Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Los Pollitos

Nationality: Bogota, Colombia
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 22, 2015
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Song: It’s in Spanish

Los pollitos dicen
Pio, pio, pio
Cuando tienen hambre
Cuando tienen frio
La gallina busca
El maiz y el trigo
Les da la comida
Y les presta abrigo
Bajo sus dos alas
Acurrucaditos
Hasta el otro dia
Duerman los pollitos

Translation:

The little chicks say
Pio, pio, pio
When they’re hungry
And when they’re cold
The chicken looks for
Corn and wheat
She feeds them and
Covers them with warmth
Under her two wings
She cuddles them
The chicks sleep
Until the next day

My Informant was a 21 year old female who moved to the United States from Bogota, Colombia in 2004. She lives five houses down on my street.

Collector: Who used to sing this to you? And when?

Informant: My mom used to sing it to me when I was really young, but I still remember it. I’m not sure why, I think it’s just one of those things from your childhood that you never forget.

Collector: Was it to help you fall asleep?

Informant: No, not really. She’d sing it whenever my dad was almost home from work. I don’t really remember why, I think it was her way of comforting us because we missed him… which now that I think about it, is a little ridiculous, considering he was only gone for eight hours or so.

I distinctly remember this song from my childhood as well, but my mom did actually use it to get us to sleep. I believe that’s what most songs are for, to get children to do things without ordering them to do so. They hear the song about the chicks falling asleep and they want to follow suit and go to bed too, just like in the song. I found online, however, that there is more to the actual song than what either my informant’s mom or my mom ever sang to us.

For the full version, refer to :  https://youtu.be/fXTicXsPfuo

La Chancla

Nationality: Bogota, Colombia
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 22, 2015
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

My Informant was a 21 year old female who moved to the United States from Bogota, Colombia in 2004. She lives five houses down on my street.

Collector: Okay, what’s the story of La Chancla?

Informant: Well, it was this sandal that my mom used to hide in the pantry in the kitchen, and whenever we misbehaved, she’d threaten to get La Chancla and spank us with it. We were terrified of it as kids and didn’t want it anywhere near us, because who wants to get spanked right? And she’d use it too – and it hurt. I remember that as we got older, though, we stopped being scared of it (laughs). There was actually this one time when my brother and I opened the forbidden pantry and stole La Chancla from the kitchen. When we did something bad, we teased my mom saying “Well what are you going to do? Get the Chancla?” and she realized it was gone. Her face was priceless. I’m not really sure when she stopped using though, it just sort of… faded out of our lives.

Collector: Do you think your mom was the only one who used La Chancla?

Informant: No way, it’s kind of a cultural thing. Hispanics know what’s up when it comes to La Chancla.

Collector: Only Hispanics?

Informant: I don’t think anyone else uses it, to be honest. They have…what do you call them? The rulers on the wrist? Or something like that. Time outs? I don’t know, people discipline their kids differently in different places.

Parents tend to resort to scare tactics in order to keep their children in check. In a way, they instill fear in them in order to control them, which sounds kind of sick in a way, but it does work. I’m sure it’s all in the best interest of the children anyway, since I do remember having to respect something similar to the Chancla when I was growing up and I turned out just fine. Apparently, this is a tradition because my informant’s parents grew up with La Chancla as well and their parents before them too. I guess it is a Hispanic thing, like a right of passage of sorts.

For more information on the Chancla: http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/11/04/361205792/la-chancla-flip-flops-as-a-tool-of-discipline

 

Pico, Pico, Beso

Nationality: Bogota, Colombia
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 22, 2015
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

My Informant was a 21 year old female who moved to the United States from Bogota, Colombia in 2004. She lives five houses down on my street.

Story: Where I used to live in Bogota, there was this game that us kids used to play called “Pico, Pico, Beso” and it was, basically, this kissing game. It was like Tag, except girls would run away from the boys and if they were caught the boys got to give them a kiss on the cheek. If they were got caught again, then the boy got to kiss their other cheek. And if they were caught the third time, it was on the mouth. But only if the same boy caught them three times…not three different boys. Does that make sense? And, you know, usually girls played with the boys the liked and they’d “get caught” so it was a lot of fun. Just kid games.

