Monthly Archives: May 2017

The Wheelbarrow

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Orange County
Performance Date: 4/5/17
Primary Language: English
Language: French

My informant is a 19 year old student who enjoys reading and acting. She grew up in a predominantly homogenous neighborhood.

“So, in elementary school, we had really short fences. You could see- our elementary school was in a neighborhood, so through the short little fences you could see all the surrounding houses. Most of them were pretty normal, you know. Not all picket-fence houses, but like they were like pretty well-groomed lawns, just like, normal, normal little houses. Except for this one… on the corner. It was on the corner of .. *laughs* except for this one! It was on the corner of, I think, Agette and Clearbrooke, I wanna say but I’m not quite sure. So this one house on the corner had a dead lawn, and this was before the drought – they could’ve watered it. It was a completely- it had crabgrass all over it, it was brown and unwatered, unkempt. The house had chipping paint and one of the, the window panes was knocked out, there was only a screen in it. So, naturally we were all creeped out by it. In first grade, I think this was, we were terrified by this house because it threatened our sense of first-grade normalcy. And so we made up all these stories about it. We said that the house was owned by an old man that knocks the window pane out so that he could look at the school more easily and like spy on us. We said that like wild dogs lived in the house and, like, they came out at night and like ran the school. Um, and then, this one day, like after all these stories that we had like, you know, we were sharing them. This one day, this giant wheelbarrow like appeared on the lawn. We don’t know where it came from. And we assumed that the house was abandoned, ya know, we don’t really believe that like wild dogs ran it. So we were so confused as to what happened to it. You know, like who brought the wheelbarrow in, why they put it there, what was in it – that was the biggest question. So more rumors spread, you know, like that the old man was getting ready to go on some hunt or like harvest and he was going to put all his reapings in the wheelbarrow whether that be human heads, or like, wheat, or whatever it would be. *laughs* So, we got really excited, even though we were scared, you know. Um, and like our imaginations were just runnin’ wild. This wheelbarrow, this simple wheelbarrow like had caused all this, right. And I hadn’t thought of this before, but I just asked my mom like if she knew who lived in the house. And she was like “Oh yeah, um, the person that lived there was really old and he passed away but his daughter owns it now and they’re gonna renovate it. And they were just, they’re clearing out the house.” Something really simple and boring. And it just goes to show that your imagination is always better than reality.”

This story would be performed when sharing tales of childhood and stories about things out of the ordinary.

Analysis:

As children, we are most often taught that things that are different are bad. Seeing a house that was out of the ordinary did not fit into the schema of my informant and her friends of their neighborhood. Therefore, they assigned bizarre tales to this house and theorized as to why it was so different. In the end, she realized that it really was not that different at all.

Norooz

Nationality: Iranian
Age: 30
Occupation: Pianist/Music Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/23/17
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

My informant is an Iranian immigrant to the United States. She is a classical pianist and teaches piano.

“So we have Norooz which literally means “new day” … “no” means new and “rooz” means day. It’s Persian new year as well as many other middle eastern countries. Its rebirth. The first day of spring! We set up a table called ” haft seen” means seven Ss. We put 7 items that starts with S which each symbolizing different meaning…Symbolizing health, beauty, rebirth, patience, love, prosperity, and affluence, as well as self reflection. We have a special food and dishes for new year. Parents grand parents aunt and uncles gives gifts which is almost always money. We celebrate Nowruz for 13 days, you visit families and friends during these days starting from older member of the family like grandparents. We call it ” eid didani.” On the last day which is the 13th. Families go out to the parks and nature and spend the day outdoors in a picnic manner.”

Analysis:

This is a tradition that my informant still celebrates every year, even though she has been in the US for 12 years. It reminds her of where she came from and her family that is still in Iran. She gets together with her Persian community here in the United States and celebrates this holiday to remember her identity.

 

Shab e Yalda

Nationality: Iranian
Age: 30
Occupation: Pianist/Music Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/23/17
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

My informant is an Iranian immigrant to the United States. She is a classical pianist and teaches piano.

“So there is Yalda Night, Shab e Yalda, which we celebrate the last night of the fall – winter solstice! Which it is the longest and darkest night of the year! And in our calendar is the last day of the 9th month, which is the last night of autumn! We get together as friends and family and eat fruits, especially watermelons and pomegranate, and dried fruits and nuts and stuff and while we sip on hot tea we read Hafez the Persian poet till after midnight. Basically it’s the celebration of the lights overcome the darkness! And it is my favorite festivity by the way.”

Analysis:

This is a tradition that my informant still celebrates every year, even though she has been in the US for 12 years. It reminds her of where she came from and her family that is still in Iran. She gets together with her Persian community here in the United States and celebrates this holiday to remember her identity.

Pibitin

Nationality: American/Filipino
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: 2/25/17
Primary Language: English

My informant is a 19 year old student studying neuroscience at USC.

“Okay, this is a game that my family plays on Christmas, and it’s this Filipino game called “Pibitin.” Um, basically, it’s kind of like pinata, but you have this – it’s kind of like a grid made out of wood, um, and hanging off of the grid, you hang like little gifts and prizes and whatnot. And then, um, you hang it like a pinata, but you can lift and lower it. And so the idea is like, you go and you run and you have to jump and grab the gift. And then like the person that’s controlling it, can like, pull it up when you’re jumping so it makes it like harder to get it. Um but yeah, I don’t know, I guess we play that on, um, Christmas Eve with my family – like my grandparents and everything, which is funny, because like, we have to lower it a lot for them ‘cause they can’t really jump, like more than an inch off the ground. Um, but, yeah so I don’t know, it’s just not really like, gifts gifts, it’s kind of like … random, you know… uh, I don’t even know. My grandma will put random stuff that she buys at like the dollar section of Target, like pencils or like staplers.  I don’t – it’s always like school stuff. I don’t know why. Um, or a gift card, like a five dollar gift card to like Starbucks, or socks. Grandma is like really into putting socks in every gift.”  

Analysis:

My informant uses this tradition to stay connected to her family and her Filipino roots. It is a fun tradition that they perform every year. My informant does not know the exact reason why they do it or where it comes from, but for her it is an essential part of their Christmas tradition.

One Dollar in a Bag

Nationality: American/Filipino
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: 3/2/17
Primary Language: English

My informant is a 19 year old student studying neuroscience at USC.

“One short family tradition that my family has – which I don’t know if it’s like a Filipino thing or like a world-wide thing – but, basically any time that you give someone a gift that is a bag, or uh like a purse or wallet or something like that, you always, we always put a one dollar bill in it for good luck. Um, yeah I don’t know why, but that’s just what we do, so anytime I give a gift that’s a bag, I always put a one dollar bill or one dollar coin in it.”

Analysis:

This is a common tradition for people world-wide. It can be seen as rude to gift a purse or wallet that is empty. This can be interpreted as the giving the gift receiver bad luck if it is an empty wallet or purse, cursing them to have no money.