Monthly Archives: May 2012

Pooping Dogs

Nationality: Mexican/ Latino
Age: 24
Occupation: Academic coach/ Graduate Student
Residence: Compton, CA
Performance Date: 4/11/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

While my informant grew up in Los Angeles, my informant’s family is from Yucatan, Mexico and he frequently goes down to visit his grandparents who live on a ranch.  He heard this information when he was a child visiting his grandparents. His uncle taught him this:

“If you see a dog poop, you’ll get an infection, like a pimple, in your eye”

 

My informant says that it comes a lot from the community in Yucatan. He said he did not know why this particular belief existed, but he did say that his uncle liked to tease him.

This belief is playing with the obscene and gross. One disgusting thing leads to another.  Dogs are common in many places in the world, so having a dog poop in front of you is not too unlikely.  The idea behind the belief is that disgusting things can rub off or effect you if you witness them.

Colorful Birds

Nationality: Mexican/ Latino
Age: 24
Occupation: Academic coach/ Graduate Student
Residence: Compton, CA
Performance Date: 4/11/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

While my informant grew up in Los Angeles, my informant’s family is from Yucatan, Mexico and he frequently goes down to visit his grandparents who live on a ranch.  He heard this information when he was a child visiting his grandparents. His grandfather taught him this:

“If a Colorful birds like parrots, appear in your yard, it means there is good news coming”

 

My informant says that he learned this after he saw a parrot in his grandparent’s backyard when he was a child.  His grandfather then told him this sign.  According to my informant, parrots are rare in the area of Yucatan where his family originates.

This is similar to another Yucatan saying where black birds are premonitions of misfortune.  It also reflects the other saying in that while black birds are common, colorful birds are very rare.  This might mean to the people who live there that trouble and misfortune are very common and good luck is rare.  This is in accordance with many areas in Mexico having high mortality and poverty rates and thus more likely to experience hardship.

Black Bird sign

Nationality: Mexican/ Latino
Age: 24
Occupation: Academic coach/ Graduate Student
Residence: Compton, CA
Performance Date: 4/11/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

While my informants grew up in Los Angeles, my informant’s family is from Yucatan, Mexico and he frequently goes down to visit his grandparents who live on a ranch.  He heard this information when he was a child visiting his grandparents. His grandfather taught him this:

“A black bird appears, you’re getting bad news or someone is dying.”

 

My informant says that, according to his grandparents, it happens very often.  The birds are common in the area and will appear by themselves and in flocks.

Many Central and South American countries have high poverty and mortality rates, so bad news and death is very common.  The people expect something bad to happen fairly regularly, so it is not surprising that a fairly common bird is the harbinger of death and destruction.  This also fits in with similar accounts of black birds, such as crows or ravens, being messengers of death in other parts of the world due to such birds being carrion eaters and associated with the dead and dying.  Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven had a black bird who taunted the narrator with the death of his beloved Lenore.  This belief is seen in many European countries and those colonized by those countries—Mexico for example.

Potato Tacos

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 73
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: El Paso, TX
Performance Date: 3/15/12
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This is how my paternal family makes tacos.  They are known in Spanish as tacos dorados, tacos de papa, tacos frítos. In English, my informant calls them potato tacos.  My great-grandmother came to America from Durango, Mexico and my grandmother learned from her.  The most important and unique thing about these tacos is that they are made with potatoes mixed with meat and are then fried.  These tacos are typically made whenever, as my informant tells me, her family is there and wants tacos.  Since potato tacos are difficult to find outside of a heavily Latino populated area, the tacos represent family ties and our Latino identity to my family, especially since all of my grandmother’s children moved very far away.

 

Prepare meat for texmex tacos, because this is texmex

First you put a pan with how many cup of water it depends on the pan

I just fill it up half way with the potatoes

And you put the 6 potatoes, peel and slice then you put them to cook and I say at least an hour until they are soft. You put a fork in them to check. And like I said you have to touch them with a fork because you don’t want them to harden.

The meat sho8ld be fried and drained in an hour.

This is about 3.8 oz. I’ll take half of it so that’s…about 2 oz. of raw meat

I’ll start boiling the oil

The rice you put two table spoons of oil on a pan to fry the rice. I just pour; I don’t measure when I cook anymore. Put 1/3 of oil to fry the rice when you have a cup and a half of rice. This is where you have to be very careful with this one’s. Sometimes it gets stuck at the ends and that’s when it burs really fast so you have to keep stirring it till it gets a light golden color

Sometimes it pops like popcorn; it’s cute when it looks like popcorn

Make sure it doesn’t stick to the sides or the bottom because that’s when it burns

When you like the caramel color you take it off the fire and add the opinions and tomato sauce

You put about 1/4 of tomato sauce and a cup of water with it.

