Author Archives: Faith Price

Holiday – Día de los Reyes

Text:

“The holiday is the Day of the Kings…in Spanish, it’s Día de los Reyes…it’s a Catholic celebration but I think it’s predominantly celebrated in Spanish countries. What we do…in my family and in many other Mexican families there is a tradition where you eat a bread…like a crowned bread…it’s sweet and has decorations on top and you hide little toys in the bread…little baby Jesuses. Depending on the size of the bread (la rosca), you go around the family cutting the slices and if you end up getting a slice with a baby Jesus in it that means that on Children’s Day, you have to take a certain traditional dish. Usually in my family, we make tamales. We celebrate it every year even though my family is not very much Catholic , but we are Catholic in our beliefs. We come together to spend it as a family. My mom makes hot cocoa. My grandma is the one who buys the la rosca and we have to buy two because our family keeps expanding. The Day of the Kings is celebrated January 6th and February 2nd is the day you celebrate the treats if you get the baby Jesus…you rejoice in being a family once again together. It’s a feast day you could say…it’s just to celebrate the epiphany that the three kings brought their gifts to Jesus when he was born…honors his baptism and pays homage to the three wise men…that’s basically what we do.

Context:

One of my roommates is Mexican and she was sharing with me this holiday that occurs on January 6th every year. She mentioned that her family celebrates this holiday every year even though they are not very much Catholic devoted. She “grew up with the tradition” and continues to celebrate this holiday surrounded by family members. She said that there was a moment in time when she asked her parents what this tradition was and she said that it is mainly a tradition among Mexican households to simply celebrate it. She went on to say that it’s a national celebration in Mexico even if you are not religious and “people come together just to do it simply for the family aspect.”

Analysis:

This Mexican holiday is celebrated to honor the Three Wise Men. Despite its religious roots, even those who are not as religious will celebrate this holiday. Other holidays around wintertime hide some sort of item inside of a baked good. This adds to the enjoyment of the time by adding this game element. As time goes on, it can be seen that this holiday has changed in certain aspects. Many parts of the holiday have religious implications, but in today’s society, not everyone emphasizes those aspects as much. This holiday is recognized as more of a time to enjoy the company of family and friends. Oftentimes you will see this where traditions are continued even though certain aspects of that tradition are lost.

Birthday Tradition: Quinceañera

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“Quinceañeras are birthday traditions whenever a girl turns 15 we celebrate. It’s our marking of you entering womanhood and what that is is once the day comes and you turn 15 you have this big party. Everyone gets together…the custom big dress. I think one of the bigger parts of it is you see like a father-daughter dance…it’s a way of showing that this is my little girl and she’s growing up now…she’s not my little girl now. It’s just a way of celebrating with your family…you know that milestone. At the biggest parties you have extended family…family you don’t see often is expected to come. My mom wasn’t able to have one but because of that like it’s really a big deal now that you do have one for your children…it’s expected…it’s tradition.”

Context:

One of my roommates is Mexican and she was sharing this birthday tradition many people in Mexico partake in. She had always known of this tradition since she was younger since it had been so prevalent in her community. For a long time she “hated the idea of having [her] own” as she “did not like the idea of being the center of attention.” That being said, she later learned that it was more about being with family and she “focused on doing it for her parents because [her] parents raised [her] and a big part of [her] quince was to thank her parents.”

Analysis:

I think this is a very interesting birthday tradition. In the United States, a sweet 16 is kind of similar to a quinceañera, but at the same time, there is a lot more history behind a quinceañera. This is the time in which a girl transitions from childhood to young womanhood. Quinceañeras are also most prevalent in Mexico, so by having one you are showing your heritage and connection to the Mexican community. The scale of quinceañeras is very large; all the planning and specific features the party includes. Oftentimes the whole family is expected to be there (extended family included) and festivities include dancing, food, and enjoying one another’s company.

Folk Medicine – Ginger Ale and Crackers

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“Ginger ale and crackers…mainly the Canada Dry ginger ale and specifically the saltine crackers. I forgot the brand but something premium… specifically those crackers. We use it I think more for nausea or if you’re vomiting and stuff but if you’re sick in general, like any type of sickness, and you can eat that’s going to be the first thing that your mom mainly is going to give to you…ginger ale and crackers”

Context:

One of my friends who is a part of the black community shared one of her folk medicine recipes. She does not remember where she came to learn of eating ginger ale and crackers, but she remembers it being passed down from her mom to her. She also mentioned how “it might be in the black community because [she] feels like if they’re black then they will know what [she’s] talking about.” She talked about how this technique “doesn’t really cure anything but it’s light on the stomach” and she thinks people continue to use this technique because “it’s comforting every time you receive it from someone.”

