Author Archives: garc101@usc.edu

SABADO DE GLORIA

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angelez
Performance Date: 04/19/2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Tradition

Sabado de Gloria is  whole week or two weeks I believe. This tradition is from Jerez, Zacatecas Mexico. It’s dedicated to Holy Week, Everyday is a different day for a religion which is Catholicism and dedicated to Jesus Christ. It is Special to my pueblo because its a special pueblo   its considered a magic pueblo. And do do it because I like the relay JustFab is turned into like a little Advanced more like you can go out and have fun and do the bunch of like musicians and stuff like that. People from all parts of Mexico come over and enjoy all of the festivities like a carnival in the fair. You can ride horses in different parts of the city either a bunch of music and decisions it gets really crowded they have pinatas which is like symbols of the different  disciples. When one of the disciples Betrayed Jesus He hung himself so it’s a representation of bringing the disciple  in piece. They turned it into a positive thing but have a religious meaning behind it. Sacrifices to remember him and his sacrifice for us.

My family is involved with the fair they sell alcohol they sell food and tacos and one of my uncles has a ranch of horses so they will take their horses and start making them dance and dress all coach cultural and with traditional suits.  The dances are tamborazo and banda. The guys dress in Charro suits and the girls  where  traditional dresses but different because they like to ride horses. On fridays they have a reenactment of jesus carrying the cross all the way to church and everyone goes into church and celebrate. Sabado de gloria is a mix of culture and relgion of Jerez Zacatecas

 

Background info

Since the informant is from here he really feels close to this event from his hometown because he goes every year to celebrate it with his family and brings him closer to his culture and his religion. This tradition that happens is very important to that specific town and it makes him feel proud of where he’s from and that part of Mexico. This event is really meaningful to him not just because he gets to be close to his hometown but also to celebrate with everybody from the town and get to know them as well.

 

Context

Sabado de gloria is huge in zacatecas and has elongated because it has become very touristy

According to a cultural website “ hundreds of riders travel the main streets of the city proudly wearing the charro suit and inviting women to ride their horses and take a walk. The importance of this party is such, that you can find riding or in some tapanco to personalities of the political or artistic life of national level that adorn us with their presence.”

 

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The Angel and the Red Car

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/18/2018

Story:

Informant:

My grandma used to work downtown in LA  she had this really old car it was red.  And there was something wrong with the battery but she didn’t have time to get it fixed. She’s on her way home from work and it’s raining, She’s on the freeway and something’s wrong with her car’s battery so she pulled over and the car dies and   Someone pulls over to help her  it was this man in a truck and he gets out of the car and helps to restart the battery she gets in the car turns the key the car starts and the man is gone,.  she’s like oh thank you God.  she drives home pulled into the driveway in the car dies again .  She thinks it was an angel.

 

Me: Is your grandmother religious?

 

Informant: Yes all her life she has been very Christian and has always had a very strong connection with God.

 

Background info

The informant has always been to a private Catholic school and her grandmother has always been very religious and helped her throughout her life with her religion. It was not the first time that her grandmother has seen Angels like these appear throughout her life to help her and guide her along the way. This story is very meaningful to the informant because her grandmother now has house hymers and sometimes it’s very hard to talk with her so these stories hold her close to when her grandmother we remember things. The informant also really likes these stories because they helped her have a deeper connection and  and have a lot of faith in her religion which is Christianity.

 

Context:

These religious stories help people have a deeper connection with God and Believe In Miracles like Guardian Angels & Good Spirits that guide your life especially in Christianity. also in Catholicism and is a huge thing to see the Virgin Mary appear on things like toast or on your wall and just different places that kind of give you an inside look of the unknown or what you have known all along you just needed to see something it’s kind of like the story of you got to see it to believe it and these things just make people’s Faith just grow tremendously.

 

My thoughts

I think these stories bring me really close to Christianity as well and I love hearing Miracle stories because it makes me feel closer to God. Just knowing that someone is out watching out for you is a great feeling to have in general even if you don’t believe in heaven or hell.

 

 

Kyle, the ghost of Suite 602

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/20/18
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

THE STORY

Informant

first Kyle like started out as a joke but just because like lights would flicker . me and Danielle my roommate,  we’re like oh that’s weird to me look down and it looks like someone had unplugged the lamp like I don’t know how that could happen that That’s weird so we’re like that shouldn’t have happened they think the next day I was standing in the common room and we heard the where repeat like the clean dish We heard the forks move like how could that have happened that was weird and then I don’t know One night after we had named it kylie  after the Vine sully my roommate had her phone out our roommate and it glitched out and started playing the vine that we named Kyle after which was very creepy. I know that one time when someone was alone they heard doors opening but no one was in the suite we never saw a presence  or heard anything but the way that things were moving and happening really seem like there was someone here.

Me: The environment we live in is a dormitory in people have lived here before so maybe do you think that that is why you think it is a ghost?

Informant : Yeah maybe there used to be a girl that died in this suite or they brought a ghost in. We actually got someone to put holy water around so we could bless it.

 

Background info

The informant explained how it brought the suite together in weird way because all of them shared experiences with kyle. This ghost means a lot to them because they created his name together with the vine. It was actually just a joke at first but then weird things started happening

 

My thoughts:

I think this ghost really did bring the suite together in a way and it was sort of a made up feeling of being in a new place. No ghost would actually be their if it wasn’t for the suitemates who made it up.  The idea that they are freshman and moved into a new suite would help them create this legend together because they were getting used to living together in such a new environment like a dormitory.

 

THE BUTTERY PROVERB

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/18/2018
Primary Language: English

The proverb:

“Ponte Mantequilla”

 

what this means to the person:

when you’re having a bad day make yourself feel like butter and don’t let anything bad stick on to you. just slip everything off.  My mom used to tell me this when kids would pick on me or when something bad happens. Just put on butter and let everything slip right off.  The informant mentioned that it helped her get through a rough day and also helped her not take things to personally when it came to hearing things from others about her. Signifies how she’s growing up because she used to tell her that when she was a kid and takes it a different ay than it means now

 

My analysis:

Getting from the context of how slippery butter is, I can see how the person interprets this proverb. I can also see how relevant it is to here in the US. We have a huge bully problem and many kids pick on each other. This proverb helps people not take everything and absorb it.  Butter is also used in many other folkloric manners like for remedies for burns and stomach pain in the Mexico.

 

 

 

Trumpet Traditions

Nationality: Mexican american
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 04/25/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Tradition

In band the day before we play UCLA we go on what is called the trumpet run. We first go to the Frat row and go to each house and basically do a sort of Christmas Carol but seeing all of our Rock charts and our normal charts right in front of the houses at around 10 at night. And there’s a special type of frat house that we play  a specific song to. This is the Frat House teak. The reason why we sing the specific song is to honor  a trumpet that had passed away and was in teak before so every single year we play the same song in front of teak in order to honor his memory and it is very beautiful.

Meaning

This tradition is very meaningful to the informant because it talks about the connection between that trumpet player and the trumpet section of the Trojan marching band. The fact that they play evrey year for him shows a special connection that can only be described as memories and love for the band member. iT shows that after all these years he is still considered part of the trumpet section and will not be forgotten. Many of these annual traditions that are meant to be for remembering and honoring someone are usually through respect and songs that are mellow and sad. The song was very slow and relaxing to pay tribute for him.