Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Cut Remedy

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 52
Occupation: High School Principal
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 9, 2017
Primary Language: English

My aunt was helping me learn to drive. During one of our lessons, I asked her for any natural remedies she may know:

M: “I know of a few, mainly because of your grandma. When we [my aunt and her siblings] were young, sometimes we would get small cuts behind our ears, inbetween our ears and our scalps. Your grandma would wake up and before she brushed her teeth, she would rub her saliva behind our ears which would help the cuts heal. We called this ‘Saliva Agria’ which roughly translates to ‘Sour Saliva’.”

Collector Analysis:

Again, to my aunt this is a genuine remedy for curing cuts. She experienced that cuts and the healing that came with the saliva. I do not know if this practice can be applied to any cuts as she did not specify. However, I feel like she would have mentioned if my grandma did this on other cuts as well. I am going to assume this was just for cuts that formed behind the ear. I do not know if saliva has any healing qualities so I cannot determine the validity of this particular folk belief. Also, my mom did not do this to my sister or me when we were growing up.

Ear Ache Remedy

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 52
Occupation: High School Principal
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 9, 2017
Primary Language: English

My aunt was helping me learn to drive. During one of our lessons, I asked her for any natural remedies she may know:

M: “Your grandma also has a remedy for ear aches. When we were growing up, your Tio (Uncle) Armando always had ear aches. According to your grandma, when your ears ached if you put a cotton ball with either, breast milk or perfume, the pain would go away. Shes never done it to me, but your Tio (Uncle) Armando never complained.”

Collector Analysis:

My aunt witnessed my grandma performing the folk remedy many times. As she said, the remedy seemed to work on my uncle extremely well. My question is where my grandma got the breast milk or if there is a specific perfume to use? I wonder which perfume my grandma prefers to use when she does do this? I vaguely remember when I was about nine years old I got a very bad ear ache. My grandma laid me on my side and put a cotton ball with perfume, it worked like a charm. My ear ache disappeared.


					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				The Moon Lullaby
			

								

			

			
Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 48
Occupation: Payroll Administrator 
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 28, 2017
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English
	
		

				

			
At a family dinner, I asked my mom if she could tell me any folklore. She told me the following:


(I will be denoted C for collector, and my mom will be M):


M: “Luna, Luna,


Dame pan,


Para el chuchito,


Capitán,


Si no me das,


Anda al volcán.”


which translates to:


“Moon, Moon,


Give me bread,


For the puppy,


Captain,


If you do not give me,


Walk [in] to the volcano.”


C: “When would you sing it to us?”


M: “Just like when we were watching the night sky, especially the moon or I would sing it to you and your sister when I was trying to put you guys to sleep.”


Collector Analysis:


My mom learnt this song from a television soap opera she used to watch as a child. She recalls that her favorite actress in the entire world sang this song in the show. She remembered and would sing it to my sister and I when we were younger. So, the song itself is a way for my mom to remember her childhood. My mom and I would go camping a lot and watch the moon, which is when she would sing it. However, I do remember her singing it as a lullaby. I really enjoyed hearing my mom sing this again. I’m sure it was as nostalgic for me as it was for my mom. This song was just a huge part of my summers and my childhood overall.

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Dance Traditions
			

								

			

			
Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student (University of Southern California)
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2, 2017
Primary Language: English
	
		

				

			
For dance, like, um, when I was with the company, the night before the show, like, we’d always have sleepovers, and we’d always drink three… three strawberry Fantas each, which is really bad for you, ’cause you’re not supposed to drink soda, obviously, the night before, but we did it anyway, it was just like a good luck thing.


 


Thoughts:


This good-luck tradition reverses something that it supposed to be discouraged and taboo and turns it into a ritual for luck. It shows the dancers’ and teenagers’ in general tendency to bend or break rules. Additionally, because my informant is a highly trained and very talented competitive dancer, it could speak to her and her teammates’ confidence that they will be able to perform their best regardless of drinking soda the night before a performance. The context of this tradition within a sleepover works to build a community and bond with the entire team, since they are spending the whole night before a performance (and presumably the entire day of the performance) with each other and participating in the same rule-breaking rituals.

					

		
		
	


	

				

			
						

				Christmas Eve Traditions
			

								

			

			
Nationality: Mexico
Age: 19
Occupation: Student (University of Southern California)
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 1, 2017
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English
	
		

				

			
In my family, we… always go to Christmas Eve together. We go to mass together at… seven or eight p.m. We always sit in the… left… front left of the church, um, after we go and see, uh… like, the floats that people make for Christmas, and they’re decorated with, like, Christmas lights and nativity scenes and scenes from the Bible, and there’s, like, kids and adults dressed up, um… with costumes from… Biblical characters, and then after that’s done… um… we go back to my grandma’s house at like ten p.m. Um, and before dinner, we gather around the nativity scene that’s in my grandma’s… uh… like, behind the front door… and we sing to baby Jesus, then we pray, we do a little reflection of the day, then we kinda go around and say things that we’re thankful for that year, um… like, how we were blessed that year. Uh… then we do, like, an Our Father together and hold hands, then we do, like, a closing, um, song. And then before we put baby Jesus in the manger, we give a kiss, and put in the manger, and then we go into the big dining room… where… uh, my grandma’s already, you know, set up the table, and we always have turkey on Christmas Eve with… like, the turkey’s made with red wine… and we have, like, a fruit salad that my grandma makes, it’s homemade, and… uh, sometimes the dessert, uh… like, an original recipe that she has for a… like, a chocolate cake… and after we’re done with dinner, we usually play games or go to sleep if we’re really tired.


 


Background (from interviewer):


My informant is from Morelia, Mexico, and comes from a very conservative Catholic family. She is very close with her family, and returns to Morelia to visit them at least twice a year. She is also deeply religious and is very involved with the Catholic Center at USC.


 


Thoughts:


The repetition and specificity of these rituals show my informant’s and her family’s commitment to routine and her traditional background. They also emphasize her devotion to Catholicism and the religiosity of the holiday, and strengthen her bonds with her hometown and her family, since they do this all together as a family, gather at their grandmother’s home, and eat the same kind of homemade meal every year.