Author Archives: Isabella Estrada

Italian Wedding Soup

Joanna Estrada is a special needs teacher living in Los Angeles, California. She is 60 years old and has three daughters. Joanna has lived in Southern California since birth, moving from Redondo Beach to Torrance in her mid-twenties. Her father was Irish and her mother was Italian; as such, she grew up surrounded by multiple cultures and was brought up in the Catholic tradition. In the excerpt below, Joanna describes a type of soup that is prepared and served during Italian wedding receptions. The soup is served to everyone at the reception—including the newly married couple—and is a hallmark of Italian weddings.

Joanna: “Someone would make Italian wedding soup… It was usually the bride’s grandmother but anyone could make it… And they would make a huge amount of it to feed the entire wedding party and all of the guests.”

Isabella: “What was in the soup?”

Joanna: “It had tiny meatballs; those were always homemade, they had to be homemade. And the other main ingredient was egg pasta. It was a special type of pasta made from egg, just like it sounds. It was cut up into little pieces… never the full noodle, it was chopped up into small bits. Then there was a lot of Parmesan cheese. The more cheese, the better. And the base was chicken broth. It’s a traditional dish but I’ve seen it in the supermarket sold in cans. That’s obviously not authentic.”

Here, Joanna describes a traditional Italian soup that is prepared specifically for weddings. As Joanna notes above, the recipe has become so popular that soup companies (think Progresso or Campbells) have adopted it and started to mass-produce it. It is advertised in supermarkets as “Italian wedding soup,” which acknowledges the cultural origins of the soup and also attests to how popular it is amongst Italians.

Hierbabuena Tea Remedy

Nicolas Estrada is a Mexican-American lawyer working in the greater Los Angeles area. His parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico before he and his sister were born. They settled in Southern California and quickly began to assimilate to the new culture. Nicolas’ parents imparted both Mexican and “American” customs to him and his sister but placed a stronger emphasis on American culture; for example, they taught Nicolas Spanish, but encouraged him to speak only English in public. This strong emphasis on assimilation influenced Nicolas’ relationship with Mexican culture, but he can still recall some Mexican traditions that were practiced in his home. In the excerpt below, Nicolas describes one of the herbal remedies his mother would use to treat upset stomachs:

Nicolas: “My mother would brew different teas instead of going directly to store-bought medicine… if we ever had upset stomachs, she would make us hierbabuena tea… it was a mint tea. My mom told us it had healing properties.”

Isabella: “How would your mom prepare the tea?”

Nicolas: “She would steep the tea leaves in a pot of hot water and then we would drink it without any milk or sugar. We would only drink the tea in the morning or mid-day, though… never in the evening because it would keep us up. I honestly think it works and I still drink mint tea to this day… although I buy already prepared tea bags instead of steeping the leaves.”

Here, Nicolas describes an alternate form of treatment used in place of traditional medication. His mother was more confident in this herbal remedy because it had cultural significance and was endorsed by other members of her family. The hierbabuena tea remedy is an example of a folkloric remedy for these very reasons; while the medical community doesn’t officially endorse the treatment as an effective means of relieving stomach aches, it is still widely used throughout Mexico—and as Nicolas demonstrates here with his anecdote, it has been exported to different countries.

“There’s Enough Room in the Sky,” Nigerian Proverb

Stanley Kalu studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is originally from Nigeria, but has moved several times throughout his life. He spent a significant portion of his life in Nairobi, Kenya and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He recalls hearing a number of stories as he grew up; many of these stories conveyed moral lessons and were told to younger audiences. In the excerpt below, Stanley recounts a Nigerian proverb that discouraged competitiveness:

Stanley: “Growing up in Nigeria, I used to hear this one proverb all the time. It went like, ‘there is enough space in the sky for all of the birds to fly.’”

Isabella: “And what does that mean to you?”

Stanley: “It just means, it doesn’t have to be a competition… There’s enough space for everybody… to succeed.”

This proverb contains a powerful message about cooperation and kindness.  It provides insight to the type of values that are promoted throughout Nigerian communities; rather than encouraging young people and children (the proverb’s main audience) to adopt a competitive approach to life, proverbs such as these encourage cooperation and tolerance. It makes use of animal symbolism for narrative purposes; by using symbolic language, young people and children are better able to digest the message embedded in the proverb.

