Author Archives: Andrew Maney

Pura Vida

SB is from Costa Rica, a small country with a rich, proud culture. They have a phrase in Costa Rica that S says all the time: Pura Vida. It means “Pure Life,” and it is somewhat of a motto for the country. S explains how everyone is always saying Pura Vida. “Their all-time favorite phrase is ‘Pura Vida,’ ” she says. “It is a way of reminding others that life is unrepeatable and that maybe, just maybe someone’s problems or current situation are not as bad as it seems. If everyone lives in a ‘pura vida lifestyle’ it means that there is cooperations and support from the people around you.”

Pura Vida is a phrase of goodwill. It captures the spirit of the country, which is consistently ranked as one of the happiest nations in the world. “Costa Ricans strive to live life to the fullest,” S says. This can clearly be seen in their favorite phrase.

I think it is interesting how an entire country has a single phrase that unifies the people through a common way of life. As S explains, people say the words daily; it is more than just a motto. “Pura vida has complete a wide range of meanings,” she tells me, “and can be used at anytime to replace simple words like ‘Hello’, ‘bye’, ‘thank you’, ‘all good’, ‘you ok’ and many more.” Like any folk speech, it means much more than just the literal words. The significance is in how people use the phrase. Since it is really only a Costa Rican slang, the people are proud of their phrase. Saying it identifies one as a real Costa Rican, or tico, as they call themselves.

Because of this, “Pura Vida” has been bastardized a bit by tourism. It is on everything in Costa Rica, from stickers to shirts to posters. Tourists come to the little country expecting to see the “Pura Vida life.” The nation certainly uses the phrase as a marketing tool, which could make one question the authenticity of continued use of the phrase. I asked S about this inconsistency between the meaning of the phrase and its capitalistic use in tourism. She said that while Costa Rica certainly sells the phrase, “It is still an important part of the local culture. And it means so much more to us than people see in all the tourism stuff. Pura Vida really is the most important thing we say. It is something I live by every day.” This is the power of folk speech. It can define an entire nation of people.

樹 倒 猢 猻 散

樹 倒 猢 猻 散

shù dǎo hú sūn (Chinese)

literal translation: “when a tree falls, the monkeys scatter”

 

My roommate, KY, was born in China and lived there for the first few years of his life. His parents always used many proverbs. This is one of his favorites. He says it describes “fair-weather fans.” He explains, “When a leader loses power his followers abandon him. Or the fans cheer for whoever’s winning.” As you can see from the translation, the literal meaning is that when the tree falls, which is the monkeys’ home, they abandon it.

K explains the interesting dichotomy present in this proverb. Chinese culture emphasizes loyalty: loyalty to the family, loyalty to the state. But it also emphasizes practicality and taking courses of action that will benefit you the most. “This proverb,” K explains, “criticizes disloyal people. But it also shows how to be practical.” Clearly it is disloyal to abandon your home, your leader, your family etc. But it also makes practical sense to find a new one if the old one is defunct.

It’s curious how much complex meaning a simple proverb can convey. I guess this is the point of proverbs. Sometimes it is difficult to describe deep ideas such as loyalty and pragmatism. So cultures develop seemingly simple sayings that can convey powerful messages. The proverb is unique because it can be easily shared and performed. It is usually a light piece, no longer than a sentence. But if the audience takes time to further digest the proverb, its true meaning becomes evident.

Oom, Plucky, Plucky

MS used to go to summer camp every year. Her camps had many interesting traditions and funny pieces of folklore that she often brings back and performs for me. Her favorite pieces are the songs, of which there are many. Here is one:

She sat on a hillside and strummed her guitar
strummed her guitar, strummed her guitar
She sat on a hillside and strummed her guitar
strummed her gui-ta-a-a-ar

Oom, plucky, plucky, oom, plucky, plucky, oom, pluck, pluck, pluck, ZING!
Oom, plucky, plucky, oom, plucky, plucky, oom, pluck, pluck, pluck, ZING!

He sat down beside her and smoked his cigar
He said that he loved her but, oh! How he lied
They were to be married but somehow she died
He went to her funeral but just for the ride

He went to her grave site and laughed ’til he cried
The grave stone fell over and squish-squash he died
She went up to heaven and flittered and flied
He went down below and sizzled and fried
The moral of this song is: never tell lies

M explains the song as being a “harsh lesson about love.” She elaborates, “But really it was just some fun thing we all sang around the campfire.” I commented on the graphicness of piece. M response was, “That’s what I love about it. We didn’t screw around at my camp. Everyone thinks girls’ summer camp is like pretty princesses and stuff, but no, we were intense and gross. We sang about death.” She laughs.

