Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Chupacabra: A Second Grader’s Insight to Hispanic Folklore

Nationality: American
Age: 7
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles

The Chupacabra

 

“There was were a animal called a chupacabra that had a black ring but didn’t go all the way around. It had red eyes and sharp teeth. There was 2 soldiers, 4….. I think 5 maybe more and one little kid that was only 10 years old. Then they went to this place and the cops followed them and then the soldiers… well not like soldiers but they were en like strong, with guns and then they locked em up and then dey heard something.”

 

“De chupacabra had a powers that could like freeze em and make them into stone. But the the man who had a knife right here *points to hip* in the case. He was gonna get it to stab him, but he missed so the chupacabra got really mad because he hates knifes and so he froze him into stone. Then he touched him and then he broke apart. Then the boy and the other guys; the boys brother was there and he locked him up. But like he didn’t lock him up he like” *Kid interrupts with question*  “Was the boy mean or nice” he answers, “he was both mean and nice, at the same time. And so he locked the door and let them out and then they heard something and the two brothers went this way.”

 

“The two guys went this way and then the other guys went here. So then they crashed into each other and then they went to a tunnel and that was a tunnel that the two boys were goin’ to. So then… then… what happens was stuff from the ceiling was covered in like dust… then the ceiling fell on them but nothing happened to them. Just the brother, he was like drunk…. But he wasn’t and then… and then the boys friend was a ghost. It was a girl. She was sassy. So then she got them too and they found skulls. And then what happened was they went together and then nothing happened but then something happened and the chupacabra found the family and killed them.” -Carlos Martinez

 

Carlos told me that he heard this story from his parents and it’s told to warn kids against going out at night. He didn’t really know what it meant except that he said that he doesn’t go out at night alone any more after he was told the story.

 

This story was told during one of the sessions for JEP. He knew the story from before and so when we began to tell it he would chime in and try to help us. I got his full version later. Carlos is a second grader at Norwood elementary.


His storytelling abilities are sometimes distracted, but the overall story is very interesting and I think he gets the point. Although he parts of the story are confusing and not completely accurate to the actual story, the gist and goal still gets him to the same place.

I Went to a Chinese Market, to Buy a Loaf of Bread Bread Bread

Nationality: Latino
Age: 7
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Hailey Benavides showed me this very fun game.

“I went to a Chinese restaurant

To buy a loaf of bread.
They asked me what my name was,
And this is what I said:
My name is E.I., E.I. Nickelye, Nickelye
Pom pom poodle, willy willy whiskers.
My name is
FREEZE

I went to a Chinese restaurant to buy a loaf of bread bread bread
The waiter asked my name and this is what I said said said:
My name is Eli Eli
Chickali Chickali
Pom Pom Beauty
Extra Cutie
I know karate
Punch you in the body Oops! I’m sorry
Tell my Mommy
Don’t wanna miss yah
Don’t wanna kiss yah
Chinese
Chapstick
Indian
Freeze!” -Hailey Benavides

___________________________________________

 

Other versions of which I looked up online include:

I went to a Chinese restaurant
To buy a loaf of bread, bread, bread,
The waiter asked me what my name was
And this is what I said, said, said,
My Name is L-I-L-I chickle-li chickle-li,
Pompom beauty, extra cutie,
My name is sit in the back seat
Had a baby in the Navy
Boys go [kiss] [kiss]
Girls go Whoopsie!

I went to a Chinese restaurant to buy a loaf of bread bread bread
They wrapped it up in a five pound note and this is what they said said said
My name is
Elvis Presley
Girlfriend Leslie
snogging in the bathroom
baby’s bathroom
woohoo!

I went to a Chinese restaurant
to buy a loaf of bread bread bread
they asked me what my name was
and this is what I said said said
I’m Choo Choo charlie
I know karate – punch in the stomach
Oops I’m sorry. I’ll call your mommy
Cheese Cheese
American Cheese
Don’t you stare those eyes at me!
(Clap your hands and say) “You Blinked!”

 

Hailey showed me this fun clapping game that for the most part every kid in the class knew. It was traced back to one girl in the class who claimed to have seen this from her babysitter. Playing this game is actually fun. When I went to do a makeup session for JEP, we played this game during their recess time.

 

The game is played between two people sitting across from each other. The left hand is facing up while the right is down. Hands are clapped vertically, then in a waving orientation hit directly in front of the opposite person. Last, you clap your own hands and repeat. The only variation of this when the words are repeated three times, the high-five clap occurs three times as well. Hailey is a second grader at Norwood Elementary.

 

It is interesting because I remember playing this clapping game when I was younger going through school. There are many variations of the game because one my classmates I was telling this to knew it as “I went to a farmer’s market” rather than chinese. Folklore is a lot like the game of telephone where one thing is told to the person next to you and by the time it comes all the way around it’s completely different. I love this clapping game and will show the kids I teach at home how to play.

Grandmother’s Superstitions

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/21/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Background Information: Elyse is a Junior at college, and she grew up in San Francisco, CA. Her grandmother is Chinese, and has lived in the United States from her 20s or 30s, according to Elyse. I interviewed Elyse about some of the superstitions her grandmother has.

