Tag Archives: street

Street of the Kiss

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 21
Occupation: USC Student
Performance Date: May 8, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

So, in Guanajuato, Mexico there’s a place called Calle de los Besos. Um, and it’s just translated to Street of the Kiss, where this couple lived on opposite ends of the sleep. The woman lived with her family, and the man was a traveler. And every night they would talk and then kiss good-night, and then one night the woman’s father came home from work late and saw that they kissed, and he was furious and he said :If you ever kiss him again, I’m gonna make sure he’s dead and he just freaked out, and so she promised to never kiss him again, And then some weeks passed and she didn’t keep her promise, and then again one night the dad came home late and saw that they had kissed and so he goes up to the guy’s room and kills him, and she freaks out, and she’s really depressed. And then she kills herself. And then now today whenever you cross that street, visitors or anybody, you kiss each other on the 7th step, because there’s like steps on the street. On the seventh step you kiss your significant other, otherwise it’s like 7 years of bad luck for you. But if you’re single nothing happens to you.

This legend tells the story of the town, and tells how the custom of kissing when crossing this certian street came to be. The story also tells us about the culture of the town. For instance, one might infer from the story that it comes from a culture where fathers have a lot of control over their daughter’s love lives, and the father’s extreme reaction, while drastically over the top, is considered within the realm of possibility. It also tells us that the town culture may identify as romantic and passionate.

T Intersection

Nationality: half Thai half Malaysian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 20, 2012
Primary Language: English

The informant is talking about folk beliefs she learned from her mother about houses in China:

“You shouldn’t buy a house that’s at the end of a T-street, cuz then all the bad spirits will go into your house.”

This reminds me of a similar practice I have heard of, I believe in Feng Shui.
This could also come from the fact that houses at the end of T streets are more likely to be run into by automobiles. It could also just be due to the fact that a house in this position may just be more visible.