The subject speaks on the way members of her Nigerian church in NYC protected against curses and witchcraft.

I went to Nigerian church every week and Nigerian church is its own thing let me tell you [laughs]. For Nigerians, and West Africans in general, you don’t want to tell someone you’re pregnant or that you got a promotion or good news because if you tell them, they could do voo-doo on you or something, you know?

So is it impolite in Nigeria to ask if someone is having a baby or to ask about someone’s health?

It’s not impolite. But Nigerians don’t ask because they know nobody will answer. For example if someone asks me if my dad is on a trip to Nigeria I can’t say, “yes.” I have to say, “well, he’s not here.”

And is the reason for this fear other people or fear something else like a demonic spirit?

No, it’s other people. It’s because you want to make sure people don’t have enough information to do witchcraft on you. But really you only have to be afraid of other Africans [laughs].

I would always here these stories in my church of these things happening. A lot of stories from our pastor’s wife. There was this one story that at a wedding a woman came up to the bride and waved her hand over [the bride’s] stomach. And then for three years the couple couldn’t have children. And they had to track down this woman and ask her “did you make us infertile.”

And the woman said, “yeah it was me.” And because they found the source they could have kids again. I heard stories like that in church every week.

Interview with the source, speaking on signs of bad luck her Nigerian American family in New York taught her:

Nigerians have things that are bad luck. Nigerians don’t go near cats because they have the devil in them. And Nigerians aren’t left handed, it’s considered evil.

What happens if a Nigerian kid is born left handed?

They’ll have to switch. Their parents would never let them stay left handed. That’s why I don’t know any left-handed Nigerians. And it’s considered bad luck to use your left hand to do things, like if you hand someone a cup, you have to use your right hand. 

Who in your family taught you this?

Everyone.

Your brothers and sister too?

Yes, everyone. Everyone.

So, do you still believe it?

No, no I don’t believe that it’s bad luck or the devil. But I still hand people things with my left hand because I don’t think it’s as polite. It’s not as respectful I think to use your left hand. 

Would your parents visit someone’s house if they had a cat? 

Sure, they wouldn’t care. But they would not get a cat as a pet themselves. Well also because I’m allergic and they wouldn’t do that to me.

The source and several other friends told ghost stories on a camping trip to Joshua Tree. This was told as if it was going to be a ghost story.

This is a true story. In the late seventies, in Seattle, a baby was born with a very unusual condition. Where his belly-button should have been, there was a golden screw—just the head sticking out. The doctors couldn’t make heads or tails of it. They ran x-rays and tests; they tried gently pulling the screw out; but they had to conclude that there was no way to remove the screw safely. The child would live with the screw and his mother was just thankful that he seemed to be healthy otherwise.

Well this boy—his name was Dave—grew up and he began to realize he was different from the other children. He was embarrassed to take his shirt off in the school locker-room and at the pool. And when they found out the other kids teased him and called him ‘screw belly.’

Dave decided that as soon as he was 18, he’d venture out to find out why he was so different from everyone else.

I’ll abridge this part of the story. Dave sets off to find an answer, ending up deep in the Amazon Jungle at a mysterious clearing and climbing down a giant stone funnel to reach an underground golden room.

In the middle of the golden room was a golden pedestal and on top of that was a golden screwdriver. Dave knew what he had to do. He took the golden screwdriver and lifted his shirt. It fit perfectly into the screw in his belly. Slowly, he turned the handle and to his amazement the screw began to come out. Turn after turn, the screw unwound. One inch… two inches. It was longer than he ever imagined. Finally, with a final turn, the screw fell out of Dave’s belly.

And then his butt fell off.

This is a classic example of a shaggy dog joke, a story that takes a lot of time to get to a silly punchline.

On the web, I’ve found many different versions of the joke – with the same punchline but different details in the middle:
https://kellybarnhill.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/the-tale-of-the-young-man-with-a-golden-screw-in-his-belly-button-spoiler-alert-his-butt-falls-off/

The subject describes a simple tradition his mom started. This year was the Christmas year after his mom died.

Oh! We did have one Christmas tradition in our family. Every year my mom would have her friends over and they would make Christmas cookies together. 

And this year my sister and I had our friends over and we made cookies together, so it’s like we’re carrying on that tradition.

What kind of cookies do you make?

Well normally my mom made sugar cookies but my sister and I need to find a better recipe. The one we used this year wasn’t very good.

What’s the significance of this tradition to you?

It’s significant because it was something our mom did every year. It would feel strange to do Christmas without doing it.

Even a simple tradition takes on greater meaning once a family member dies. This tradition transformed from being an annual gathering with friends, to an annual gathering of friends that celebrates the life of a passed-away loved one.