What Makes A Fig?

Olá amigos en amigas!

In Brazil, there is a unique gesture that they do everytime they expression their appreciation to a particular person: Brazilians pinch their earlobes in front of the person they admire by using their thumbs and forefingers.

Also, people in Brazil make a fig to invoke good luck. Now how do you do this one? Simple. Just place your thumb between your index and middle fingers while making a fist.

Now consider this scenario: a guy approach you and asks you a question. Too bad, you don't know the answer. What are you going to do? Brazilians flick their fingertips underneath their chins. This is a common understanding to Brazilians as they know that the one doing this gesture does not know the answer to the question. So now we understand why in cartoon shows, the characters are doing this? Obviously, they got this from the Brazilian culture.

Adeus!

Tomato Fight in Spain

Every clique – be it a cult, tribe, country or race – has its own customs and traditions that are created out of habit, necessity or even by serendipity. Just like that of the Tomatina Festival celebrated every August in the Valencia region of Spain.

Every year around 40, 000 people all over Spain celebrate the Tomato Festival wherein they throw more than 240, 000 pounds of tomatoes at each other. The festival is celebrated on the last Wednesday of August and is a town-wide tomato fight. The tradition, they say, began in 1945 when a fight was created between two young members of the carnival crowd. The said fight took place near a vegetable stall in the town square and everyone started picking and throwing tomatoes at each other. One year later, on the same occasion, the same people met at the square bringing their own tomatoes with them. The fight was being stopped by the police. In the following years, this practice was banned by the government but because it has already gained its popularity, it has been given its official recognition in 1959.

People are now excited to to celebrate the Tomatina Festival come August 2009. This will mark its 50 years of celebration.