El Cipitio

Nationality: Nicaragua
Age: 54
Occupation: Janitor
Residence: Los Angeles,
Performance Date: 4/25/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

The informant M told me of another story that was incredibly prevalent in her native country of Nicaragua, the legend of El Cipitio. El Cipitio is the Mesoamerican version of the Irish leprechaun; he will try to trick young girls into going back to his cave with him by acting silly. El Cipitio is a bastard born out of wedlock, his mother was the wife of a prominent chief. She was cursed by a shaman to forever be seen by unfaithful men and when alone with the man, she will turn into an ugly figure.

El Cipitio looks like this short peasant wearing all white clothing and a huge hat. In some versions his feet are backwards, leaving many confused when they follow his footsteps because he is going in the opposite direction. Kind of like how his mom opposed the tradition of marriage by pursuing an affair. This legend clearly shows what is right and what is wrong in Nicaraguan society: the bond of marriage is one of the most sacred things one can have, and infidelity can ruin the generations that follow. For el Cipitio, he had been cursed due to his mother’s actions. He did not choose to be El Cipitio, he just is.

When I asked M about what she got from the legend, she remembered kids blaming El Cipitio for pranks that other children did. So she would try not to behave so out of line that she may be mislead either by the other children or by El Cipitio. Personally, I enjoy story of trickster figures in legends because they are there for a specific reason: to parody and mock a certain behavior that is consistent within a society. And also the idea that the rationale for the trickster’s actions is merely based on pranks and comedy is just funny and unique to me.

La Cegua

Nationality: Nicaragua
Age: 54
Occupation: Janitor
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/25/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Many times this past year, I’ve spent the nights studying or working in the new Annenberg building. Whenever I’m up past 4 in the morning, one of the cleaning ladies M would come by and we’d make small talk. But as the all-nighters became more consistent, our friendship flourished too.

She soon began telling me about the legends she heard as a child in Nicaragua, one of which is La Cegua. According to M, legend has it that La Cegua is an evil woman, dressed in horse hair, and wears a ton of makeup. She appears in the dark hours of the night to seduce drunk men and once they get onto the man’s horse to go back to his place for the night, their real face–a horse’s skull with empty, dark eyes that stare into the men’s souls–is revealed, make them go insane.

This is punishment for their actions as one version of La Cegua’s origin stems from a betrayal of love. A man she was enamored with promised to marry her if they had sex. She was so madly in love that she agreed, this was a major taboo in Catholic communities as sex was saved for marriage back then, and he deserted her. The woman went insane and became cursed as La Cegua.

When I asked whether this story affected her growing up, she said yes that it scared her making her very careful not to do anything before marriage. But now she doesn’t believe in its validity anymore. Personally, this story reminds me of La Llorona and the Medea in that the actions of the man drive the woman to insanity, also representing that back then women were really possessions with no inherent value besides for marriage and having children.

Wendigo

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: St. Paul, Minnesota
Performance Date: 4/23/18
Primary Language: English

Growing up in Minnesota, my friend K heard many Native American stories about woodland creatures known as Wendigos. Wendigos, for the common layman, are mythical monster that inhabit the woods surrounding the Great Lakes. A Wendigo is created, according to Algonquin Ojibwe myth, through human cannibalism, or in other versions may be possessed by an evil spirit that makes them a monster. Wendigos were cursed to traverse the landscape with a constant hunger for human flesh. The Ojibwe characterize Wendigos as large creatures the size of trees, have glowing eyes, long yellow fangs, and oversized tongues; it would eat any humans in its territory or transformed them into another Wendigo. This belief persisted for so long that an old medicine man was arrested for murdering 14 people and put in a local jail at a military outpost. He pleaded with his captors, saying that he was killing Wendigos that they were no longer human. K says the authorities did not believe the man and awhile awaiting trial the man committed suicide. Before they could check up on his body, the medicine man turned into a Wendigo, murdered every officer in the jail, and escaped.

For my friend K, she hardly believes that Wendigos are real. She just thinks of them as a spooky story told to kids so that they don’t get lost in the woods and get eaten by a Wendigo. As for myself, I don’t believe the story either as there have been cases of cannibalism reported elsewhere (Queen v. Dudley and Stevens in England) where they didn’t turn into a Wendigo. But if I was a child, I know I’d never go anywhere by myself.

“Mas Rollo que Una Pelicula”

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 58
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Miami, Fl
Performance Date: 4/15/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Cuban culture in general is incredibly vibrant and colorful, with a attentive focus on the arts. With recent tourism to Cuba rising, foreigners often underestimate how vibrant the buildings, cars, and clothes are in Cuba. And this powerful expression also transfers over into language and proverbs. When visiting home recently, my aunt and grandmother came over to share common Cuban vernacular with me. But this one came from my mother.

The idiom is: “Mas Rollo que Una Pelicula”. Phonetically, it’s easy to pronounce since it utilizes the same Latin alphabet. It’s literal translation is “You are more roll than a movie.” However, when one says the idiom to someone they really mean that they act like they’re better than they actually are.

Throughout my mother’s childhood, my grandfather would take her to work with him so that she could slowly learn what it took to run a business. That’s when she would encounter the charismatic nature of salesmen, who knew how to talk the talk but not walk the walk. If my grandfather could see through the ruse–and according to the stories he usually did–he’d say “Mas Rollo que Una Pelicula” to the salesman. For my mom, it means when someone is gloating about their accomplishments, flaunting something they deem valuable, or bragging about opportunities. They just want attention, my mom would say, because their actions don’t deserve the praise they are looking for.

“Tu No Pintas Nada”

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 58
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Miami,FL
Performance Date: 4/15/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Cuban culture in general is incredibly vibrant and colorful. With recent tourism to Cuba rising, foreigners often underestimate how vibrant the buildings, cars, and clothes are in Cuba. And this powerful expression also transfers over into language and proverbs. When visiting home recently, my aunt and grandmother came over to share common Cuban vernacular with me. But this one came from my mother.

The idiom is: “Tu No Pintas Nada”. Phonetically, it’s easy to pronounce since it utilizes the same Latin alphabet. It’s literal translation is “Do not paint anything.” However, when one says the idiom to someone they really mean that something does not concern them.

My mom was the oldest of three children, witnessing and remembering the most out of her siblings. Also as the oldest, more emphasis was put on her by her father to be successful. As a child if she expressed interest in something else besides school, she would be shut down by her father through this idiom. It was also a common retort amongst my mom and her sisters, as they constantly got into fights when they were children. My mother’s personal interpretation for the idiom is that for one to achieve their objective, they must not get caught up in distractions that could get them off task. There’s a time to paint, “pero ahora (but right now) tu no pintas nada.”