Author Archives: sophiaba

Brazilian Proverb

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 19
Residence: Brazil
Performance Date: April 24, 2016
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: Spanish, English

Informant-Beatriz Jacobs: My roommate, Beatriz Jacobs who is originally from Brazil and lives there with her family. Another proverb that is common in Brazil and very close to her. Also gained in person through an interview.

Proverb

“Dizei-me com quem andas e eu te direi quem és.” translated to “Tell me with whom you walk, and I will tell you who you are”

 

“My mom always used to tell me this as a kid because when we moved to Miami for a few years there were a lot of snobby kids. She did not want me to hang around them and turn into them because its not like Brazilian culture. We are incredibly warm so my mother wanted me to stay true to my culture and always told me that. When we moved back she continued to tell me this and its always stuck with me and guided me throughout my life.”

 

Thoughts: I have heard this proverb but not that often in American culture. I think it says a lot about the loving nature of Brazilians because of how important it is to their culture and how much it was used.

 

Brazilian Proverb

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 19
Residence: Brazil
Performance Date: April 24, 2016
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English, Spanish

Informant-Beatriz Jacobs: My roommate, Beatriz Jacobs who is originally from Brazil and lives there with her family. This proverb is very important to her and I learned about it from her while interviewing her in person.

Proverb

“Antes Tarde Do Que Numca” translated to “Better late than never”

Explanation: “This is a very applicable to Brazilian culture because we are known for being late. We will never ever come on time. When I go to meet up with my friend we know that we are going to be at least an hour late. It’s commonly accepted and not considered rude like America. I love this proverb because it really explains our culture. We will never leave you hanging, we will always be there, but we will be late. An example is clubs, no one goes when they open they at least go two hours later so if a club opens at 11pm people go at 1am.”

 

Thoughts: I find this funny because my roommate is always late but this explains a lot! I love that this piece is a symbol of a cultural attribute of Brazil and it is definitely not a positive thing in America but there it makes sense.

New Years in Brazil

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 19
Residence: Brazil
Performance Date: April 24, 2016
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: Spanish

Informant-Beatriz Jacobs: My roommate, Beatriz Jacobs who is originally from Brazil and lives there with her family. New years is her favorite holiday and a huge tradition in Brazil.

Brazilian New Year. Interviewed in person.

New Years in Brazil: “It is tradition in Brazil that they wear white and I have never seen any other culture that does this but they always do it even if they’re not in Brazil. Everything we do is basically to bring luck for the next year. These things bring luck: white, only white clothing in malls before New Years, some times people paint their nails to signify different things, such as yellow signifying that you are going to find love. Also for New Years every Brazilian goes to the beach. I am from Sao Paulo so we don’t live by the beach but we still go to my beach house. It’s the biggest thing to go to the beach even if you don’t have money people tent on the beaches. “Pulando As Sete Ondinhas” is jumping the seven little waves and its very traditional. So basically what we do is we go to the very edge of the ocean where the waves crash and for each wave we jump it and we jump seven tiny waves. For each wave we make a wish for the next year, like a new years resolution. Seven is supposed to be a holy number and at the end we have this flower that we throw out to the ocean as an offering to the Sea God. She is supposed to help us grant our wishes for the new year. It is also traditional to eat turkey and lentils and grapes and they are also supposed to bring luck. We also eat “Rabanada” and it is like a really sweet French toast that I love. And that is our desert after the dinner on New Years. In Rio, New Years is huge and there is parades and fire works shows and I love going there to celebrate. At my beach, there are two beaches that are conjoined, one is bigger than the other but they are right next to each other separated by a river. Every year there is a sort of competition between the two beaches for who has the best firework show. And of course it always ends with a huge party and the party goes all night, it’s the best time.”

Thoughts: I love hearing more about my roommate’s culture and it is so interesting. The Brazilian traditions are very different from America and I think they are really beautiful. I especially like how their new year’s resolutions are in the form of jumping waves.

Australian Christmas

Nationality: American/Australian
Age: 19
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: English

 

Informant-Kendal Gee: 18, from Chicago. Her family is from Australia. Interview in person.

Holiday: Australian Christmas

            “In our family we celebrate Christmas slightly differently even though we live in America we have some Australian traditions. When we wake up instead of going to the tree we go to the end of our bed where there are Santa Sacks. Our parents leave Christmas parents for you under the tree but Santa put your presents in a sack at the end of your bed. It’s super traditional in Australia and my mother is from Australia so she wanted to keep the tradition with us. We also always have a lamb roast and brandy pudding because its an Australian tradition. Also, my grandfather used to invite us all over to his house and he would dress up as Santa and run around a pole in the yard and then come back to the house and he would end up in someone’s bedroom and give us each a present. That was something my mothers father did for her as a child growing up so they brought it to America with them but I am not sure if that’s traditional in Australia.”

Thoughts: Kendal is one of my best friends and often talks about her Australian traditions but I had never heard this one until I interviewed her. The traditions are all new to me but I think its awesome that even though her mother doesn’t live in Australia and Kendal never has, they maintain the traditions to teach them about their heritage.

Ghost Story

Nationality: American
Age: 35
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: April 26, 2016
Primary Language: English

Informant: Robyn Mazza, age 34 from Chicago, IL. Interviewed via phone but annotated by me. This story is important to her because it was her first and only encounter with a ghost.

Ghost Story:

Robyn lived in an apartment in Lincoln Park, Chicago. It was old but she had never heard anything bad about it. She lived there with her husband and their two cats. Leading up to the incident, she would often hear strange noises but figured that it was just because the house was old. One night when her husband was gone she woke up to a man standing at the end of her bed. He was slightly transparent and covered in chains. Robyn was terrified and screamed until her husband came into the room but by that point the spirit was gone. A few weeks later Robyn woke up again to the same man sitting in a chair in the corner of her room. He was still covered in chains and simply sat there. Robyn said that this time she was not afraid, something inside her sensed that the ghost was harmless and that she would be ok. She stayed in the apartment and never saw the ghosts again but later asked the landlord about them. According to him, he had heard that someone had killed themselves and that same apartment but that it was never confirmed so he never told the tenants.

 

Thoughts: I remember hearing this story from Robyn who was my babysitter for many years. It scared me to death because it seemed so real. She still claims to this day that it happened. Coincidently, the apartment ended up being located next to one of my best friend’s house. One day my friend told me that the apartments were haunted and one day Robyn was dropping me off and told me those were the exact apartments she lived in. Clearly she was not the only one who had a scary encounter in the apartments. I could tell this was not simply a ghost story since Robyn really believes she saw someone, but I tell it as a ghost story to my friends because I find it very interesting and eerie.