barreirinhas is brazil at its simplest, most earthy version. it is a real cowboy town, with a daily rodeo and real cowboys. i heard a story that many years ago a very persuasive maranhao state senator managed to convince the federal government to send lots of money to support a nascent cattle industry. now, maranhao is a very poor state, without a lot of natural resources and a deserty interior, but somehow they have managed to create a thriving cattle business, and barreirinhas is sort of in the middle of the cattle territory.