The origins of the New Jersey devil

Been to Jersey so many times. I had family members, friends and former girlfriends who once lived in the Garden State. New Jersey, the place where the New Yorkers and Philadelphians go to live when the city life gets too expensive. I have a lot great memories here. However, I always wondered about the origins of the New Jersey Devil. Well, this post is to spread some information about this mythological creature.

Leeds family home Photo courtesy of https://www.newjerseyhauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/leeds-point-pine-barrens.html

Now the origins of this creature is not something out of a fairy tale. This story is pretty dark and disturbing. So if you get scared easily, you might not want to continue reading.

So, it was all started with a family named Leeds. The Leeds family lived in South Jersey. In a place called the Pine Barrens, a wooded area outside of the Philadelphia metropolitan. A woman of the leeds family had twelve children. In time, she was pregnant with her 13th child. In an angered state, she put a curse on the child before it was born. When the child was born, it came out normal. However, it soon changed into a monster. It’s appearance changed into a creature with a horse like head and a lower half of a goat. The devil stood up straight like a human and it had two wings like a bat. It killed the midwife, then ran off into the wilderness.

The Jersey Devil photo courtesy of https://www.lastpodcastnetwork.com/blog/2018/4/27/episode-314-the-jersey-devil

According to the locals folklure, the origin story has few differentiating details. Some say, the mother of the Devil was a witch. Others say, it was born during a stormy night and during a demonic ritual. It’s even stated that the father of the child might had been the devil himself. All these things are very interesting. The most creepy thing about this that it could be true.

In state records, there was a family that lived in the Pine Barrens. In the state census, it does shows a family with the name Leeds that had twelve children.

Safe travels everyone and much love!

Check out our eBook “How to Travel for Dirt Cheap” by Hugo Morel for ways to make your dreams of traveling come true without breaking the bank. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M848M47?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420&fbclid=IwAR0_mRF-eE9tODIshljVr7CQ8h6vKT6hHn_8gZfJ94DySY1ylPO2Itu2Qe

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October 9, 2019 23

The legend of La Llorona

Growing up in California, the Mexican influence is very strong. From having Mexican restaurants in nearly very city in the state, Mexican folklore is very familiar to Californians. One story that we are constantly told as kids is the one of this crying woman. Our Mexican friends usually told us about the story of La llorona.

La llorona Photo courtesy of https://www.mexico.mx/en/articles/horror-stories-the-legend-of-la-llorona

There is a lot variants of this story’s origins. This is a horror story that has been passed down for about 500 years. So, there will always be some details that were changed. For the most commonly told, it’s starts with a beautiful woman named Maria. In reference, I will be sharing the version my friends told me as a kid.

Picture of a beautiful Mexican woman photo courtesy of https://koterohome.com/products/mexican-calendar-girl-by-jesus-helguera

Maria was said to be so beautiful. Her beauty attracted a wealthy rancher. Maria was a very vain woman. She loved attention and being the center of it. This flaw would come back and haunt her.

Eventually, the wealthy rancher and Maria had three children. She loved those kids. After some time, her husband stop paying Maria attention. His focus was more on the ranch and his three children. Maria slowly grew to envy her children.

La llorona photo courtesy of https://www.jeffersonmuncy.com/folklore/llorona?format=amp

One day, Maria saw her husband with his mistress. Lost in rage, she went to her children. Seeing her husband in her children, she took out her anger on them. With her kids, she went to a local river. Drowned each of them, slowly and with cruelty.

After killing her kids, she came back to reality. Maria started to regret what she just did. In guilt, she drowned herself. Now Legend states, her ghost walks rivers of the American Southwest and Mexico looking for children to kill.

This myth brings so much nostalgia to me. It reminds me of the times I spent camping with my friends as a kid. Their parents used to tell us the story of La Llorona so we wouldn’t wander too faraway. Of course, now I do not believe in this story. I just think it was a kid’s horror story. However, as a kid I was truly scared. With all that, still wanted to share this with you all. Next time you are in the southwest usa or mexico, you will be informed in case you hear a woman crying by the river.

Thank you so much for reading! Much love and safe travels! Since it’s October, I will be sharing some American and Latin American folklore.

October 2, 2019 22

What is Santería?

Been reading a lot of misconceptions on this topic. Would to like spread some light on this part of the Cuban culture. It is always good to know about cultures and religions around the world. First of all, I do not practice this culture rich religion nor am I promoting it. I’m just sharing what I know about santería being a Latino of African heritage. Can’t speak about everything in this post because that would take a few books. So bare with me to those who know a lot about this topic. I’m just summarizing it.

