Author Archives: Carmen Villasenor Santiago

Bloody Mary and family nights

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California, USA
Performance Date: 4/27/13
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Stories such as the bloody Mary was a way to interact with the whole family by simply getting together enjoying snacks and having the adults tell scary stories that would terrify the children as we gathered together it was one of those moments where the whole family was content disregarding all the problems that were going on among each other it was a way of enjoying the time we had together. It affects me by knowing the importance of family bonding and wanting to be a part of it.  So when I get older I can continue it by doing it to my children or nephews and nieces I know that my family has been doing this for quite a while I think my great-great grandparents started this, but I am not 100% sure. Although I do know the reason why they started this family tradition for my great-great-grandparents used to live in a house next to the cemetery, so they would claim to see or hear things then tell their children in a more suspenseful way the house was literally five feet away from the cemetery. Almost every family member lived in that house except for my generation, however a way they shared theses stories with such little details made it seem as it though we were there at that very moment.

Family nights are a very common event for many Latin American families, and therefore although they might be seen as scary, they provide a way for the family to interact and a common folklore ideal to bond over, and many times food is cooked together which makes them bond over culture even more.

“El cucuy”

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Irvine, California
Performance Date: 4/30/13
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Okay…so my family isn’t really into traditions and that shit and what not, but growing up they always told the kids including myself about how “el cucuy” would come and take us if we misbehaved. It was a way of parenting I suppose and any who, I feel that’s a part of any Hispanic culture and not just something within my family. It shaped me because in a weird way it helped you consider the consequences of what could happen to you if you did something you weren’t supped to do and it also taught you obedience which I feel is important.

This is very similar to the Vietnamese story about the monster and in this way they want to make sure that they start inculcating this sense of respect on the children from they start understanding what rules are. So creating these scary being will make them want to be obedient and good in order to ensure that they are always safe and nothing bad ever happens to them or anyone in their family or such even as they grow up.

Punch the top of the car

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Wisconsin, USA
Performance Date: 4/27/13
Primary Language: English

You are supposed to punch the top of your car when you are inside of it with someone driving and you run a red light or you pass it on a yellow light and this is done in order so that like the you do not get pulled over by the cops and get a ticket.

Wanting good luck and taking chances can many times come hand in hand so therefore there are all these stories that tell us how to create a remedy if we do something that jeopardizes our luck or well being and therefore we feel like we can fix small mistakes we make and start fresh.

Pajamas inside out and ice cubes down toilets

Nationality: Polish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Virginia, USA
Performance Date: 4/27/13
Primary Language: English
Language: German

I guess this might be something more that we do more in the east coast because it doesn’t really snow here huh? So like whenever it is supposed to snow, like in the forecast it might snow, everyone just wears their pajamas inside out and flush ice cubes down the toilet and that is supposed to make it snow. I guess it’s just a superstition to feel like we have a say in controlling what we want.

Again there comes this idea of being able to control those things around us that are actually out of our reach, so we create these folklore stories that make us feel that by doing certain actions we can ensure that the whether or other uncontrollable factors are able to go in our favor.

Ông Già

Nationality: Vietnemese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California, USA
Performance Date: 4/30/13
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnemese

Well when I was little my grandma and my dad uhm would always tell me that the “old man”  called ông già in Vietnamese would catch me when I did something bad, so if I didn’t eat my vegetables or didn’t go to bed on time they would in a creepy voice that the old man was going to get me – also when they said it they opened their eyes really big and looked actually scared so I felt I should be scared of this creature as well because it made my elders scared – to me it was never a guy just this horrible figure who would just snatch me…actually I never knew what would happen after he caught me, I just knew I’d didn’t want to be caught, and so all of my brothers and I were raised on this story and it was a way for my parents to control us easier so that we wouldn’t misbehave so like there was even a slight rebellious flare they would say “ông già is coming!” and we would immediately shame up and do whatever they said. I don’t know if they ever described it to me but I always imagined it to be very dirty and yellow eyes and dirty messy hair, and always starving and I guess I associated it with eating me. So whenever my dad tried to scare me ay night I would always look to the window because I thought he would come in through there.

Many of the folklore traditions that I read about are different cultures having various stories about these monsters or entities that the older people or parents would use in order to make sure the children would obey or listen to them when they told them to do something.  These creatures were supposed to scare them and make them believe if they disobeyed bad things will happen, so in this way respect towards the elders was built at the same time.