Socrates Marinho was born 42 years ago on an island called Itaparica in the province of Bahia, in northeast Brazil.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, sitting outside of Horsies Saloon on 19th Street, he looked around, took a sip of his beer — always a pilsner — and recalled his childhood memories of the island he called home for more than two decades.
“I had a pretty primitive lifestyle. The thing that made sense to me was to have a spear gun and go catch my fish, my lobsters and my octopus,” said Marinho. “This used to be my video game. Climb a coconut tree and spend the night in the sea with friends cooking meals out there. It was a beautiful life.”
This is the island lifestyle Marinho said he will treasure and never forget. Now, it has been 17 years since he came to San Francisco and, after living in different neighborhoods throughout the city, he has finally found the Mission District, a neighborhood that feels like home, even when home is more than 6,000 miles away.
Marinho, who works as a painter now, recalled what brought him to San Francisco. “I met somebody in Brazil who brought me to the United States. I had just come back from Argentina, and we met pretty much in front of my mother’s place,” said Marinho. “We met and started dating. Eventually, I ended up here in the Mission.” That relationship is over, but Marinho called it “a beautiful story.”
The camaraderie Marinho said he grew up with, he also found when he arrived in the neighborhood. He took another sip of beer and smiled as he recounted the energy and diversity he sees in every aspect of this community, which includes riding the 14-Mission, the 49-Van Ness and the 22-Fillmore. “You’re always going to see different looks and different races. It makes this neighborhood very special.”
Over the course of a couple of hours walking around the neighborhood with Marinho, he hugs and says “hi” to seemingly everyone who walks by.
He finds it funny that, sometimes, people slow down while they’re driving or biking to wave at him. Some of his friends call him the mayor of 19th Street.
“The way I was raised, I had a lot of community around. You go to the grocery store, and people call you by your name, people ask how your day is going. You create this friendly thing going on in the neighborhood, and this is what I’m all about.”
He learned that, he said, from his mother, a person who he would very much like to take on a walk through the Mission.
“I think she might feel like we were still at home,” said Marinho.
Marinho said that he would not be the man he is without her. He visited her last year in Brazil for three months, but she has never been here to visit him.
He attributes his attitude to his mother.
“I think you can make things better. There are people that need friendships, that need to be loved,” said Marinho. “If you give those things to them you make them feel special, and that’s what the community is all about.”
When asked if he saw himself in the Mission for a long time, he said he had no intention of leaving.
“I think this place is the best place that I have ever lived in my entire life. I tell some friends sometimes that the Mission is the best neighborhood in the USA,” said Marinho. “I really love this place.”
