Informant: My friend’s family is from southern India, and every few years they go back in the summer for family weddings. This past summer she went to three, and recounted some of the traditions for me.
Original Piece: “There’s the engagement, not like a proposal, but the engagement is a ceremony that happens one or two days before the wedding. It’s like the announcement that they’re getting married, but everyone already knows they’re getting married because it’s two days before the wedding. It’s just close friends and family, so it’s the smallest group of people, but still like a hundred people. Then there’s the actual wedding ceremony, because we’re Christian Tamal ours is in a church. Then there’s receptions… usually in the girl’s hometown and the guy’s hometown, so there’s those two. Then there’s…then sometimes there’s another one in another city, like where they went to college. Some people go to all of them, but some people go to just portions of them.
Usually you give an invitation to one person in the family. Like, you send out 300, but 1200 people come. But you plan for 1200 people. And it’s rude to give invitations through the mail if you’re within driving distance. Even if it’s a couple hours away, you need to hand deliver the invitation. Some people have not gone to weddings because they received invitations through the mail.”
Context of Piece: My friend was showing me pictures from this summer, and I asked her to tell me a bit more about their weddings customs.
Thoughts about the Piece: I thought this was interesting, that overall the wedding proceedings could last for days.
Category Archives: Festival
May 9th Russian Holiday
Alexander is a 20 year old student at USC. He is currently a freshman, and is old for his grade because he spent an extra year in Russia, where he grew up his entire life. He said life there was very different and while he is good at English, he still struggles slightly as he is very new to the country. He talked about one holiday that Russia has that the US does not have:
“May 9th is victory day, like the Russian victory in WW2 when Russia went in to Berlin. Basically government spends a lot of money, its always sunny because government puts money and puts chemicals in clouds and clouds disappear, we do fireworks and major parades. Troops walking around in beautiful clothes, and military cars and planes fly on the main street. People also go out, and president gives speech. Young guys like me buy flowers and give to veterans to thank them”
He said this was a big holiday for them and it is something that he loved growing up because he got to see his military honored for their victory in the war. I find this holiday very intriguing, not the actual holiday itself but what he said about it always being sunny. I wonder if the government actually somehow affects the clouds there, or if it just always happens to be sunny and that is what they tell people.
Guyfawkes 5th of November celebration in London
Michael is a 23 year old from London, England. Michael grew up In London with an American mom and a British father. He said a lot mainly translated from England to here, except for a few holidays. One holiday he spoke of was the 5th of November.
Song “Remember, remember, the 5th of November, gunpowder treason and plot, I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot”
“He tried the blow up houses of parliament, and guards caught him last minute, and he was hung drawn and courted, hung by neck but not until dead, then cut down, cut his innards out, and got ripped and got spread to all 4 corners of the campus. Every year we build a scarecrow, and build “Guyfawkes” and burn him.
Michael said this was a very defining thing to do, because their country is bound upon parliament, so anyone who attacks it is viewed negatively. He said many people would do this as it was more of ritualistic act. I see this as a form of propaganda almost, that they symbolically burn someone who tried to burn down their parliament, which could almost create an image in their minds at a young age that their parliament should never be questioned. I think this is a cool tradition nonetheless.
Dale, Dale, Dale – Piñata Song
Informant: Maria Burguete. 20 years old. Born and raised in Mexico City
Informant: “Mexican parties are very fun. If there is a piñata involved we all sing a specific song while the person hits it with a stick. Once the song is over, the person stops hitting the piñata”
Original:
“Dale, dale, dale! no pierdas el tino,
Porque si lo pierdes… pierdes el camino;
Ya le diste una!
ya le diste dos!
ya le diste tres!…y tu tiempo se acabo!!”
Translation:
“Hit it, hit it, hit it! Don’t loose the aim,
Because if you loose it, you loose the way;
You already hit it once!
You already hit it twice!
You already hit it three! and your time is up!
Collector: “Do you recall when you first heard this song?”
Informant: “No, this song has literally been in my life forever. When I was a baby and I could not hit the piñata, my dad would carry me and everyone would sing it. Over time, this song has stayed with me and everyone I know. It is really part of our culture.”
Thoughts: This song is really important in Mexican culture. Whenever there is a piñata at a party, everyone immediately sings. It really has been engraved in the culture forever. Piñatas are an important part of a celebration in Mexico and although it usually involves kids, adults also partake in the activity.
中秋节 (Mid-Autumn Festival)
Informant: Hannah is an 18-year-old student, born and raised in China before moving to Los Angeles for college. Her parents now live in Japan, but they return to China to visit family during the summer.
Main Piece: “For the Mid-Autumn Festival, we all eat mooncakes and stare at the moon and think of our family. The circle, like the full circle, symbolizes wholeness. When you’re staring at the moon, you’re all thinking about the same moon, so you can send your love to each other.”
Background Information about the Performance: The informant still performs this tradition, even though she now lives in the US. She considers it important since she lives so far away from her family. She learned it from her parents and grandparents when living in China.
Context of Performance: The festival occurs in the middle of autumn on the lunar calendar, around late September to early October.
Thoughts: This festival reminds me of other harvest festivals around the world, such as Holi or Thanksgiving, in which the intent is to promote togetherness.