Monthly Archives: May 2015

El Chintete

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 51
Occupation: Line Cook
Residence: Koreatown
Performance Date: April 29, 2015
Primary Language: Spanish

SM was born in San Miguel Amatlan a pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico. He was lived here for half his life time working as a cook at various restaurants throughout L.A. County. The following tale was told to him from several co-workers.

 

 

Transcribed from and Audio Recording:

 

 

Estábamos trabajando en la cocina y quien era…era un laba plato tambien um oh pues también ese señor era. Se me hace que ese mismo, el cuñado del A-. Tabamos tambien ahi y vino y le pidió una hamburguesa al M-…ese. Le pidió una hamburguesa y ese guey le empezó a hablar en dialecto, “hay que la chingada. Que esta chingando, que no se que.” Y él le dijo que queria el numero veinte. Veinte lleva espinaca y le dijo que queria el numero veinte. Y ese guey le dijo, “no. que no se que. que no se lo iba…lo quería hacer.” Pero ultimo si lo saco. Si ya hizo la hamburguesa y cuando abrio el cajon para sacar esta la espinaca como hay teníamos la espinaca…cuando lo saco, ahí donde metió su mano para agarrar un puno de espinaca, brinco un chintete y aquí se le pego en su mano. Ese guey que grita. Se asusto pues. “Ay! Guey un chintete!” Un chintete dijo el guey. Pinche chintete así como sonso asi corrio Y lo agarraron. Le dijeron al manager y lo agarraron…Esta grande asi un cafecito verde asi. Y ya llamaron al manager y vino y este y ya le dijeron que ahí estaba. Y dijo que donde estaba y le dijeron que salio en la espinaca. Ahí adentro de la espinaca estaba. Y ya el manager lo agarró un frasco. Un frasco agarro y lo echo ahi, hay lo hecho y hay lo estaban viendo. Hay se pego el guey  y dijo que registraran ahi para ver si no abia mas. Porque estaba ahí que sacaran esa espinaca. Ya no había nada y el manager ya se lo llevó para la oficina. Y ahí estaban ellos haciendo escándalo que no un chintete salió ahí que se asustó el M-. Y ellos empezaron a hablar puro dialecto no se que estaban hablando…Que se asustó ese guey y la chingada…Y ya se llevó el manager pa’ ya y dijo ese guey “ ‘Tamadre lo vamos a matar. A quemar.” dijo. Pero como el manager lo tenia en la oficina. Se lo llevó y ahí estaba mientras que el tiempo que estuvimos trabajando y limpiando haciendo todo. Ya cuando salimos hay estaba el manager en la oficina sentado. Ya cuando le fuimos hablar y le dijimos que donde estaba. Que iba hacer con el chintete ya no estaba. Ya cuando lo buscaron ahí, ya no estaba. Y el dijo, “Pues donde esta” Y lo estuvieron buscando ahi en la oficina y no lo encontraron.

 

 

We were working in the kitchen and who was it …it was a dishwasher oh well it was that man. I think it was that same one, the brother-in-law of A-. We were there also and he came and asked for a hamburger from M-. He asked him for a hamburger and that dude he started to speak to him in dialect, “That this shit. And that shit. And I don’t know what.” And he told him that he wanted the number twenty. The number twenty had spinach and he wanted the twenty. And that dude told him, “No. That I don’t know. That he wasn’t going to..that he didn’t want to do it.” But in the end he did it. He did it and when he went to open the drawer to get the spinach since that is where we had it…when he took it out, there where he put his hand to take out a fistfull of spinach, out jumped a lizard and stuck on his wrist. That dude scream. Well he got scared. “Ahh! A lizard!” The dude screamed that it was a lizard. This stupid lizard it ran around all stupid. An he grabbed it. They told the manager and they grabbed it. It was big, a brownish green. They called the manager and he came and they told him it was there. And he said where it was and they told him that it came out of the spinach. It was in the spinach. And the manager put it in a jar. He grabbed a jar and he put it in there and they were looking at it. The dude was stuck there and he said to check to see if there were anymore. Since that is where they took the spinach from. But there was nothing there and the manager took it to his office. And there they were making a scandal that no it came out there and that it scared M-. And they started to speak in dialect so I don’t know what they were saying…that the guy got scared and shit. And the manager took it and he was saying that, “Shit. We should kill it. and burn it.” But since the manager had it in his office. He took it and it was there in the time that we working, cleaning and doing everything. When we were done there was the manager sitting in his office. And we went to talk to him and asked him where it was.  What he was going to do with it but it was gone. They looked for it but it was not there. He said, “Well, where is it.” They looked for it in the office but it was gone.

 

 

This is an interesting tale. While it may not have anything to do with eh supernatural there are still enough traces of it, to cause some paranoia and fear of the unknown.

 

Bloody Mary

Nationality: Mexican American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 27, 2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

EA is a student at USC majoring in Creative Writing. She is also a co-worker at the United University Church [UUC] working at the front desk. The story that she told me comes from her childhood.

 

 

Transcribed from Audio Recording:

 

 

..I’ve definitely heard the whole bloody mary when i was fourth grade maybe um they would always say you have to turn on the water and go in the bathroom turn on the eater and then like in front of the mirror repeat bloody mary bloody mary like three times and then she is supposed to appear…

 

So this was in 4th grade and the other kids told you…

 

Yeah, so I went to a daycare thing after school. That;s where i learned it.

