Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Rocking an Empty Cradle: Mexican Superstition

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Torrance, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Leah Perez studies Latin American History at the University of Southern California. She was born in Gardena, California and moved to Torrance, California at a young age. Her parents are both Hispanic; her father is Puerto Rican and Mexican, and her mother is Mexican. Leah’s entire extended family speaks Spanish, and while Leah grew up speaking English, she has gained some fluency in Spanish by communicating with her relatives. Her immediate family observes Mexican traditions and has imparted many of these values to Leah and her siblings. In the excerpt below, Leah describes a superstition that discourages expecting parents from rocking an empty cradle:

Leah: “You can’t rock an empty cradle… its bad luck.”

Isabella: “Why? What are the implications?”

Leah: “It’s just bad luck… I think like, bad luck with your child… if you haven’t given birth yet. Like, if you have a nursery that isn’t inhabited yet. It might cause complications during the pregnancy.”

This superstition provides insight into Mexican values. It suggests a degree of anxiety surrounding pregnancy; and from that, one can infer that childbirth and reproduction are important hallmarks of life. This relates to the strong Catholic influence present in many Latin American communities. Catholicism recognizes the importance of reproduction and encourages its practitioners to have children as often as possible. Many of Leah’s family members have large families, which they regard as a symbol of prosperity.

“It Takes a Village,” Kenyan Proverb

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2018
Primary Language: English

Stanley Kalu studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is originally from Nigeria, but has moved several times throughout his life. He spent a significant portion of his life in Nairobi, Kenya and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He recalls hearing a number of stories as he grew up; many of these stories conveyed moral lessons and were told to younger audiences. In the excerpt below, Stanley recounts a folk tale he heard as a child:

Stanley: “I mean, this isn’t that remarkable… but the phrase ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ is very, very apt… particularly in rural areas of Africa, because that literally does happen. If you uh, like you can get beaten by anybody for misbehaving within these communities, because they really do believe that it does take a village. So everyone is your auntie and everyone is your uncle; and therefore, if they are older than you, you have to respect them, as you would respect your parents.”

Here, Stanley describes a proverb that has symbolic and literal value. The proverb addresses some pragmatic concerns about raising a child; it acknowledges how incredibly time consuming the process is and encourages others to help in whatever way they can. In a way, this proverb encourages parents to subsidize the child-rearing process to people they know and respect.

This proverb also provides insight to the social hierarchies that exist in Nairobi. Stanley notes in the transcript that children are expected to behave respectfully towards their elders (who care for them in return). There is a feeling of collective obligation present in Nairobi, which is evident in the way they go about raising their children.

Kicking the Flagpole on Game Day

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Master-level engineering student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 7, 2018
Primary Language: English

Daniel Shapiro earned his B.S. (bachelors degree of science) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2017.  He is currently pursuing his masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at the same university.  He is a committed fan of USC football – since beginning his undergraduate education at USC in 2013, he has attended every ‘home game’ held at the Coliseum, USC’s football stadium. He honors all of the university’s football-related traditions and dresses in football regalia as he watches the games. In the transcription below, Daniel reflects on game-day customs.  He then goes on to describe one of his favorite traditions: kicking the flagpole before games.


Daniel: “So before every game, everyone hangs out on campus and ‘tailgates.’”

Isabella: “Can you describe what ‘tailgating’ is?”

Daniel: “‘Tailgating’ is when you pitch a tent or set up chairs on [the USC] campus on game days. Everyone just drinks and eats and plays beer-pong or whatever. Students and alumni all come together to celebrate the team.”

Isabella: “Do people stay on campus during the game?”

Daniel: “No, most people walk from campus to the Coliseum to watch the game. It’s a short walk – you just have to cross [the street] on Exposition [boulevard]. Before you reach the end of campus, there are some flagpoles that everyone kicks before they walk through the gates. It’s supposed to be good luck so everyone just does it. You walk up to the flagpole and hit it with the toe of your shoe and it makes a loud ‘ding’ sound. There are like five flagpoles, so collectively, it echoes pretty loud. Once you do that, you just start walking to the Coliseum. It’s supposed to help us win the games… It’s just a superstition, but it’s still really fun because everyone does it and you can feel the excitement.”

