Author Archives: ngorelic

The Horlah

Every summer I travel to our summer home in a place called Muskoka. It is a small city very close to Ontario, Canada that is basically a town on a lake. Everyone who lives there owns a cottage and goes from island to island via boat. It is a wonderful place filled with fun, good whether, and silence. This makes it the perfect place to create a story of a monster that wonders through the trees. I decided to interview a long time local of Muskoka and ask him about the rumored monster known as the Horla.

Collector: “What is the story of the Horla?”

Informant: “Well, this is a story that goes back generations and generations. The rumor is that it lives deep in the forest on Cameron island and at night time it comes out and snatches up anyone that dares wonder the lake at such late hours. Apparently it feeds off of the people who crash into the island at night due to a boating accident of some sort.”

Collector: “Has anyone seen the Horla?”

Informant: “Some say to have seen it, but know one knows for sure.”

Collector: “Did they describe what it looked like?

Informant: “It was said to be twenty feet high and only climb through the trees. It had the posture and appearance of a giant monkey or sloth.”

This was a particularly enjoyable interview because I have been traveling to this place for my entire life and have never seen anything to resemble the Horla. I tried to do some research to find some background on the monster but only came across a horror story called “The Horla” written by French writer Guy de Maupassant. Although it is not about a monster of any kind, it is a scary story and that connection could relate to the story that I am now familiar with.

Zen meditation

I have a very close family friend who currently is practicing Buddhism. She is fully enveloped in the religion and I thought it would be a good idea to interview her about her current beliefs and understandings of the religion because I have never taken the time to learn about the religion.

Collector: “What is the most important tradition that you practice, pertaining to Buddhism of course?”

Informant: “Well, there is not one that I believe is most important because they all have their own individual meaning, but the one that is probably the most well known is the practice of Zen meditation.”

Collector: “What is Zen meditation?”

Informant: “It is less of a tradition than a repeated practice but basically it is an attempt to reach enlightenment. It stresses the importance of being free from all forms and concepts. It allows one to quiet the mind of all conceptual thought so that hopefully the wisdom and compassion of the mind is allowed to shine out.”

This was an awesome interview because I was able to learn about a religion and a practice that I would never know about other wise. I did further research on the topic of Zen to gain more information about its background.

I was able to discover that Zen is actually a school of Buddhism that started in China during the Tang dynasty. After making an impactful appearance in China, Buddhism then spread to Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and practically all over Asia. It started with a lot of Chinese translations of Yogacara meditation which originated in India. Chinese Buddhism had to compete with Taoism, the other meditation with a large presence. Over time Chinese Buddhism took over this practice and became very unanimous in ancient China.

The Cadejos

My nanny/housekeeper of many years is originally from Costa Rica. Because the culture there is so different from ours, I thought it would be interesting to explore some aspects of their culture especially through the stories that they tell and the legends that they have. So, I sat down with her basically to wonder what kinds of stories were exchanged between the people of her country.

Collector: “What kinds of stories are Costa Ricans familiar with?”

Informant: “Hmmmm.. there are a lot of stories that we talk about to teach lessons to the kids. Some stories are fun and some are more scary.”

Collector: “What is an example of a scary story?”

Informant: “Have you heard of the Cadejo?”

Collector: “No I haven’t.”

Informant: “Oh well this is a very famous story in my home. There are two types of Cadejos, a white one and a black one. They appear at night time in front of people traveling The black one is a very evil spirit that tries to kill the travelers and the white one is the one that tries to save their lives. The white one sometimes walks night walkers home and tries to protect them from the black dog. People try to kill the black dog sometimes but they always die. It kind of represents the devil.”

This was very interesting to me because I have been around her my whole life but really knew nothing about her culture or the folklore that his passed around in her home. After doing a bit more research on the legend, I found that sometimes the colors of the dogs are reversed depending on where the story is being told, the black being the helper and the white being evil. There was also another telling of legend where a man who is the guardian of a house and every time he would return to his house he would see a white dog but it would always disappear. Then one day, he goes up to it and finally touches its paw and its eyes open. Then it says, “you do not need my help anymore”. It is interesting to see how these stories differ.

Drunk bread

My nanny/housekeeper of many years is originally from Costa Rica. Because the culture there is so different from ours, I thought it would be interesting to explore some aspects of their culture. She told me a few famous legends as well as a recipe that was very prominent throughout her life. This was something called “drunk bread” which was made at parties or fiestas.

Collector: “What are some recipes that are famous in Costa Rica?”

Informant: “There is one recipe that is really common and is used at parties. It’s called drunk

bread because of the alcohol that is put into it. There is not enough to get a person drunk but you can still taste it in the bread rolls. It is really good and I’ve grown up eating them.”

Ingredients

•10 sweet bread rolls

•2 eggs that are beaten with a dash of salt

•1 cup of water

•1 cup of sugar

•a bit of cinnamon

•honey

•a quarter of cup of Rum

•and cooking oil

Procedure:

First heat up 1 cup of water, a cup of sugar and then add cinnamon. When this cools off add honey and Rum. Later divide each bread roll in half. Then proceed to beat eggs which are then fried in hot oil. Then remove mixture and place it in a paper towel. When the mixture is lukewarm it is then ready to be bathed with honey and served.

This was a cool experience talking to her about this food that I have never tried yet she was so familiar with. Later, she made me some drunk bread and it was really good. There was not really a background on this type of food as it did not really have an important history.

Hiding the Afikoman

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My informant was my father, 59 year old man that lives in of Malibu, CA. Being a Jewish man, he is very familiar with the traditions of his religion. He explained the tradition of hiding the afikoman at a Seder.

Collector: “Do you have an important tradition that you celebrate?”

Informant: “Yes, hiding the afikoman on passover every year is something that I have done my whole life”

Collector: “What is the afikoman?”

Informant: “Basically, on passover, we have three pieces of matzah bread and take the middle of the three matzahs and split it into two. The larger half, known as the afikoman, is wrapped in a cloth, set aside, and then hidden somewhere in the vicinity”

Collector: “What is the purpose of this?”

Informant: “Well, it is basically so we don’t get that specific matzah, which is meant to be eaten at the end of the Seder, mixed up with the other two matzahs. Also, we put it in a cloth to remind us of how the Jews carried the matzah out of Egypt in a hurry before the dough could rise… and it makes it fun for the kids to run around the house looking for matzah then giving them silver dollars or a couple bucks or something”

I was personally connected to this learning because like my father, I am Jewish and celebrate passover with him, yet I did not truly know what the purpose of hiding the Matzah was or that it was even called the afikoman. This was particularly interesting for me because it now allows me to gain a further understanding of the traditions of my religion. This finding has inspired me to gain more knowledge about the Jewish traditions that I celebrate so I don’t just blindly take part in religious activity, but actually know what and why I am celebrating.