Collector: How old were you when you played this game?

Informant: Around eleven or twelve.

Collector: What does “Pico, Pico, Beso” translate to? In English?

Informant: Like, what is it called? A peck on the cheek? Yeah? Yea. Like Peck, Peck, Kiss.

Collector: Do you know where this game originated from? Who taught it to you?

Informant: Some older kids at school were playing, I think, and my friend taught me how to play.

This is a great example of children learning about the world by imitating the world. They look to older people for guidance and, in this case, my informant and her friends learned from peers at school. There’s this whole concept that adults tend to shy away from mentioning anything of sexual nature around children, so it makes sense that they learned this game from other children instead of adults.

The Key to Happiness

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 20, 2015
Primary Language: English

The story: God is trying to hide happiness in a place where the devil can’t get to it. God tries hiding it in the highest mountain on Earth. The Devil finds it. God then tries burying it in the deepest ocean trench. The Devil still finds it. Finally, God hides happiness the only place he can think to hide it: The human heart. The devil has since been unable to touch it. The key to happiness is within.

Informant was a 19 year old male student who I chatted with during our Russian Modern Art class. He’s a Film and Television Production Major.

Collector:  Who told this story to you?

Informant: My Dad, and his grandmother told it to him.

Collector: What was the occasion? Just general good advice?

Informant: It was during a time in my life when I was somewhat melancholy, my Dad told me this to ease my mind. At the time, I was trying to find happiness through external means: Other people, excessive academic performance, and material things like fancy clothes and so on. I was looking for happiness everywhere except within.

Collector: I’m guessing this story meant a lot to you, correct?

Informant: Yea, well, the thought that the key to one’s contentment lies within is an interesting one, and very uplifting. It means that one does not necessarily need to rely on other people, objects, or institutions to find happiness in one’s life. All too often, a reason a person says they aren’t happy is because they feel like external influences on their life reject them. This philosophy stresses the opposite–the need to reject external influences before they reject you. Not only is it a simple piece of wisdom, therefore, but one that goes against traditional expectations.

I thought this story was very inspirational, and whether or not the grandmother heard it from someone else or just made it up, it still has a great message to be passed on to future generations. Advice is usually given down in form of a story, which I believe is because people are more likely to sit down and listen to a narrative than a lecture. It’s an indirect way of telling people how they should approach their problems without being pushy.

Easter Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 60
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Denver, Colorado
Performance Date: 4/18/15
Primary Language: English

What is the Easter Tradition:

MG: “Part of  the easter tradition is we used to do a scavenger hunt in the backyard with the traditional fake eggs. Then we’d go into the house and I put little signs from the easter bunny to look all over the house. I’d have little things hidden I thought the kids would like that weren’t too expensive, I’d usually go to Walgreens. I’d get coloring books and crayons, jumpropes, like a plastic bat and ball for Justin, things for the sand box. Oh! Also stuff I didn’t normally give you all the time, doritos and I got your brother that really sugary soda he used to always want. At each new spot there would be a little present and another note from the easter bunny telling you where to look next. The very last note always had a big easter basket with lots of candy, chocolate, peeps, stuff like that.

Where did you learn this tradition?

MG: “From Mandy the babysitter. She told me her families tradition, told me it was a part of their family and explained how to do it.

Why did you start doing it:

MG: “I just wanted to establish our own family traditions”

 

I thought this was an interesting example of folklore because it was passed from someone younger to someone older, which is opposite of how many people think folklore is spread. In this case Mandy, the younger babysitter, taught my mom her families tradition. It shows that as long as folklore is compelling and coming from a trustworthy source, it does not have to come from a person of great influence or power, like a parent telling a child.

MG’s response of why she started doing it was intriguing because she said she “wanted to establish [her] own family traditions” even though it was borrowing from another families traditions. Even though it wasn’t a unique practice, it was unique and new to her because no one in her family had ever done it. Therefore it was still considered a “new” and “unique” tradition even though it had been borrowed from another family.