Analysis:

Folk medicine is often passed down from generation to generation. People enjoy sharing their little remedies to help cure some illnesses. Whether or not it cures anything is beside the point. I have not really heard of this technique of using ginger ale and crackers for an upset stomach, but I have heard of similar remedies. Oftentimes you’ll hear about eating bland foods for an upset stomach or that any carbonated drink could also help rid any feelings of nausea. Even though we have no scientific proof of these techniques we still use them because we hear the stories people tell us. We hear these stories of how someone used this technique and felt instantly better, so we want to try it out for ourselves. This is also because we usually hear these stories from people we trust, so that compels us to try these different remedies even more.

Holiday – Makar Sankranti

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“Makar Sankranti is a well-known celebrated kite flying holiday that we have in India. It originated in the state of Gujarat, however, it’s celebrated all throughout India. It’s called by different names in different parts of India. For example, in northern India, we call it Lohri. It is a harvest festival dedicated to celebrating the sun god and it’s a day that everyone takes off from work to like thank all the harvest and things like that…more of a seasonal observance. One of the traditions we have on this holiday is kite flying which is meant to be a way that people would be exposed to the sun to get rid of the winter which kind of goes along with the harvest season that it brings.”

Context:

My roommate is from India and she talked about this kite-flying holiday. She came to know of this holiday at home. She doesn’t remember exactly what year or age she started participating in this holiday but “[she] remembers [she] was pretty young and kite flying was a pretty big thing.” She remembers it as a day when “everyone goes out and like sees the kites around…there’s a lot of competitions hosted in the neighborhood for who can fly the kite the longest.” This holiday is special to her because “it’s kind of like what Christmas is like for people over here.” It is a way for people to “get along with [their] family and spend time with [their] family.” This holiday is a way to “kind of like relax and connect with [one’s] community.”

Analysis:

This holiday supposedly marks the transition of the sun from the zodiac of Sagittarius to Capricorn. This holiday is set by the solar cycle and often includes many social events for the community to partake in. This holiday is celebrated in January and is regarded as important for spiritual practices. After talking with my friend, it seems as if the holiday now emphasizes social more than spiritual. I think the sun is still an important aspect of the holiday, but maybe not for the same reason from person to person. Oftentimes with holidays, even when they have lost some spiritual elements, they are still celebrated because people have been celebrating them for hundreds of years.

Legend – La Llorona

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“This is the legend of La Llorona, who is a woman that roams the towns in Mexico searching for her dead children. This story [is set in] old-time Mexico. There lived a family: a husband, a wife, and their two children. The family was happy; the dad worked and the mom stayed home to watch over the children. Somewhere along the way though, there started to be financial difficulties, so when the husband encounters a young and beautiful woman from the next town over and he starts having an affair with her. Unbeknown to his surprise, the mother finds out and rage fills her and ends up clouding her mind. She wants a way to get back at him, but she can’t think of anything. She wants to kill him but she wants to hurt him deeply and that’s when she notices her children. She’s like my children, that’s the one way that will hurt him. She guides them to a river on the pretense that they’re going to go play by the river. While they’re playing in the river, the mother slowly goes into the river and starts telling her children to come with her. The children don’t know that it’s too deep for them and that the current of the river would end up taking the children and drowning them. The children follow their mom since they love her, and they start to realize that they can’t touch the floor. They’re screaming out for their mom like ‘Mom help me.’ She goes over and starts drowning them both. Now that she has drowned them, she starts to realize what she’s done. She realizes she ended up killing both her children and she went crazy, but she still seeks revenge. She goes over to her husband and ends up murdering him. From that moment on, the agony of losing her children has taken over her. It is said that near the rivers in Mexico, there will be a woman who you’ll hear screaming and crying for her children.” 

Context: 

This story was told by one of my roommates. She heard this story from multiple members of her family. She said that this story is passed down from generation to generation. It is a very well-known legend in Mexico, and she said that not a single Latino would not know who La Llorona is.

Analysis: 

This legend is similar to the concept of the boogie man. It’s kind of a way for parents to scare their children into doing something. In America, I think the boogie man is more well-known than La Llorona, but the idea behind the legend is the same. Parents will often say something along the lines of “go to sleep or the boogie man will get you.”  This is similar to La Llorona; parents in Mexico would use this legend as a way to make sure their children would come home before sundown. In a way, this was also a way for parents to keep their children safe from wandering the streets at night.