Every time she performs this song for me she has a lot of enthusiasm. There are very specific hand gestures that accompany the song as well. M explains how nothing is written down for the song. Each year the older girls pass all the traditions, songs, and stories down to the younger kids by singing the songs together.

The song tells an entertaining story. The contents of the story, as well as the melody, aid in memorizing the lyrics. In this sense, a folk song is really just a folk tale. There are similar elements and tools that aid in performance. For example, each line is repeated many times (it doesn’t show this in all of the lyrics above for brevity’s sake).

Furthermore, one can see how this song in particular would be popular for a girls’ camp. The story is about a man getting his come-uppance for lying to the girl about being in love. She goes to Heaven, but he goes down to Hell. The song is empowering to women. It doesn’t condemn the girl for whimsically falling in love. In fact she still goes to Heaven. The man, however, burns for lying about love. That is the sin. The last line even reinforces this with “The moral of this song is: never tell lies.”

 

A published version of this song, along with many other classic camp songs, can be found in Jack Horntip’s Camp Meriwether Camp Song Book.

Barges

MS used to go to summer camp every year. Her camps had many interesting traditions and funny pieces of folklore that she often brings back and performs for me. Her favorite pieces are the songs, of which there are many. Here is one:

Barges, I would like to go with you
I would like to sail the ocean blue
Barges, have you treasures in your hold
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?

Out of my window, looking in the night
I can see the barges flickering light
Starboard’s glowing green and port is glowing red
I can see the barges from my bed

Barges, I would like to go with you
I would like to sail the ocean blue
Barges, have you treasures in your hold
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?

How my heart longs to sail away with you
As you sail across the ocean blue
But I must sit beside my window clear
As the barges sail away from here

Barges, I would like to go with you
I would like to sail the ocean blue
Barges, have you treasures in your hold
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?

Out of my window looking in the night
I can see the barges flickering light
Taking their cargo out into the sea
How I wish that someday they’d take me

 

M describes this song as one of longing. “It’s actually much more depressing than most of the other songs we sing,” she elaborates. Most of the camp songs are silly and lighthearted, but this one touches on serious themes of growing up and flying free. She says that the girls would be very moved whenever they sang this song. It seems to me that it is a song that allowed the girls to reflect. M describes camp as wild, hectic, and sometimes overwhelming. But, as she says, “The whole camp was at peace when we sang this.”

M explains how nothing is written down for the song. Each year the older girls pass all the traditions, songs, and stories down to the younger kids by singing the songs together. Music is an excellent way to pass on folklore because the contents of the story, as well as the melody, aid in memorizing the lyrics. In this sense, a folk song is really just a folk tale. There are similar elements and tools that aid in performance. For example, there are phrases that are repeated throughout.

 

A published version of this song, along with many other classic camp songs, can be found in Jack Horntip’s Camp Meriwether Camp Song Book.

Bread Crust and Curly Hair

SS is from San Diego. Her grandma used to tell her that eating the crust of bread would make her hair curly. S tells me, “I didn’t want curly hair, so I would never eat the bread crusts.” To this day S still feels uncomfortable eating crusts. Her grandma really convinced her that this superstition is true. I believe this shows the power that older figures have on the young, especially with folklore. Children take their parents’ and grandparents’ words as law, because it is really their only source of information for the first few years of their life. This explains how parents can influence their children’s behavior so much through various folk beliefs (a theme I keep coming upon in my research).

The superstition that bread crusts give you curly hair is actually an old folk belief. The belief probably emerged a few hundred years ago when curly hair was associated with being healthy. Bread is packed with calories, and it is a low-cost food that almost anyone ate to stave of starvation. A malnourished person might lose their hair, while a healthy one would have a full head of (possibly curly) hair. This is probably the origin of this belief.

Furthermore, the crust is the healthiest part of the bread. Packed with antioxidants, I can see how the belief that it would aid in a more fuller head of curly hair. Curly vs. straight hair, however, is determined by genes, not diet. But this tendency to explain a mysterious scientific phenomenon (genes) with a more easy to comprehend explanation such as diet is a common theme in folk beliefs. These beliefs arise from the lay-person, not scientists. Analyzing them gives interesting insight into how we comprehend our bodies.