Santeros dancing photo courtesy of http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/religion-miscellaneous/difference-between-santeria-and-voodoo/

Santería in Latin America is actually very common. A lot of people who practice it now aren’t even hispanic nor of African heritage. This religion is a mixture of Roman Catholicism and Yoruban religions. It’s main language is Lucumí. Native to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto rico. This language is like Latin to the Catholics and Arabic to Muslims. Lucumí is a langague mixed with west African words and Spanish. It has too many words and grammatical differences to be called a Spanish Creole. It’s a completely different tongue.

Santería store in the usa photo courtesy of http://pluralism.org/religions/afro-caribbean/afro-caribbean-traditions/santeria-the-lucumi-way/

While in Cuba, I did not want to get blessings from a Santero or santera nor wanted to film their ceremonies. I will explain my reasons later. Most people think Santería is about worshiping the devil. Which is one of the misconceptions. In santería, there’s actually no devil. It’s similar to Pre-Christian religions of the Vikings, Romans and Greeks. There are many gods, so it’s not monotheistic like Islam or Christianity.

Changó, The God of lighting photo courtesy of https://www.originalbotanica.com/blog/chango-shango-orisha-santeria/

The main figure of santería is Changó. Changó is the god of lightning, dance and manliness. The dances you see santeros practicing is to please and get blessings from this lighting god. That’s why the marital arts like capoeria and juego de maní focus mainly around dance. Since, Changó is of Yoruban origin. Which is now manly part of Nigeria. I will speak more about this in detail on another post. Since, I could write a whole book about this topic.

Map of where Yoruba is spoken in Africa photo courtesy of https://www.ucl.ac.uk/atlas/yoruba/introduction.html

So, the history of Santería is very interesting. This religion was created by slaves in order to hide the preservation of thier African culture from the Spanish. They used saints from the Catholic church to trick the Spanish into thinking they were practicing Christianity. The mixture of African religions with Catholicism was very common in the Portuguese and Spanish colonies. In the Spanish colonies, Santería was born.

A santera photo courtesy of https://yagbeonilu.com/santeria-rituales/

Being Hispanic of African heritage from the Caribbean, Santería and other African religions are commonly practiced. Some do it in hiding, others are very open about it. I don’t practice santería because I don’t want to bring spirits into my life. As you all can tell, my life is crazy already. Adding spirits will just complicate things. Also, be careful when going to santeros. You don’t always know their true intentions. They could be bringing negative spirits into your life.

Thank you so much for reading! Much love and safe travels everyone.

September 18, 2019 17

The Beauty of New York City

There’s a reason why I choose to live in the New York metropolitan area. As the “capital” of the world, you get access to pretty much any type of food from any culture.

Taken by Hugo Morel

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay, you do not get the access to all of the cultures that you do here in New York City. My family here would tell me stories about hanging out with thier friends from Mongolia and Turkestan. My cousin would tell me about how he used to get invited into thier home and they would cook him authentic exotic food. I was always envious of him growing up. We only had awesome Mexican food out in the Bay Area!

Traditional Mongolian dish by google

The skyline, the food and the culture is what really attracted me to this city. Truly love this city, as expensive as it is. I truly wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Downtown Manhattan taken by Hugo Morel

Being the capital of the world, the New York City metropolitan area has two international airports and one national. It has three airports in total. Being the traveler I was, I just had to move here. So much food, culture and possible airplane tickets.

Curry chicken with rice at a Jamaican restaurant taken by Hugo morel

The reason why I am posting about New York today is because we are going to start a series of food from all over the world that is found in New York City.

Be on the look out!

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this post. Much love!

December 5, 2018 42

The Catacombs of Rome

When we think of Catacombs, we think of the one’s in Paris; however, Rome has a few as well. Although, they are not as dark as the ones in Paris, but they are still creepy.

Photo taken by Hugo Morel

As we were going down the steps, I truly had no idea what I was getting into. The further we went, the darker it got. I looked back and the image I saw, was something out of a horror painting.

A little history of Rome’s catacombs. The catacombs were built for the Christian and Jewish population. Since most of them were too poor to afford a proper grave, the ancient Romans just stuffed them in the catacombs. Also, the Romans back then did not believe in burying the dead. They preferred cremations.

Back to our story, the Catacombs were always at a cool temperature. As the group kept going, I somehow got lost. Being lost in a place like this was not a fun experience. You can sense something is always around the corner looking at you.

Every corner I turned, there were more graves with Latin written on them. My fight against anxiety was becoming a hopeless cause.

Eventually after running around in the dark for what felt like an hour, I found a tour guide. The guide looked at me twice, as if she was making sure I wasn’t some sprit haha. She lead me to the exit and there I found freedom from this nightmarish event.