This proverb mandates collective success, not just individual success, thus marking a critical distinction between Western culture and Nigerian culture.  Stanley (my source) exhibits cooperative qualities in his own life, and I assume that Nigeria’s folkloric traditions helped shape that part of his personality.

Kicking the Flagpole on Game Day

Daniel Shapiro earned his B.S. (bachelors degree of science) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2017.  He is currently pursuing his masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at the same university.  He is a committed fan of USC football – since beginning his undergraduate education at USC in 2013, he has attended every ‘home game’ held at the Coliseum, USC’s football stadium. He honors all of the university’s football-related traditions and dresses in football regalia as he watches the games. In the transcription below, Daniel reflects on game-day customs.  He then goes on to describe one of his favorite traditions: kicking the flagpole before games.


Daniel: “So before every game, everyone hangs out on campus and ‘tailgates.’”

Isabella: “Can you describe what ‘tailgating’ is?”

Daniel: “‘Tailgating’ is when you pitch a tent or set up chairs on [the USC] campus on game days. Everyone just drinks and eats and plays beer-pong or whatever. Students and alumni all come together to celebrate the team.”

Isabella: “Do people stay on campus during the game?”

Daniel: “No, most people walk from campus to the Coliseum to watch the game. It’s a short walk – you just have to cross [the street] on Exposition [boulevard]. Before you reach the end of campus, there are some flagpoles that everyone kicks before they walk through the gates. It’s supposed to be good luck so everyone just does it. You walk up to the flagpole and hit it with the toe of your shoe and it makes a loud ‘ding’ sound. There are like five flagpoles, so collectively, it echoes pretty loud. Once you do that, you just start walking to the Coliseum. It’s supposed to help us win the games… It’s just a superstition, but it’s still really fun because everyone does it and you can feel the excitement.”

Daniel recognizes ‘game day’ as a sort of holiday amongst USC fans.  In this regard, kicking the flagpole serves as a ritual for them — it is a means of showing reverence and celebrating the event.  Moreover, as Daniel notes above, kicking the flagpole is rooted in superstitious belief.  That is to say, there are supernatural qualities associated with this behavior.  Fans of USC football perform this action in the hopes of bringing good luck to the team; conversely, it is considered bad luck to refrain from kicking the pole.  This ritual helps USC Football fans express their commitment to the team and promotes bonding.

Italian Easter Bread

Joanna Estrada is a special needs teacher living in Los Angeles, California. She is 60 years old and has three daughters. Joanna has lived in Southern California since birth, moving from Redondo Beach to Torrance in her mid-twenties. Her father was Irish and her mother was Italian; as such, she grew up surrounded by multiple cultures and was brought up in the Catholic tradition. In the excerpt below, Joanna describes an Italian Easter tradition, wherein her Italian grandmother would bake special bread adorned with hardboiled eggs:

Joanna: “My grandmother would bake a woven, like a braided loaf of bread for Easter. She would divide the dough into three separate pieces and braid them together to make a wreath. Then she would bake it… And in the center and all around it, she would put hardboiled eggs that she colored with dye. She would soak them in dye to make them fun looking before she put placed them into the baked dough.

Isabella: “Was the bread symbolic in any way?”

Joanna: “The dough represented life and rebirth and things like that… it was for Easter, so the bread symbolized the beginning of life…”

Isabella: “What would you do with the bread? Was it an offering or sorts or did your family eat it?”

Joanna: “No, we definitely ate it. I really liked it because it had sort of a sweet taste to it. All this would happen in one day—she would bake the bread in the morning and we would eat it in the evening.”

Here, Joanna describes a ritual that her grandmother performed on Easter Sundays. For practitioners of Christianity and Catholicism, Easter is an important holiday. It marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ and has given birth to a number of commemorative traditions. The tradition Joanna describes above is at once a folkloric recipe and ritual. The bread itself serves as a sort of celebratory symbol, and the act of baking it may be considered a ritual. Joanna associates the woven bread with Easter and no other holidays; to the members of her family, Easter Sunday and the woven bread were irrevocably fused.