Daniel recognizes ‘game day’ as a sort of holiday amongst USC fans.  In this regard, kicking the flagpole serves as a ritual for them — it is a means of showing reverence and celebrating the event.  Moreover, as Daniel notes above, kicking the flagpole is rooted in superstitious belief.  That is to say, there are supernatural qualities associated with this behavior.  Fans of USC football perform this action in the hopes of bringing good luck to the team; conversely, it is considered bad luck to refrain from kicking the pole.  This ritual helps USC Football fans express their commitment to the team and promotes bonding.

Italian Wedding Soup

Nationality: Italian-American, Irish-American
Age: 60
Occupation: Special Needs Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2018
Primary Language: English

Joanna Estrada is a special needs teacher living in Los Angeles, California. She is 60 years old and has three daughters. Joanna has lived in Southern California since birth, moving from Redondo Beach to Torrance in her mid-twenties. Her father was Irish and her mother was Italian; as such, she grew up surrounded by multiple cultures and was brought up in the Catholic tradition. In the excerpt below, Joanna describes a type of soup that is prepared and served during Italian wedding receptions. The soup is served to everyone at the reception—including the newly married couple—and is a hallmark of Italian weddings.

Joanna: “Someone would make Italian wedding soup… It was usually the bride’s grandmother but anyone could make it… And they would make a huge amount of it to feed the entire wedding party and all of the guests.”

Isabella: “What was in the soup?”

Joanna: “It had tiny meatballs; those were always homemade, they had to be homemade. And the other main ingredient was egg pasta. It was a special type of pasta made from egg, just like it sounds. It was cut up into little pieces… never the full noodle, it was chopped up into small bits. Then there was a lot of Parmesan cheese. The more cheese, the better. And the base was chicken broth. It’s a traditional dish but I’ve seen it in the supermarket sold in cans. That’s obviously not authentic.”

Here, Joanna describes a traditional Italian soup that is prepared specifically for weddings. As Joanna notes above, the recipe has become so popular that soup companies (think Progresso or Campbells) have adopted it and started to mass-produce it. It is advertised in supermarkets as “Italian wedding soup,” which acknowledges the cultural origins of the soup and also attests to how popular it is amongst Italians.

“How the Tortoise’s Shell Cracked”

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2018
Primary Language: English

Stanley Kalu studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is originally from Nigeria, but has moved several times throughout his life. He spent a significant portion of his life in Nairobi, Kenya and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He recalls hearing a number of stories as he grew up; many of these stories conveyed moral lessons and were told to younger audiences. In the excerpt below, Stanley recounts a folk tale he heard as a child:

Stanley: “So back when I was young, my mom would tell me a story of how the tortoise got his shell cracked. And the story went like this: the tortoise, being the most intelligent animal in the animal kingdom, during a drought said ‘hey birds, let’s go to heaven. You can fly me up there and I’ll talk to God, and everything will be fine, we’ll all get food, it will be fine. But in heaven, we’ll all have different names. So my name will be all of you, right? My name will be all of you.’ And the birds agreed, so they flew him up to heaven. And then, they were talking to God, who brought a huge feast with him. And then God said, ‘this food is for all of you,’ and the tortoise said, ‘oh, that’s me!’ so he ate all of the food, and all the other animals got upset. So, they left him in heaven and he had no way of getting back down to Earth. So he had his wife place a soft pile of feathers on the ground to break his fall, but he missed. Then he cracked his shell and he had to piece it back together. And that is how the tortoise got his cracks.”

Isabella: “Does that communicate any sort of moral lesson?”

Stanley: “Yes—don’t be sneaky.”

The transcript above details a Nigerian folk tale. Stanley recounted the story as we sat at a café after class one day, and he appeared to have the story committed to memory entirely; this suggests that he heard the story frequently as he grew up. The tortoise story warns against deception and “sneakiness” by illustrating the consequences of such behavior. It serves as a template for other tales—the message is universal in a sense and the motifs are interchangeable.