Almost, not quite. I want to see one pop

You put too much tomato sauce it’s going to become pink. So it’s easier for you.  You use two table spoons of tomato sauce.

Stir it from the outside in.

About two cups and a half cup of water

Let me see how the salt is

You boil it until it gets really hot then you cover it and let it steam. That’s how the rice gets real nice.

I’ll move this back and start on the meat

With an onion mija you only need half of a small onion. You don’t need that much onion.

 

When it’s boiling hard you have lower it than cover it. And that’s how it steams real nice.

This is about a table spoon of oil to cook your meat. And then you have to drain it.

Here you put in the garlic (like that) get more in the middle and where you missed spots

Now the pepper, be careful it doesn’t get in your nose. I just squeeze it like this. Now you stir it.

Ok, let’s put the top on. If you have more time you can turn the fire up and cook it faster.

The potatoes are almost done but we’ll drain them when the meat is ready

Now we’ll just let those cook a little bit more

See how they cook fast

You have to check them every once and awhile to make sure they don’t burn and get dry

When to potatoes are done I turn them off

You just have to wait for them to cook

You take the water off of the potatoes and then you drain the meat and then you mix them all together.

Get a fork and taste it. If it needs salt or pepper, add it.

I’m going to heat up the tortillas and you fill them with the meat.

Use a spoon. Don’t get too close to the edge or the oil with pop and you get a scar like this.

(What do we fry the tacos in?)

About a tea spoon of oil

If you have a cast iron like this …or any where you can fry

I usually use, how much is that. A cup and a half of oil. You don’t want to use too much or else the meat will fall out.

And then I do this (flips taco) don’t you do that

I think I put in too much oil, so be careful about that

Roll up the lettuce and cut it.

(Oil pops) Eyi, I hate that. That’s where I get all the burns on my arms and my face. I wish I had a sifter for the meat

I have to be careful with that one. When the tortilla was putting up it got a little hole in it

Oh sush (to the tacos)

The slow one is going to go in first like this

 

Beans are done. Rice is done. Tacos are done.

 

I learned the cooking from my mother. My mother had all three

Whenever there is family that wants to eat tacos that night

Because it please my family and I enjoy feeding them

Zwarte Pite

Nationality: Dutch, Irish, British, German, Jewish, Iraqi, Mongolian, Mohawk Indian
Age: 22
Occupation: Graphic Designer/ Student
Residence: Topanga, Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/24/2012
Primary Language: English

Legend: “So, um, my mom told me uh about this. My mom told me about this. So my Mom’s mother is Dutch right, and grew up in Holland I guess, it’s not, they don’t really do Christmas. Saint Nickolas day which is on the 5th of December Sinter clause (who is Santa clause) he has a companion to Zwarte Pite which translates to Black Peter I think he’s like a Moorish guy. Like Santa’s helper maybe. I think this is where the elves come from. There isn’t a whole group of them, just one. Just like you know one helper. He helps Santa and give good kids treats, but if you’re bad, he’ll hit you with his reed. Uh or his wand, he doesn’t use a reed. That’s Krampus. He hits you with his wand or something weird like that. Or he’ll take you in his cart back to like the Moorish islands or something. Kinda weird. But he’s bumbling and a good companion. Not like Krampus. Like the German tradition. Like this evil demon guy I don’t know if helper is the right word really, he is like this terrifying horrific demon that um will like. Santa gives presents to the good children but Krampus comes to the bad children and beats them with rusty chains and reeds. And then he takes them to hell in his basket.” According to my informant Zwarte Pite is similar to other traditions in the area where Santa Claus does not deal with the bad children, but has a companion do that for him. In Holland, it is a nice spirit that will also reward children but still is capable of punishing them. She believes that the Krampus, which is a similar companion to Zwarte Pite in Germany, is used to scare children into behaving. She mentioned later that Germans have Krampus Nacht, or Krampus night, the day before Saint Nickolas day, where they dress up like the Krampus and parade through the street. She also said that Dutch people do the same with Zwarte Pite but that it is “very touchy” due to having to dress up in black face with bright red lips in traditional clothing. This is a very unintentional form of racism, according to my informant, because the point is not to make fun of black people, but to enjoy Christmas. I believe that the Moorish influence from when Holland was the Sothern Netherlands of Spain from the sixteen hundreds to the eighteen hundreds. Spain has been very influenced by the Spanish moors and this would have moved all the way up north to what would become Holland. Even if the Moors did not travel that far, prejudices would have traveled with the Spanish who moved. Having Zwarte Pite be nice may also reflect a difference in the way that German and Dutch parents raise their children. German parents are very strict while the Dutch are more laid back. There is a reason why tourists love to travel to Holland.