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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 21, 2009 16:55:55 GMT
My mother said when she was little it was common to wear a little bag of asafoetida around the neck to ward off colds. I imagine people drew back from the person wearing it!
There are a bunch of food beliefs originating in Spain in Mexican culture, such as not eating fruit at night because it's a "cold" food that will upset your stomach. There are others involving not mixing "hot" and "cold" foods. This has nothing to do with where the food is heated or not, but with some essential property.
There are variations on that theme. I was once helping form chocolate balls -- this is the local mixture of chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon used in making hot chocolate. When we were finished, of course our hands were covered with the stuff. I was almost climbing the walls wanting to get it off, but wasn't allowed to rinse in the kitchen sink because it only had cold water, which would "do me damage". The minutes waiting for that water to heat were some of the longest in my life.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 25, 2009 22:06:46 GMT
When we were finished, of course our hands were covered with the stuff. I was almost climbing the walls wanting to get it off... Bixa, are you an eldest child? We HATE getting our hands dirty!
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 25, 2009 22:13:05 GMT
Is that what it is? Yes, I am the eldest. Really, I don't mind dirt from gardening, but my idea of hell is having something sticky on me and not being able to wash it off.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 25, 2009 22:14:29 GMT
If you ever see a child at a beach with sand stuck to its fingers, face screwed up and wailing, you'll know it's an eldest!
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Post by Kimby on Mar 25, 2009 22:15:21 GMT
I must wash my hands a couple dozen times while cooking, to get the "sticky" off my fingers.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 25, 2009 22:16:05 GMT
We also hate spilling on our clothes.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 26, 2009 1:58:19 GMT
Do you do the thing of getting up from the table to change your fork or spoon because you think you've gotten something on the handle? People in Mexico are not deterred from eating snacks on the street just because they might get sticky. >>>shudder<<< I have to avert my eyes from people merrily walking along eating a mango, for instance. And I never, ever, under any circumstances eat an ice cream cone. It has to be in a bowl with a spoon, or no ice cream for this girl.
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Post by onlymark on Mar 26, 2009 6:07:42 GMT
but my idea of hell is having something sticky on me and not being able to wash it off. Shower straight after sex is it then?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2009 6:14:30 GMT
But not with cold water.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2009 12:15:05 GMT
Here's a good one:
c.1760 "She who desires to be satisfied,whether shall enjoy the man desired or no: Let her take two lemon peels in the morning, and wear them all day under her arm pits:then at night let her rub the four posts of the bed with them: which done, in your sleep he will seem to come and present you with a couple of lemons; but if not there is no hope". From the Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions
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Post by rikita on Mar 26, 2009 13:18:17 GMT
so not liking sticky hands has to do with whether you are the oldest? and what would make others like something sticky on their hand?
i don't particularly like sticky hands (or dry chalky hands after climbing), but i will still eat mangos or ice cream on the street. there is usually some way or other to wash my hands eventually...
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Post by Kimby on Mar 26, 2009 22:02:00 GMT
so not liking sticky hands has to do with whether you are the oldest? and what would make others like something sticky on their hand? There's a difference between "liking" and not minding having sticky hands. Or being totally upset about it. I take it rikita is NOT an eldest, so she doesn't get it. ;-)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2009 22:08:53 GMT
I don't like getting sticky hands, but I forget about it after a few minutes when there is no option. Maybe my tolerance started when I was putting dead shrimp on my fishing hook as a little boy and I had to remain with filthy hands for the next 4 or 5 hours. Yes, I would rinse them off in the bayou from time to time, but that is not the most pristine water either.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 26, 2009 22:13:48 GMT
I think cooking is the worst, because everything you do gets your hands goopy, and if you don't wash it off right away, you get it all over the fridge handle, the cupboard doors, the knife handle, etc. etc.
But eating in the car is also iffy because of the potential to get your goop all over the steering wheel, door handles, upholstery, etc. Unless you wipe it on your pant leg, and we eldest are also fussy about getting our clothes dirty...
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 26, 2009 22:51:43 GMT
... wipe it on your pant leg ... *faints dead away*
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Post by rikita on Mar 26, 2009 23:19:35 GMT
I take it rikita is NOT an eldest, so she doesn't get it. ;-) actually, she is. eldest, and only sister - with three brothers (though admittedly the youngest was only born when i was already grown up and living on my own). as i said, what i mind much more are dry hands - after climbing i have to go wash them, i had that dry chalky feeling you get from climbing...
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Post by Kimby on Mar 27, 2009 14:43:58 GMT
Chalk qualifies as dirt, so you get "finicky eldest points" for that, too, rikita.
I wonder how many of us on here are eldest children? Maybe we should do a poll.
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Post by rikita on Mar 28, 2009 12:47:43 GMT
i see... well but still - why would non-eldest tolerate dirt more than eldest?
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Post by Kimby on Mar 28, 2009 14:08:44 GMT
Perhaps it has to do with the cautious parenting of new parents as opposed to the more relaxed manner they tend to have with subsequent offspring?
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Post by spindrift on Mar 28, 2009 14:40:52 GMT
I'm an only child (not counting my father's first marriage and kids 40 years older than me) and I don't like having sticky hands. I also don't like getting my clothes dirty. I would eat an icecream cone if I had to but I really couldn't bear mango juice running down my chin. I don't mind gardening dirt on my hands - I wouldn't wear gloves for gardening. I picked up a knife yesterday that had honey on its handle - I hated the feel of it.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 29, 2009 6:26:56 GMT
So far everyone who has commented on sticky hands is an eldest. Is there anyone on here who is NOT an eldest child?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2009 10:05:11 GMT
So, do we agree then that firstborns are more neurotic?
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Post by bazfaz on Mar 29, 2009 10:12:25 GMT
I am first born of my mother but second born of my father. That makes me neurotic just working out the implications.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 29, 2009 22:57:20 GMT
So, do we agree then that firstborns are more neurotic? How can we not be? Our parents were neophytes! R U an eldest, too, Kerouac?
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Post by hwinpp on Mar 30, 2009 3:38:26 GMT
I'm a first born. Not sure I'm more neurotic than my sister, 2nd or brother, 3rd and last. In fact, I don't really know what neurotic means.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2009 4:51:54 GMT
So, do we agree then that firstborns are more neurotic? How can we not be? Our parents were neophytes! R U an eldest, too, Kerouac? No, I'm the second and last.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 30, 2009 14:35:33 GMT
How many years between you and your elder bro or sis, K2?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2009 14:37:25 GMT
My brother is 3 years older.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 30, 2009 14:55:29 GMT
That might be enough of a gap to give you some of the characteristics of an eldest, though I think 4 or more years would really seal the deal.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2009 17:00:18 GMT
It was enough of a difference for the bastard to pin me down at will!
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