 

Oh not at…

 

Not at actual school, at the daycare thing. but yeah. And I tried it. I was yeah right and I tried it. I was like…and then, then i heard that you need like watermelon seeds or something like that and that the reason you didn’t see her is because…I don’t know if it was watermelon seeds and you had to lit a candle or something and then turn on the water and then repeat it three times, I was like I ain’t got time for all this.

 

You didn’t try it again?

 

No, not after that. She didn’t come out. She didn’t want to see me/

 

You weren’t scared?

 

Um..I don’t know. ‘Cause I’m not really.. I guess I am superstitious if I believe that whole mouth thing I’m superstitious. Um I don’t know I don’t really believe in like..I don’t think we’re the only human beings or beings in the entire universe. I don’t know i give the benefit of a doubt. There’s probably aliens not the green headed things but there is something else alive but I don’t really believe in like, “Oh there’s a UFO” or like why would they let themselves be seen or like things like I don’t know you go under a ladder or open an umbrella inside the house. Like I don’t really believe in those kinds of things. But I guess what my grandma tells me…changes it. But i guess…

 

You grew up in the culture, so you believe it more.

 

Uhu.

 

Bloody Mary is a prominent figure in urban legends and the variety of tales told about her are numerous. However, the inclusion of seeds is something I had not heard before. i found it interesting and remembering a recent discussion in class, took it to mean that the watermelon seeds represent semen and the beginning of a new biological cycle for a girl into womanhood. Or perhaps they represent the ovule that are released on the onset of puberty, as Bloody Mary appears to represent.

Crooked Mouth

Nationality: Mexican American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 27, 2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

EA is a student at USC majoring in Creative Writing. She is also a co-worker at the United University Church [UUC] working at the front desk. This story comes from her Mexican heritage.

 

 

Transcribed from Audio Recording:

 

 

I’ve heard um oh I told my friend two days ago and he started laughing at me. But my mom and my grandma would always tell me like, “Y si comes like y luego te bañas o te metes a la alberca o whatever like se te… la boca se te hace chueca.” [and if like…and then you shower or go in the pool or whatever, like it…your mouth gets crooked.] I’m so serious and like to this day I, I shower first and then eat. If I come home late I would shower first and then I’ll eat even if I’m starving ‘cause I don’t wanna like eat then shower and come out with this mouth over here but I guess, I didn’t, I never thought about the logistics of how does that happen, but uh I was always scared of that.

 

While I have heard that you will get cramps if you go into the pool soon after eating, this is a new take. The reason for the crookening of the mouth may be that the mouth is a symbol of intake. It could be that the water is seen as trying to cleanse something of the body and the extraction has damaged the jaw. It is a harsher punishment for not following a rule.

Until Lions Write Their Own History, the Tale of the Hunt Will Always Glorify the Hunter

Nationality: African American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: March 23, 2015
Primary Language: English

AU is a student at USC majoring in Anthropology with a minor in Journalism. She will begin her graduate studies next year at USC Dornsife. She is also a co-worker at the United University Church [UUC] working at the front desk.

 

 

Until lions write their own history, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

 

 

This proverb is very prominent in Africa. My informant was very passionate about its meaning. She extrapolated on how it was representative of colonialism and that it is still an ongoing struggle today seeing as a majority of countries have been established under the yoke of Europe. For her this proverb is a way of saying that things, particularly the written record, will not change until the people who arose from colonialism seek to change their history.

 

I felt that I agreed with some of the points she made concerning the view that many countries who were established by European nations view their creators. There are many who see them as the “motherland” which causes conflict with others who do not hold the same views.

 

 

For a different version of this proverb please see the Introduction to Frederick Douglass’s book by Wendell Phillips

 

Crooked Mouth-Pregnancy

Nationality: Mexican American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 27, 2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

EA is a student at USC majoring in Creative Writing. She is also a co-worker at the United University Church [UUC] working at the front desk. This story comes from her Mexican heritage.

 

 

Transcribed from Audio Recording:

 

 

Um also you know if like you give birth like there’s first few weeks after, um like your body is still super sensitive so like they always tell you like, or over there they tell you don’t go out in the cold, don’t like go out at night, like stay home with your baby, let your body recover. And then ‘cause if not tambien se te pone la boca chueca. [you also get a crooked mouth.] And like um and I didn’t well I guess I did believe it ‘cause like my grandma is telling me this stuff and she’s like, “Ya, ya.” And um one time we went to Mexico and this one girl she’s like super young, she got pregnant young, and she still wanted to go out and stuff like that so she went out and like I saw her! Her mouth was chueca, I was oh shoot! like this is real, this is real like…but I don’t know.

 

What do you think the focus on the mouth is about?

 

I don’t know but my grandma did tell me that for the um the pregnancy one that your whole face would kind of just… I don’t know the way I thought about it is like…you know when you do a pot of something you can shape it when it is hot, like but when ya se enfria yeah like yeah. That’s kind of what I thought like your body stays in the heat moment and if you got in the cold it’s gonna do something to your face. I don’t even know what I thought.

 

 

This was an interesting tale. There could be sexual connotations to having this warning, about not seeking out a mate so soon after having a child. Perhaps there are questions of fidelity and the importance of family and loyalty, and this phenomena as being a consequence of straying. The mouth by itself is symbolic and can refer to staying at home with your child as a caregiver and provider of food but it can also be euphemistic in the sense that if you go out, you will be punished for seeking out sexual partners. This is also a different version of how to gain a crooked mouth also told by the same source.