Author Archives: Timothy Chen

Four Leaf clover book

Nationality: Chinese/Korean
Age: 8
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/15
Primary Language: English

My informant and her brother have a book in which they taped four leaf clovers they found in the front yard and taped them into a little notebook. When I asked why they did this, they said that their mom told them that it would give them good luck. When they heard it, they ran out the door and tried hunting for four leaf clovers. I was surprised when I discovered that they actually managed to fill two pages and I checked the book itself to confirm that they were actually four leaf clovers. My informant said that after she collected the clovers, nothing happened to them, so she and her brother stopped believing in the four leaf clover. When I asked her mom about where she got the idea, she said that she and her sister used to look for four leaf clovers while they grew up in New Jersey. But they never could find any, so she thought maybe her kids could look for them. She joked that just finding the clovers might have used up all the luck.

Analysis

From this, I understand that the four leaf clover superstition comes about from the rarity of the item, which means that when you find one you can feel like you can get the luck. However, when someone actually does come across such an item, or in this instance many, the faith in such an object dwindles. That small joke their mom cracked actually shows how even though the results aren’t showing, the beliefs are still strong but neutered a little. A similar story occurs here (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1497230), which shows how people still stubbornly hold onto beliefs despite seeming to deny it after the results have given nothing.

Four leaf clover collection

Four leaf clover collection

People in desperate situations will do anything to survive

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 63
Occupation: Government worker
Residence: Newport Beach, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/15
Primary Language: Tagalog
Language: English

This Filipino proverb reflects the harshness that life can bring and how that people when cornered will do anything to get out of that situation. This rings with my informant’s upbringing she and her family were raised in the lower-middle class of Tondo, Philippines, where people were more opportunistic and are willing to do anything to survive. My informant got this saying from her mother, who had to raise six children by herself and also work to feed them. My informant and her siblings also had to spend their childhoods helping her in order to keep the family income.

To me, the proverb reflects a harsh and distrustful upbringing where people can turn on each other fast when situations become worse. I feel that this proverb is not unique to her family however because of all the people who may also encounter this similar situation and it is more like a general proverb for life.

Arroro del Niño (Colombian lullaby)

Nationality: Colombian/Americn
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My informant refused to have his voice recorded, and I have respected this. Instead, he told me the lyrics to the lullaby which his mom had sung to him and continues to sing to him even though he is still in college. He unfortunately couldn’t recall the whole thing when I interviewed him and instead gave me the first verse. Despite persistence, I could only get this much out of him.

Siempre te querer

Siempre te querer

Asta que me halla unda

Seas me bebe

 

Translation

Whenever you want

whenever you want

till you found me life

you are my baby.

 

Analysis

He says that there are many variations of this song, and that this is simply the generic version. When his family sung it, it tended to be off beat but the message was nevertheless the same. Supposedly, the whole song was about a moral because the elders would often sing this to their young, but it is restricted only to female, the male would not sing this. Literally, it shows that no matter how old you are, you will always be a mother’s baby, and that her love will always prevail. When he thinks about this, it makes him proud of his heritage. I believe that his interpretation on the lullaby is correct, and that it is traditionally sung at night because it always gives reassurance to both child and parent when they go off to bed.

La Gerona

Nationality: Guatamalan
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/15/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Story

Once a woman had two children. She was married but her husband left her for another woman. Afterwards, she kept crying. At one point, she could no longer take care of herself or her children, and instead wanted to take out her frustration on the children and drowns them in a river. Then, she drowns herself after finding out what she had done. Now, she roams around the river at midnight and you can see her spirit saying “Donde estas mi sijos?” (“Where are my children?”). If she finds a child, then she will take them and drown them.

Analysis

My informant says this is like the boogeyman for Latin-American children so that they don’t stay up late since anything could happen to them late at night. It also says to show respect to elders or they could do horrible things to them. I agree with this story in that it serves as a warning for children to behave or else there will be consequences.

Navidad en Colombia

Nationality: Colombian/American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

This is a month long celebration of Christmas from December 1 to 25. In general, this is a party where everyone drinks every night, skip school for a few days, and have a huge party. Everyone goes to bed at 5 am everyday, and there are fireworks and canciones about Jesus being born. It is supposed to be about family and people being thankful for each other being in America. It has a lot of religious significance and has more meaning than most.

Analysis

My informant says most Colombians practice this in America, and that all the Colombian families in San Diego would do this. His great-grandparents, grandparents and parents would come over and celebrate this with him with lots of Colombian ‘cumbia’, or Spanish music. He believes that this festival makes him feel special because he has his own kind of Christmas which is uniquely Colombian and brings him closer to his national identity. In my opinion, this is a festival whose original meaning seems to have been replaced with letting go and partying all day, which shows how traditions can change as time passes on.