock each morning, letting me know it’s time to get up.

Well, at the end of that post I promised than interview which never appeared. Having had a quick chat with him, I had planned to do some proper Q&A the next morning. But then the next morning there was no Bread Man, no alarm clock, no interview (and I was late for work!). The days turned into weeks and I started to wonder if he’d gone for good.

Well, I’m happy to be able to report that a couple of days ago his familiar cry once again echoed off the cobblestones (paralelepípedos) of our street and woke me from my slumber. And so I jumped out of bed, grabbed my camera and a notepad, and rushed downstairs to interrogate interview him. Here’s how it went (I have translated and paraphrased his responses):

Evaldo, AKA The Bread Man.

TL: Good Morning, how are you?

TL: I’m fine. Would you mind if I ask you a few questions? I would also like to buy some bread.
BM: No problem, fire away.

TL: Can you tell me a little about yourself?
BM: My name is Evaldo. I’m 42 years old and originally I am from Ceará [a state in Brazil’s north-east].

TL: How long have you been selling bread like this? Where do you get the bread?
Evaldo: I’ve been doing this for about two years now. I get the bread from the Santa Amaro bakery [Confeitaria Santa Amaro – this place also does a damn fine Dog TV].

TL: How early do you get up in the morning? When do you finish?
E: I get up at 5am and deliver/sell bread until 8am.
TL: Do you have another job?
E: Of course! I work in the bakery, so after I’ve finished my rounds I return to the bakery to work there.

TL: What is the best part of your job?
E: Everything! [he beams a big smile as he says this]

TL: What is the worst part of your job?
E: I can’t think of anything…

TL: Have you always used this street cry? Did you take it from someone else or did you invent it?
E: I’ve always used it. I made it up on my first day.

TL: What music do you like?
E: I like Forró!


That was all I could think of to ask (I’m kind of new to this interview thing and it was early in the morning!). Forró is a dance/music from the north-east of Brazil that developed from European folk music (Forró means “Burning hot” in Hungarian!). I would need a whole post to even start telling you about it in any detail, so I think I’ll leave that for another day. But if you’d like to get a little taste, have a listen to Jackson do Pandeiro, one of Forró’s most loved composers, performing way back in 1979:

So there you have it – chirpy music for a chirpy guy. From this moment on The Bread Man will be known as Evaldo!

Evaldo is one of the many people in Rio who make their living selling food on the street, at the beach, etc. Of course there are exceptions, but these street vendors usually seem very happy, friendly and willing to chat. Their positivity (exemplified by his response when I asked him what he liked about his job) is infectious.