Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Christmas exchange

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2014
Primary Language: English

“On my dad’s side of the family there’s about 50 people. He’s the youngest of 7 kids and they have kids and even they have kids. So it’s like three generations of people. We use to do a gift exchange where we drew names with a price limit according to the generation. But now we have a new tradition where we donate to charity instead. We keep the same price limit, $40 for my dad’s generation, $30 for my age group and so on. So like my generation would pull $30 from everyone in that age group. Each age group pulls their collections into a group. And then each year, it rotates between the seven siblings, their family decides where the donations go to. So this year will be my dad’s ‘turn.’ My dad and mom will choose where their age groups donation is going to. And then my brother and I will pick where the money is going to for the collection from our generation.”

I find this tradition interesting because in the last few decades, with globalization there has been a movement towards more humanitarian actions. People have become more aware through media of human rights, health issues, natural disasters, and other struggles communities and groups are facing. This family tradition of my roommate reflects this awareness. Because her family is made up of so many members they are able to make a sizable contribution. They are definitely focusing on the theme of giving during the American “holiday season” and not of receiving. It goes against what the Christmas tradition has morphed into with the consumer culture that has developed in American and Western society. It’s also great that they involve the younger generations as well and teach them this selflessness from an early age.

Use of tortillas

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: high school teacher
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2014
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“I think the history of toritllas in my family is a unique one. Even though I consider myself “main stream” American in most aspects, I am Mexican-American on my mothers side and German and English on my dad’s side. Even though we didn’t speak Spanish in my home, nor did we eat Mexican food in my home on a regular basis, I believe our use of tortillas would be thought of as unusual by most Americans.

For one thing my grandma Lucy showed me how to roll tortillas during my pre-school years. My grandma Lucy came to the United States from Mexico when she was 3. She and her parents crossed the border with a cow. *laughs* My grandmother would stand me on a kitchen chair so I could reach the counter top and proceeded to show me how to pinch off a ball of dough and roll it into a flat tortilla. She was very quick and skilled with her technique so that her tortillas always came out perfectly round and even in thickness, turning and rotating the dough as she went. Mine however, we’re very wonky. But she didn’t seem to mind.

Years later, she use to brag to me that her tortillas were now made of seven grains. Although uneducated, my grandmother learned the latest health trends in cooking and took many community courses. She was also a skilled seamstress.

Within my nuclear family household, there were always corn tortillas on hand. While most Americans think of corn tortillas as a condiment alongside a platter of Mexican food, we used tortillas as the base for a snack. I’m not even talking about quesadillas. We threw our corn tortillas onto a gas burner until they became lightly blackened. Then we would stuff them with a slice of cold cheddar cheese, a hot dog, scrambled eggs or even peanut butter which would melt inside the hot tortilla.”

What types of flour did she use?:

“I think white flour, whole wheat flour, garbanzo flour, barley flour, wheat germ and I can’t remember the others.

Have you ever made tortillas from scratch?:

“Haha no. Only my grandma did that, not even my mom.”

The informant, my mother explains that in her childhood her family did not maintain many, if any Mexican traditions or customs. The one that did stick though, was tortillas being a commonplace item in her household. However, her family used tortillas beyond an American conception of what tortillas can be used for. They didn’t just use them on the side or to wrap burritos, they used them as a base for creating different snacks.

It is also interesting to note that the tradition of making the tortillas ended with her grandmother, my great-grandmother. But the unique use of them got passed on through the generations. My mother made me some of these same snacks as a kid growing up. And now this is how I heat up tortillas, directly on the burner. A warm, blackened tortilla with a thick slice of cold cheddar cheese is surprisingly satisfying. My mom would also make another recipe she learned from her grandmother using the tortillas that included: torn up corn tortillas, sliced hot dogs and scrambled eggs.

 

Pust

Nationality: Slovenian
Age: 54
Occupation: electrical engineer
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: 2014-04-24
Language: Slovenian, English, German, Serbian, Greek

Pust is a pagan holiday that is celebrated in Slovenia in the beginning of every February. Designed to scare away the winter cold, this festival is mounted to celebrate the coming of Spring. Young men are the main arbiters of some of the festival’s central traditions, as they don terrifying masks and large suits made of animal furs. Most of the masks represent different characters that recur in Slovenian folklore which are generally localized to particular regions, the principle character being called the “kurent.” [the informant could not offer any more examples of such characters and what they represent.] These costumes are paired with belts from which hang many cowbells, and the young men enter the center of the village in a procession of aggressive dancing and grunting. The idea behind this is to scare away the dark, evil spirits of Winter, in the hopes that Spring will bring good tidings and a prosperous year of harvest. Pust usually takes place in the rural villages of northern Slovenia, the Gorenjska region especially.

More modern exhibitions of this festival in different parts of Slovenia allow all children to participate and go door to door begging for candy and money, much like at Halloween in other parts of the world.

Born and raised in former Yugoslavia, what is now known as Slovenia, the informant was continuously exposed to folk traditions that originated and permeated this region. The festival is a kind of protective ritual to ensure a short winter. It is riddle with celebratory symbols of dominance and fertility. For example, the suits are made from the pelts of animals these young men had killed, demonstrating their capability of providing for the well-being of the village.

Czech Funeral

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 2014-04-29
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“I went to a funeral recently for my Czech nanny who passed away recently. Hana practically raised me, so her death was very, very difficult for me. I thought that I wouldn’t even be able to handle going to the funeral, my emotions were so high. But it was unlike any funeral I have ever been to. Most funerals are miserable, everybody crying, everybody in black. They’re awful experiences, and I hope you never have to go to one. But this one was different. This one was exactly what I needed to help grieve. So it was actually a celebration of her life. Whenever anyone spoke, they were just to recall fun times they had had together. Her favorite music was playing. Everyone was wearing bright colors. The old and the young were all mingling and engaging with one another. It was beautiful. I think that’s how a lot of the world celebrates death, or at least they should. I think I heard someone say that it’s the Czech . . . or I guess Slavic people in general have a healthier outlook on death than most.”

The informant has never lived outside of her hometown in Orange County. The experience was so novel to her that it began to represent much of her understanding of modern European culture, as she now believes that such funeral practices are more common in Europe. The informant really stressed the communion of the old and young at this funeral, as no one was segregated into groups based on age or gender. Given the deep Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions of the Baltic regions of Europe, such an funeral seems very uncharacteristic, given traditional Christian death rituals. Perhaps this informant’s experience is indicative of changing times in which, as she said, a healthier outlook on death has become the norm.

How to Sugar Potica

Nationality: Slovenian
Age: 52
Residence: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Performance Date: 2014-04-28
Language: Slovenian, English, German

Potica is a traditional Slovenian nut roll made from walnuts, coffee, rum, lemon, and caramel served around Christmas and Easter, as a celebration of Christ. After it is baked, it must be chilled, then flipped rising-side down, sliced, and dusted with sugar on the flat side of the loaf. My grandmother always said that if you dusted the loaf on the wrong side, you offened God’s tastebuds.

My grandmother is a very religious woman, as are most member of my extended family. In fact, much of that side of my mother’s family is populated with clergy members. She was also a chef when she was younger, so she developed a devout sensibility for food. She taught my mother this sugar technique, who in turn taught me the same practice. Now potica tastes worse if it is sugared on the wrong side.