Author Archives: sofiarey@usc.edu

Softball Superstition

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 59
Occupation: Professor
Residence: San Mateo, California
Performance Date: 4/7/18
Primary Language: English

Interviewer: You’ve coached a lot of softball so I was wondering if you knew of any superstitions or beliefs that people have?

 

Informant: I’m sure there are a lot, and over time each player develops her own superstitions around playing. But one of the most prominent ones that I’ve seen, especially if both teams are on the field is that no one can step on the white lines before the game starts.  If they get messed up but natural causes or eventually throughout the game they get changed then that’s okay.  But if you mess them up before the game or purposefully step on them then players believe that they won’t get any hits during the game or make errors on the field or even lose the game.

 

Interviewer: So have you seen players do some drastic things to avoid touching the lines?

 

Informant: Oh yeah.  Players walk over them, jump, dive.  And sometimes they don’t even let their equipment touch the lines because that would be just as bad.  Both teams usually line up before the game along the base lines and they even avoid touching or letting their cleats touch the lines.

 

Interviewer: Have you seen people try to counteract the superstition or do the opposite to get rid of the bad energy?

 

Informant: I have seen players find unused white chalk and rub it on themselves or on their hands or up and down their bats.  In a way it’s like if you control the white chalk then it can’t hurt you or have a negative impact on how you play.

 

 

Background: Informant, Joe Reyes, has been coaching softball for over ten years and also played baseball in his youth.  This superstition that he witnessed affected the older teams he has coached and often the younger players were not so concerned with losing so their superstitions were not based around that.

Context: This interview took place during a family weekend at home.  The context of experiencing this superstition first happened when he began coaching teams with ages around 10.  This is when the players started learning superstitions from the older players and taking them more seriously.

Analysis: It wasn’t until I heard my dad state this superstition that I realized that most superstitions are passed down from older groups to younger groups.  In this case I learned my beliefs from my players but then with softball I had superstitions because my older friends told me that they were important and that winning was important.

Spirit on the Fence

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 56
Occupation: Physician
Residence: San Mateo, California
Performance Date: 4/7/18
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Interviewer: Do you know any ghost stories or had anyone pass down ghost stories to you?

 

Informant: My Mama Lupe (Grandmother) got married to my grandfather when she was like 15 and my grandfather was much older like 20s or 30s. He was a really kind older man.  But she said that one time they were walking back in Mexico and they were staying in a little town.  But they had to get up really early to catch the bus to get home and she said it was still dark outside.  They were out in the country and they were walking along and she said she saw this lady and on the fence and the fence was there to keep the animals from leaving the fields. She said that my grandfather was walking ahead of her and she looked over and this lady was sitting on the fence and she went to catch up to my grandfather and asked, “what’s that lady doing on the fence?” And when she turned back to look at the lady, the lady was gone. And she said she could see the woman as clear as day.  And she talks about seeing things a lot, but that was the one that she would sit down and tell us about and it even gives me chills to think about it.

 

Interviewer: Would you say that she believed it was a ghost or a spirit or what? Or did it matter? Or was it more of just that she saw “something”.

 

Informant: No, it was like this very adamant belief that there was a woman there and that it was a spirit because just one moment it was there clear as day and the next it was gone.  She believed a lot in the spirits and recalled a lot seeing things throughout her life but not all of them she would share. She like to scare us and believed in a lot of Mexican superstitions that are still around today.  She was firmly based in tradition rather than making something up just to get a reaction out of someone.

 

Background: Maria Juarez-Reyes is the mother of the interviewer and a firm believer in the supernatural or in sci fi as a genre.  She often spent summers with her grandmother in Mexico and would listen to her many stories.  She still believes in the clear distinction of spirits and ghosts as her grandmother did and shares most of her experiences.

Context: This interview took place during a weekend at home with family.  The informant heard this story when she was young and would visit her grandmother in Mexico.  Her grandmother would share stories with her and her brother and often liked to scare them but still believed in the validity of the encounters.

Analysis: This account is considered to be a legend based on the time the story takes place and the debate about whether it is actually true or if spirits and ghosts exists. To those who believe, the story always has validity but varies according to belief. The performance also adds to the believe-ability and the informant also said to experience chills while telling the story which added to the truth of the account.

 

 

 

Earache Remedy

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 4/7/18
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Interviewer: Did you learn any helpful remedies that you passed on or that you used yourself?

 

Informant: For the babies with the ear infection, what they used to do is they would make a cone of the newspaper, a big cone, and then they put the point of the cone in the baby’s ear and they light the outer rim so it would slowly burn and send smoke up into the ear.  And supposedly the baby would get better and the infection would go away.

 

Interviewer: So there was just a clear pathway for the smoke to go into the ear?

 

Informant: Well they would put a cotton ball with Castor oil in the baby’s ear and then the heat and the smoke would heat up the cotton ball but not too close.  And then the baby would sleep with the cotton ball in the ear and stay with it for a little bit and eventually get better.

 

Interviewer: Have you used any variation of that on your kids or grandkids?