Thank you for reading our post. Much love!! Safe travels and have an awesome weekend!

October 6, 2018 25

The ruins of rome

The more we explored Rome, the older the man-made structures got.

Taken by Hugo Morel edited on Instagram

Rome is such a beautiful city. However, there’s a part of Rome that makes the human life span feel inferior. To see these thousands of years old structures is something everybody should experience.

Taken by Hugo Morel

The energy of the Colosseum was out of this world and slightly dark. To know that many people and animals had died for entertainment, left me with a sour taste.

taken by Hugo Morel

We eventually went to where the battles for survival took place. It really made you think as to how far we came as people and a society. These battles to the death were truly barbaric and savage. Gladly, we replaced this violent entertainment with sports (Pun intended).

taken by Hugo Morel

Regardless of what I felt, I really enjoyed my time. Experiencing Roman history first hand, is a memory I’m proud to leave with.

Thank you for reading our post! We love you all! Stay healthy!!

September 29, 2018 24

My last day in the land of reggae

My time in Jamaica was coming to an end. My friends left to go back home and I was there alone. In the land of beautiful smiles and joyful people.

I decided to walk around and I found the emancipation park. This park was made in memory to the end of slavery in Jamaica. The history and the importance of the park is shown in the local culture. This park is usually the center of many events.

The park had a nice and relax feeling to it. It was just super hot that day. I can’t tell you how much I was sweating. It wasn’t the best choice for me to wear pants. Learn from my mistakes people, wear shorts in Jamaica!

Just between you all and me, I really was fighting myself from not jumping into that pool of water. I knew that could spark an intentional incident.

My final advice when visiting Kingston, make sure to check out Devon’s house. There is a lot of historical importance tied to that house. It was once the home of Jamaica’s first black billionaire. Also, I’m sure you seen in it a few music videos or movies. On top of everything, there is a shop there that sells rum ice cream!!

Oh my days in Jamaica have came to an end. I really miss waking up to this view.

(All photos were taken by Hugo Morel)

Thanks for reading our post! Enjoy the rest of your day or night!

July 28, 2018 17

Florence, Italy

After a long overnight drive, we finally made it to Florence, Italy. It is the city of art and culture!

My first impression of the city was that there were a lot of naked bodies. The Italians really like the human body at its purest form. It was just awkward having a minor with you and they are asking, “what’s that horn hanging between his legs?” The only real response you can say is, “It’s nothing important child, let’s keep it moving.”

There was tons of art, as art is everywhere in this city. I am not passionate about the arts; however, there was someone with us who was and he pretty much informed us on everything.

Our volunteer tour guide told us that Florence was one of the centers of the Enlightenment movement in Europe. The art made during that time was mainly focused on religion and the human body.

When in Florence, make sure to check out the Florence cathedral. It’s hard to miss. It’s the building with the red dome. It’s truly a beautiful place inside and out.

Another site is the town hall. Our volunteer tour guide told us something about the flag on the building being amazing. Truth be told, everything he saw in Italy was amazing to him.

(All photos were taken by Hugo Morel)

Thanks for reading, next time we will be in Assisi, Italy.

July 21, 2018 37

Just wanted to say thank you

Hello everyone! Just wanted to say thank you for your support! We reached over 1340 followers!! Another awesome milestone accomplished! We have so much more content for you all that we can’t wait to share!! Places like Europe, Asia and Africa! Have a great weekend and stay safe!

July 20, 2018 6

Welcome to Jamrock!

How can it be Caribbean week without a post about Jamaica?

(Photo taken by Hugo morel)

It all started with my friend telling me that he was going to celebrate his birthday in Jamaica. Of course, how can anybody say no to being invited to Jamaica?

(Photo taken by Hugo morel)

The flight to Jamaica was so boring. It’s hard to let time pass when you are so excited. It was a four to five hour flight from NYC; however, it felt like 24 hours. I was sitting in my seat like a kid waiting to ask, “Are we there yet?”

(Photo taken by Hugo morel)

Once I arrived in Jamaica, I was surprised by all the smiles on the locals’ faces. Be careful when finding a taxi driver. Luckily, the taxis driver I got was honest. He told me the tips and inside information on the taxi system in Kingston. If you see a red license plate, that car has been registered by the government to be a taxi driver. Knowing this will help you from getting into unnecessary trouble.

(Photos taken by Hugo Morel)

I was truly blown away from the white sands and crystal blue waters. Jamaica was extremely hot. Taking a quick dip in the ocean was really the only way to refresh. There were no complaints here though.

Next time, we will visit the Bob Marley museum!

July 8, 2018 2