Monthly Archives: May 2015

Los Duendes

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:

 

 

There’s one like my family is from Mexico um its like a super super small ah…like little pueblo and we have a lot of like mountains and everybody always says to the kids to be careful when they go out there ‘cause like, everybody like walks their cows like thats the route that you take. So they’re always like be careful because like, they like say bad things happen like gnomes, you have them there i\I think um a lot of people say that they see like or hear little kids playing

 

Los duendes?

 

Yeah. They’re little kids playing and like um so they like if little kid are there so of course they want to play with so they take you deep into the forest and they like you are chasing after them the next thing you know you have no idea where you are and like stuck in this mountain so like that has happened a lot and there’s a lot of people who have come back and tell you  about hey heard and saw

 

Do they actually go with the kids?

 

Yeah but not its not like oh let me go test it out i think that one of the ladies it such a small pueblo that like to call you call like one house and they call they tell you they have speakers and they tell you you have a call like like E—- you have a call and you go to the house there so like that lady who um owns that little house thingy uh she went to go…I think to go pick up some berries or something random like that. She took her two little kids and they were like…they were like from there so they know like the mountain and all that stuff. Supposedly, they like…she heard one of the kids…they heard like some kids playing so like he ran after her and they like um were stuck there and they like the mom went to look for her um for the little kid and they ended up being stuck I think for like…I forgot how many days. Like a little over a week, probably ten days they were lost on this mountain and like she doesn’t remember how but she got down and she was able to get her kids down too.

 

 

This is a cautionary tale that points out that just because something looks innocent does not mean that it is. Children are an important part of any culture and this is a way of cautioning parents of the need to be suspicious of everything when it concerns their child. There are many dangers that can befall children particularly in a remote area, where search for a missing child can be difficult.

 

Mysterious Object

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. This story was told to him by a co-worker some years ago.

 

 

No se quien se lo hizo si no que dice que derepente le dolia aqui su brazo. Aquí abajo de su brazo le dolía. Y le salio una bolita…y se agarraba el guey se agarraba y dice que asi estaba y ya no este…pues ya no aguanto el dolor porque se le estaba hinchando se le estaba hinchando… y el dice que le estaba molestando y ya no aguanto entonces como ya estaba el bodoque ahí fue al doctor. y le revisaron ahí, le revisaron y después le abrieron y le sacaron una toalla. Una toalla de esas toallas dice que le sacaron ya todo vieja todo asi, pedasos de toalla le sacaron. Y esta molesto, estaba encabronado que quien pero dice que él piensa que no más su cuñado. Pero te digo que no se llevaba con su cuñado.

 

 

I don’t know who did it to him, only that he said that suddenly he started to feel pain here in his arm. Here underneath his arm he felt pain. He developed a small growth…and he grabbed himself, grabbed himself and he said that he was like that and that well…well he could no longer stand the pain because it swelled and swelled…and he said it was bothering him and he could no longer stand it, so since he had a growth he went to the doctor. And they checked him there, they checked him and later they cut him open and they took out a towel. One of those towels, he said they took it out all old, they took out pieces of towel. and he was upset, he was pissed off of who had done that. He thought that it was only his brother-in-law. Because I tell you he did not get along with his brother-in-law.

 

 

This story is exemplary of the acts that are carried out among family members due to marriage feuds, which revolve around birthplace or a presence of a magical bloodline.Though family is hailed as important in hispanic cultures, it is also family that are the only people that can hurt you. I found this story interesting, particularly that the storyteller had to go to the hospital. It would have been interesting to see the doctors reaction.

 

Dime con Quien Andas y te Dire Quien Eres

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

RH was born in Santa Catarina La Chatao, a pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico. All of the proverbs that she knows she learned from her mother who learned them from her mother and so on. Proverbs[Dichos] are a more subtle way of communicating in Mexican culture, and are ways of having entire conversations with only one sentence. Most dichos speak of faults that can be found in human nature and how that can lead to fall out among kin and kith groups.

 

 

Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres.

 

Tell me with who you interact with an I will tell you who you are.
This proverb is about being careful of who you befriend. It is mostly used for people who are searching for an identity among the wrong people and do not seem to realize that they are making the wrong choices.

Dios los Crea y Ellos Se Juntan

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

RH was born in Santa Catarina La Chatao, a pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico. All of the proverbs that she knows she learned from her mother who learned them from her mother and so on. Proverbs[Dichos] are a more subtle way of communicating in Mexican culture, and are ways of having entire conversations with only one sentence. Most dichos speak of faults that can be found in human nature and how that can lead to fall out among kin and kith groups.

 

 

Dios los crea y ellos se juntan

 

God creates them and they bring themselves together

 

 

This proverb is used in a negative context. It speaks of two people who have faults in common and come together thus increasing the negative aspects of themselves and each other. It is used in reference to couples who cause conflicts with other people, usually by spreading rumors and gossip.

 

Dime de que Presumes y te Dire de que Careses

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

RH was born in Santa Catarina La Chatao, a pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico. All of the proverbs that she knows she learned from her mother who learned them from her mother and so on. Proverbs[Dichos] are a more subtle way of communicating in Mexican culture, and are ways of having entire conversations with only one sentence. Most dichos speak of faults that can be found in human nature and how that can lead to fall out among kin and kith groups.

 

 

Dime de que presumes y te dire de que careses

 

Tell me what you boast of and I will tell you of what you are made of

 

 

For my mother this proverb means that a person makes presumptions about their worth without having proved themselves. It is used when a person boasts about being able to do things but never showing that they are capable of doing them. It is mostly used against people who try to make themselves out to be of a higher caste/position than they are.