 

Informant: Well, you used to get bad infections so your dad lite a special candle and they used a funnel to point the smoke towards the ear.  You were little so we didn’t want to give you harsh medicines right away if we knew another way that could also work.  Later on you grew out of your ear infections so if you got them when you were older it was usually from a bad infection that needed stringer medicine.

 

Interviewer: That’s actually a really interesting point. Thank you!

 

Background: Alicia Juarez is the grandmother of the collector and grew up in Mexico City for a time and then outside the city on a small ranch with her father and step family.  She immigrated to the United Stated once she was older and has lived here ever since.  Some of the more useful remedies she still uses today, but also uses remedies in tandem with more westernized medicine.

Context: Interview took place during a weekend at home with family.  Alicia Juarez speaks both Spanish and English and choose to speak in English for the purposes of direct translation.  The context of these examples of folk medicine was the fact that whole communities has no easy access to westernized medicine and doctors and had to develop different ways of healing everyday ailments.

Analysis: This was an interesting remedy to look at because a version of it was used on me. And it was interesting to see the variation of the remedy being passed down from my grandmother and then adopted and changed slightly by my parents.  The process of folklore at work.  It was also interesting because I remember having terrible ear aches and my parents trying different things but it was helpful to know the meaning behind what they were doing and the tradition it developed from.

Home Remedy for Menstruation Symptoms

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 4/7/18
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Interviewer: Do you have any homemade remedies for illnesses or conditions that you learned from someone else?

 

Informant: When I would get really sick from menstruating, like really bad pain, my grandmother would get a brick and wet it with alcohol and light it.  So the brick would get really hot and then she would wrap it with a cloth and keep the warm bring on my stomach.

 

Interviewer: With the alcohol still on it?

 

Informant: No, the alcohol would evaporate and the heat would stay.

 

Interviewer: So it was like a heating pad?

 

Informant: Yeah! We didn’t have a heating pad so we did what we could.  And I would get headaches with my periods so she would get some herbs, I don’t remember what kind, and put them in alcohol and then tie them around my head and have me lay down.  Eventually the pain would go away.

 

Interviewer: Did all the people or families around you do these remedies?

 

Informant: Well we were far away from doctors and we only went to the city on special occasions so if you didn’t know something that could help, most likely someone else on one of the nearby ranches knew something and would come over and help.

 

Background: Alicia Juarez is the grandmother of the collector and grew up in Mexico City for a time and then outside the city on a small ranch with her father and step family.  She immigrated to the United Stated once she was older and has lived here ever since.  Some of the more useful remedies she still uses today, but also uses remedies in tandem with more westernized medicine.

Context: Interview took place during a weekend at home with family.  Alicia Juarez speaks both Spanish and English and choose to speak in English for the purposes of direct translation.  The context of these examples of folk medicine was the fact that whole communities has no easy access to westernized medicine and doctors and had to develop different ways of healing everyday ailments.

Analysis: This piece almost exemplifies the beginning of westernized medicine because of the things that are used to cure or rectify ailments that still affect people today.  But also the power of contact and the use of remedies that don’t actually involve putting more things into the body but rather just leaving them in contact with the body to alleviate symptoms.

 

Fever and Stomach Pain Remedy

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 4/7/18
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Interviewer: Do you have any homemade remedies for illnesses that you have learned or have been passed down to you?

Informant: When I was small and had problems with my tonsils, because we didn’t have money for doctors or medicines, my mother would roast tomatoes in a fry pan, just roast it a little to heat it.  And then she would get a cloth and put the tomatoes there and as warm as I could stand it she used to rub the cloth with the tomatoes in them over my stomach and on my feet.  And the temperature (fever) I had would go down and the pain would go away.  How? I don’t know. 

Interviewer: And you would feel better afterward?

Informant: Oh yeah. I don’t know how it worked because there was no medicine but I would feel a lot better afterward.

Interviewer: Was there anything else that you learned or your mother used to do?

Informant: Well a lot of time I had problem with my stomach and after the fever would go down, I would have pain. So my mother would give me one to two tablespoons of olive oil.  And that would clean my stomach out and the pain would go away.  It was hard because we didn’t have doctors or medicine and we would all get sick living out on the ranch.

 

Background: Alicia Juarez is the grandmother of the collector and grew up in Mexico City for a time and then outside the city on a small ranch with her father and step family.  She immigrated to the United Stated once she was older and has lived here ever since.  Some of the more useful remedies she still uses today, but also uses remedies in tandem with more westernized medicine.

Context: Interview took place during a weekend at home with family.  Alicia Juarez speaks both Spanish and English and choose to speak in English for the purposes of direct translation.  The context of these examples of folk medicine was the fact that whole communities has no easy access to westernized medicine and doctors and had to develop different ways of healing everyday ailments.

Analysis: It is interesting to see that even when groups of people are left with seemingly little or different resources, they manage to create things that benefit each other.  Also the things that western culture often take for granted are often improvised and can create the same effect or relief .