Ashley Pacheco - Episode One

The speaker, Ashley, discusses the urban legend of La Llorona. La Llorona is a story told in Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, and Venezuela. It is about a woman who mourns the loss of her children near bodies of water. The legend is used to warn children not to wander off alone at night or near water. The details of the story vary slightly in each country, but the main theme remains the same. La Llorona is a popular myth passed down through generations. Hi, my name is Ashley, and for the Spanish podcast, my topic or topics is that of urban myths, urban legends, and stories that many of us may have heard or told growing up. This first story is one that I am familiar with as I was told it growing up, and that is of La Llorona. I do know that La Llorona can be pronounced differently depending on who you are and where you come from, but I will be saying it the way that I was taught, which is La Llorona. So La Llorona is a story or legend that is traditionally told throughout Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. In this episode, I will be telling you about La Llorona in Mexico, Guatemala, United States, and Venezuela. So starting off the gist of what La Llorona is, it is the story of a woman who roams near bodies of water, such as lakes, creeks, rivers, and really any mass body of water, mourning the loss of her children. It is believed that she drowned her kids after finding out her husband cheated, so basically she drowned her kids in a jealous rage. Starting off with Mexico, the legend is deeply rooted in the Mexican pop culture, and the story is told to encourage kids not to wander off in the dark or near bodies of water by themselves. In the United States, it is told the same way, but the story is told to scare kids into good behavior, to deter them from playing near bodies of water, or simply wandering off by themselves at night. From here, the story of La Llorona differs, and the first place we will say is in Guatemala. In Guatemala, the story goes that it is about a woman who had an affair and felt pregnant. After having the baby, she drowned the baby so that her husband wouldn't find out or know. After the woman had passed, she was condemned in the afterlife to search for her son in these bodies of water. So as we can tell from there, the story differs from Mexico to Guatemala of who had the affair and what had happened. Continuing on, the next story is in Venezuela. La Llorona is the spirit of a woman that died of sorrow after her kids were killed, but they don't say if she killed the baby herself or if her family members did. So, in all, La Llorona is basically that of a woman who is looking for her kids in these bodies of water as they had drowned and died. And yeah, this is a story that has passed from generation to generation, and I can't wait to tell you guys the next urban legend, urban myth, or story! So thank you, and I hope you guys have a wonderful day or night, depending on what time it is for you.