Elyse: So, my grandma tells me this thing like, every time I go around to see her, what she does is she asks me to put my fingers together, kind of like a paddle, and then, you hold it up to the light, and if you have a lot of light coming through it, like a lot of holes in your fingers, it means that you lose money fast. And if your fingers are really tight-knit, it means you save money. So like, I have some little cracks, so that means that some of my money is going to leave through those.

Ankita: And she does this every time you see her?

Elyse: She’s like, can I see your hands, because she likes to read my palms every time I visit her, so she’ll be like, “oh, good hands”, and then she’ll tell me to put my hands together to check this one.

Ankita: Does she do this for everyone she meets?

Elyse: Sort of, she doesn’t do it for everyone, just like family or whatever. Like, it’s definitely not an actual science, and she’s not a palmist or anything either, but yeah…

Thoughts: It seems, from talking to Elyse, that her grandmother has many such superstitions that guide her everyday life. Many seem to be related to luck, prosperity and wealth, and these seem to be important to hold on to in Chinese culture. It is also interesting that her grandmother chooses to read the palms of her family and ensure that they are living by these superstitions as well, perhaps as a way of showing her care and concern for them.

Maaderchod/motherfucker

Nationality: Indian
Age: 24
Occupation: Engineer
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2/20/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Background Information: I noticed that there were commonalities between swear-words or phrases in different languages. In particular, vulgarities related to mothers and sex seemed to transcend linguistic barriers. I interviewed Tanuj Gupta about the word, “maaderchod”, which means “motherfucker”, in Hindi. Tanuj grew up in Lucknow, India, and came to USC for his graduate degree, and speaks primarily Hindi and English. He first heard and began using the word at school, in the fifth grade.

Original script: मादरचोद

Phonetic script: Maaderchoad

Transliteration: Mother-fuck

Full translation: Motherfucker

Thoughts: I find it interesting how vulgarities like this one have evolved to become a part of individuals’ everyday speech and vernacular. Tanuj uses the word frequently when he is speaking Hindi with his friends, as an expression of frustration, amazement, or just for general emphasis. As Tanuj said, he learned the word in school as a child, and has continued to use it frequently. I find it interesting that vulgarities like this one are used in specific domains. It is learned and used among friends and equals, rather than with superiors, as it seems to express a level of comfort and familiarity within the group it is used in. It would also be interesting to analyze the seemingly cross-cultural taboo of associating “mothers” with sex.     

King’s Cup

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2/9/17
Primary Language: English

Background Information: I came across the game King’s Cup at a party, and was immediately intrigued by how elaborate it was. I also noticed that different people were talking about different ways they had played it before, in different places or states, and this caught my attention. I interviewed Jack Runburg and Kevin Litman-Navarro, who are two college seniors. Jack learned to play the game during high school in Utah, where he grew up, while Kevin came across it at the beginning of college.

K: The game Kings cup is a game of skill and a game of luck… It requires a deck of cards, a group of people between four and eight, uh, a large… receptacle, in the middle of the table – a chalice, a goblet, whatever you’d like, and a beer for, uh, for each player. The game is played by fanning out the deck of cards around your goblets… your grail, if you’re into that… and they take turns pulling cards, and each card has a different rule assigned to it. So it’s like a bunch of mini-games within the larger game of King’s Cup

A: It has to be a beer?

K: It typically, if you wanna play the game properly, everyone has to be drinking the same thing, because at different points of the game you’re going to be pouring your drink into the large cup in the center, and drinking it all at the end.

A: Is it different playing it in high school and here? Since you’re from Utah, Jack?

J: Yeah generally like the first ten minutes of playing the game is trying to like, rectify, different people’s sets of rules, and choosing which ones to obey for that particular game.

A: Do you have any examples?

K: Jack, what was your typical rule for Queen?

J: Ok so, in high school I played Queen as Question Master, it’s different from the usual Question Master – it’s if, someone doesn’t speak in questions, meaning that if someone asks you a question and you don’t respond with a question, you lose.

K: Conversely in my version of Queen, it’s called Queen Mean, so when you pull Queen, everyone insults you.

A: Do you guys like the game?

J: It’s not really like a big party game, more of like a kickback… You need a small group, fewer than eight people… It’s fun because it’s dynamic, and not really repetitive.

A: Have you ever heard any stories or anything about where the game might have come from or something?

J: I have a sister who is ten years older than me, and I know that… well she grew up in San Diego and I grew up in Utah, and when I became of the age where I started to drink, she asked me, like ‘Oh, do you guys play King’s Cup?’ And I said yeah we do, and she said ‘What are your rules?’ And the only rules we differed on were Jacks and Aces, so it was cool that someone in like a completely different geographical area who was ten years older than me had like the same rules… I think it’s just been around for like really long.

Thoughts: I am very interested in how the game seems to transcend boundaries of both space and time within the US. Drinking games seem to serve an important function at parties, especially at college, where many might be seeing new faces or attempting to meet new friends. In these situations, games serve as a means of breaking the ice. King’s Cup adds another layer of complexity because of the variations, similar to the idea of oikotypes that we learned about in class – a piece of folklore having multiple regional and cultural variations. Playing King’s Cup perhaps adds a stimulus for conversation as well, as players discuss where they are from, and how or why their versions of the game might be different.