The Legend of Jacho Centeno – and much more!

Our Halloween episode has it all! 
First, the story of a soul sentenced to roam the beaches of Puerto Rico to pay for his sins. Then there’s holiday trivia, sports talk, and why “whopping” sets Chris off.
 
LA LEYENDA DE JACHO CENTENO – y mucho más
¡Nuestro episodio de Halloween lo tiene todo! 

Primero, la historia de un alma condenada a vagar por las playas de Puerto Rico pagando por sus pecados. Luego están las trivias, deportes, y la palabra que saca Chris de quicio.

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Big thanks to Santos Cornier for composing our intro and outro music. Check out his music here: / Muchas gracias a Santos Cornier por componer nuestra música de intro and outro. Escuche su musica aqui:

https://www.reverbnation.com/santoscornier?fbclid=IwAR1_flS4Dy8i9t6JFhrCkzW220URLKJMVPfndmi0wl7idlA82ECx6Q-wW2Q

Thanks also to the following sites for music and sound effects:
https://freepd.com/
https://pixabay.com/
https://freesound.org/
https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/

Transcript

NANCY: 
Welcome to the BoricuameRican podcast, where we talk about all kinds of things related to Puerto Rico, from true crime to celebrities to personal stories and traditions! You can find us on Instagram at Boricuamerican underscore podcast, and on Facebook at Boricuamerican (we have a group and a Facebook page). I’m your host, Nancy Pinto, the Puerto Rican. I’m here with my husband and cohost, Chris, the American in boricuamerican. 
CHRIS:
Our last episode was Part One of El Pirata Cofresi and we owe you part two. But we had a lot going on (we actually bought a house) and suddenly the holidays are here, and we wanted to do a Halloween episode before it was too late. So before we continue with the life of the notorious Pirate, we wanted to share a little story that’s popular in Puerto Rico. It’s an urban legend – OR IS IT??

NANCY 
Before we begin, we have a new Spanish vocabulary word: Jacho (pronounced “HA-cho”). Jacho is a resinous wood or wood bathed in resinous or combustible materials that was used for lighting. So like a matchstick right? Remember that. 
CHRIS
Sometime in the early 1900s, in Salinas, Puerto Rico, which is in the southern part of the island, along the coast, a boy named Juan Antonio Martínez Centeno was born. His family was poor. As a child, he worked alongside his father as a shoe shiner to help his family make ends meet. His dad also taught him to fish, and when he died, still young, Juan became the main breadwinner for his mother and brothers. He dropped out of school and became a full-time fisherman.

NANCY
One day, when Juan was 20, he was out delivering fish to a customer and spotted a beautiful girl sweeping the street. I quote from a blog post about the story “…Juan, despite his twenty years, barely had time to look at women. But that morning was mesmerized by the rhythmic swaying of hips aligned with deft and dexterous movement of the arms that held that broom.”

Juan introduced himself. Her name was Mercedes and she was 15 years old. They eventually married and had at least one child that we know of, a son named Carlos, nickname Carlitos which means little Carlos. They lived in a little humble house near the beach. And they were very faithful Christians. 
CHRIS:
One late night, when Juan was 37 years old, he decided to go fishing. This was no ordinary night: 

-it was the eve of Good Friday. For those who might not be Catholic or Christian, Good Friday is a very solemn occasion which marks the day Jesus died by being nailed to a cross. 
-it was a New Moon, meaning there was no moon so to speak, making it very very dark out.
-there was a storm brewing.

But, being poor and with mouths to feed, Juan had to get to work. Plus, he had a feeling it was going to be an abundant catch. His wife was very worried, so he agreed to take along a crucifix for protection. The cross would also serve as a reminder to make it back in time for church early Friday morning. 

NANCY:
For light, he took a flashlight, some matches, and a quinque. A quinque is a type of lamp that uses oil for fuel and has a glass tube that protects the flame. It was developed at the end of the 18th century and its operation consists of an oil tank feeding a wick, so that the liquid reaches the top of the wick and produces light. Thank you AI, google, and an online translation for the succinct explanation. 

CHRIS:
In the middle of the night, while still out on the water fishing, Juan ran out of light. One version says he ran out of oil and his wick went out, and he had no flashlight. Another version says the waves were so bad his flashlight fell overboard. In any case, he was left in pitch blackness. 
At this point, while Juan tried desperately to figure out how he would finish fishing and get home with nothing to light the way, Satan himself appeared. He told him that if he only lit the crucifix on fire, he would make sure he got back to shore safely and with a huge catch. 
NANCY:
So Juan agreed – and set this most holy symbol of Christianity on fire. 
That’s a no-no.
Just as Juan reached shore, the devil sank his ship and he lost everything. 
There was also an explosion. 
Juan had been tricked by the devil. 
CHRIS:
One version of the story says his body was never found. Others say his body washed up on the beach and was found the next morning by local fishermen. In his left hand was something that looked like a wooden cross. The fishermen gave him the nickname Jacho Centeno. Remember our definition of Jacho at the start of this story? Juan is now the burned one. 
NANCY:
In a less gory version of the story, Juan made it home, but days later fell gravely ill and died. 
In any case, because he sinned, Juan’s soul was condemned to look for all the ashes of the crucifix so that he can put it back together. Until then, he cannot rest in peace.

CHRIS:
The body of water off Salinas is called the Bahía de Rincón (Rincon Bay). They say you can see Juan out there, engulfed in flames. Or you can see him along the coast, wandering the beaches, and even inland, in the mountains, carrying a torch in his left hand, looking for the ashes. To add to his misery, the weather in the area during Lent and Easter is typically very windy, so the ashes are always and forever being scattered out of his reach.
NANCY:
Puerto Ricans, who generally speaking are very Christian, use Juan’s story to teach their kids to not blasphemy or desecrate holy, religious symbols. And also, to not be greedy. Cuz if all they said was don’t take more than you need, or respect the sea, or respect religion, it would never stick!
https://ladizblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/the-legend-of-el-jacho/
https://youtu.be/tVH6RrVKkzoz
https://yosoypuertorico.wordpress.com/2022/10/27/la-leyenda-del-jacho-centeno/