Author Archives: Jackson Watson

Brazilian Brigadeiro dessert

Ricardo is a 20 year old student at USC. Before USC, he lived in San Paolo, Brazil his entire life. He grew up with little to no American influence. One thing he spoke of that was very different was the food in Brazil. He spoke of his favorite dessert:

“Brigadeiro, it’s like a chocolate sweet with cream of milk and butter and sprinkles, my mom used to make them for me when I got good grades”

Ricardo said these were very special for him as he did not get these very often. He said his mom would specially make them for him as he said when he got good grades. She said she would also make them and bring them to big parties where families gathered. I think this dessert looks very good and I would definitely love to try it. I have never even heard of it.

brigadeiromordido

Brazilian Toad Song

Ricardo is a 20 year old student at USC. Before USC, he lived in San Paolo, Brazil his entire life. He grew up with little to no American influence. One thing he spoke of were songs that he learned when he was very young from his parents. One song in particular, the toad song goes as follows:

“O sapo não limpa os pés dele, ele não limpa os pés dele porque ele não quer limpar seus pés, ele vive para baixo no lago, ele não limpa os pés dele porque ele não quer limpar seus pés”

In English this means:

“The toad does not clean his feet, he does not clean his feet because he does not want to clean his feet, he lives down on the lake, he does not clean his feet because he does not want to clean his feet”

Ricardo said he loved these lyrics and used to sing this song all the time when he was younger. He said he learned this song when he would go play outside as a kid and would refuse to take a shower, that is when his mom taught it to him. He said many of his friends knew it and they would sing it in school too. I personally think the lyrics are very weird, as there really isn’t a message to it either. It repeats one line for half of the entire song.

Northern vs Southern California “Hella” word

Will is a 20 year old kid from Carmel, California, which is in Northern California. He was born and raised in the same spot and never really travelled. He said that California being such a large state, there was quite the rivalry between Northern and Southern California. He even said there were some terms that only Northern California said. The specific term he talked about was a form of slang, the term is:

“Hella”

Will described that only Northern California’s use this term in sentences, and if one was to use it in Southern California it was “social suicide.” I asked him to use it in a sentence and he said “Oh, um, your shirt is hella red.” He said it is just used as a term to intensify something. I find it fascinating that there is a slang term that is allowed and used frequently in Northern California, but banned in Southern California. I just assumed it was a common slang term that everyone knew, being that I used it when I lived in Washington, so I find this California rivalry fascinating.

Canadian middle school food ritual

Tim Marino is a 20 year old engineering student at USC. He was born in Calgary, Alberta and had lived there his entire life. Tim grew up a victim of Canadian stereotypes, playing hockey and eating maple syrup. The maple syrup part was actually a big part of his life and his daily eating habits, as he said the maple syrup in Canada was plentiful.

“In middle school people would come out with trays of ice and would put maple syrup in it and put a stick in it, and would freeze them to make maple syrup popsicles.”

Tim said that this was a very popular thing to do in middle school, and that each new generation of kids would learn it from the older years in middle school and would do it themselves, and it became a very popular lunchtime snack. I find this interesting as for one it reinforces the maple syrup stereotype of Canada, and for two it is not something I have seen performed in the US.

Hockey pregame ritual

Tim Marino is a 20 year old engineering student at USC. He was born in Calgary, Alberta and had lived there his entire life. Tim grew up a victim of Canadian stereotypes, playing hockey and eating maple syrup. Because he played hockey, I asked Tim if him or his team had any rituals they would do before games. Tim said:

“I played the position of goalie and I would tap the crossbar 3 times before the game started”

Tim said he did not know why he did this, simply that he felt it gave him better luck and that he could save more goals if he tapped the cross bar 3 times before every game. Whatever had worked for him in the past he stuck too. I think this also brings up the number 3 in a universal context. We talked a lot about how many things come in 3’s, and I find it fascinating that he tapped the goal post specifically 3 times and it was thought to bring him good luck.