Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Same Socks

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; NY
Performance Date: 04/19/2018
Primary Language: English

When I played football in high school, for our games I liked to wear the same socks every time. First of all they were comfortable, but I was also superstitious and it made me feel better and confident going into each game. It was just a tradition I had that, you know, I kept throughout middle school and high school. It wasn’t the same pair of socks throughout the whole time; it was basically one for every season. And it was just the consistency that made me feel confident going in each and every weekend in the games against the opponents. I think it’s really important to keep a superstition like that because it’s something psychological and I believe that there are studies that show that your performance does increase when you have something like that.

I believe that having a kind of superstition will actually increase your performance. As he said, there are studies that show that you do better when you have these kind of psychological motivations. I used to do something similar during my soccer games, listening to the same song during the warm-ups. It worked pretty well because I got into the game hyped up and thinking I would win. Of course that there is no direct impact on the way you play but rather an indirect consequence that will help your mind put yourself in the game. I highly recommend doing something similar to this.

Bagman

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California; São Paulo, Brazil
Performance Date: 04/20/2018
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

In Brazil there is this story of what we call the “homem do saco” which translates to the bagman. It’s sort of a bedtime story that if you don’t behave well, this random guy will come during your sleep and put you in his bag and kidnap you. He would carry you and take it with him. It’s something that my grandma used to tell me when I was young and misbehaving. It used to scare the hell out of me, so I carried that with me, I guess. Of course I don’t believe in it and I have never seen this man before, but I used to believe in the story not only because a grownup would tell me, which made it more authentic but also because she used to say that it had happened with people she knew.

Although I am from Brazil, this was the first time I ever heard about this story. According to Artur it is really common, perhaps from the state he is from because I had not heard of it. I believe it is an extremely effective way of teaching kids a lesson or thinking twice before they misbehave. Children tend to believe in these stories when they are young and they actually change their behavior for the better. That’s why at a young age, in my personal opinion, adults sometimes lie to kids to educate them through these stories, which have been efficient.

El Entierro de la Sardina, Panama

Nationality: Panamanian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/24/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This tradition was collected from a friend, who was born and raised in Panama City, Panama and is 20 years old. It is about el entierro de la sardina, which translates to English as “the burial of the sardine,” a ceremony that marks the end of the carnival festivities in Spain and some Latin American countries.

 

She told me that this ceremony consists of a carnival-like parade that mimics a funeral procession with the burning of a symbolic figure, usually a sardine. It is celebrated the Saturday after Semana Santa, or Holy Week, and it represents a metaphorical burial of the past that allows people to be reborn. My friend has attended many of these throughout the years and says it is a very fun experience, as well as a nice metaphor for starting over and she likes that it incorporates her religion as well.

 

I am from Panama as well, but since I am Jewish, I had never seen or even heard of this ceremony, but it sounds really fun. I’ll make sure to attend one of these when I go back home to visit, since the carnival festivities have always been a very important aspect of Panamanian culture and everyone seems to enjoy them.

Holi, India

Nationality: Indian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/24/18
Primary Language: Hindi (urdu)
Language: English

This story was collected from a friend, who was born and raised in New Delhi, India and is 20 years old. She told me about a family tradition surrounding Holi, the festival of colors celebrated in India.

 

The festival is usually celebrated it in the beginning of march. The night before the big day of Holi, there is a smaller festival called Holika Dahan. There was a kind in Hindu mythology character, Hiranyakashyap, who was so arrogant and self-centered that he wanted to be the only one worshiped by his kingdom, but his son, Prahlad, continued to worship lord Vishnu (one of the 3 gods in Hindu triumvirate) who is believed to be responsible for the upkeep of the universe. To teach the son a lesson, the king’s sister, Holika, tricks him into sitting on a pyre with her. Holika wore a fire resistant dress and hoped that Prahlad would die while she survived but as fate had it, the opposite happened. So for this festival, all the neighbors go to the common temple and they have and get a piece of the bonfire to put in their temples at home to commemorate the victory of evil over good no matter what the odds are.

 

She always looked forward to this because her mother, grandmother, grandfather, little brother and her would always go to the temple together to bring this piece of burning wood and she would get to pick it out of the fire. As a kid, that was really a rush, and it became one of her favorite family traditions.

 

I had heard about Holi before, and even been to Holi-themed events, but I had never heard about the story behind it or the temple ritual my friend described. I think it is a very nice way to bring families together and remind them of their religious backgrounds.

August vacation, El Salvador

Nationality: Salvadoran
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/24/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This custom was collected from a friend, who was born and raised in San Salvador, El Salvador and is 21 years old.

 

She told me that during the first week of August, all companies, schools, and pretty much every single business is closed to commemorate Jesus Christ’s transfiguration. She says that about 90% of the country is Catholic, and everyone does it even if they are not religious. She says a lot of people go to the lake during does days, including her, and she gets to spend time with family and friends.

 

I think this is really interesting; we don’t have anything like that where I grew up, probably because there is a lot more of a variety in terms of religion.