La Tomatina.

         I know i'm wouldn't be alone in saying that a massive tomato food fight would be AWESOME! This is probably one celebration above all the others that I wished we celebrated it in the U.S. or at least a smaller version! This kind of thing is like the food fight that people - as kids - always talk about and joke about but it never seemed to happen no matter how tempting it was to just toss a unwanted piece of food in the other direction.This tradition isn't new by any means but it isn't that old either, however it has the attention of the whole world and thousands of foreigners come to participate along with the traditional spanish people.
    
      "La Tomatina" a tomato fight in Buñol near Valencia happens every year on the last Wednesday in August but the clebration starts a few days earlier. The most famous part of the festival is the tomato fight which takes place between 11am and 1pm on that day.The event has become one of the most famous of Spain's summer festivals with thousands of people flocking to this little town for this rather crazy event. The origins of it aren't clear with several theories explaining how it came to be. However, the most likely theory says that the explanation dates back to 1945 when a parade of enormous figures with big heads was passing through the streets of Buñol. Apparently some kids tried to join in the parade and knocked over one of the giants who got to his feet and started swinging out at everyone around him. The kids fought back by grabbing tomatoes and throwing them at him until police stopped them. This is one of the coolest traditions of Spain if not the world, I really hope that some time in my life I can make it there during these days and that I get to participate in this awesomely hectic event that really just seems like a lot of messy fun! It really just seems like a good time to me.

Site: http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/la-tomatina-tomato-battle-bunyol.htm

Flamenco

     Well there is a good chance that you haven't heard of it, I know I hadn't before I stumbled upon it but it seemed somewhat interesting so I looked into it. It is a old tradition that consists of much dancing, a lot of guitar playing, but most of all singing which is the most important part. Although the theme of the celebration can range from all kinds of feelings it comes from the gypsies and many sad versions of this celebration are due to the sufferings of these gypsy people.

       Of course this tradition has been changed as it traveled throughout Spain which is expected since no two places seem to have the exact same culture or traditions, but one part that remains is that while playing guitar and dancing are a big part of it singing remains the most important part of the celebration. This tradition started about 200 years ago by a gypsy people that were just expressing themselves. Song, dance and guitar are mixed into rhythms which are often made up on the spot. Flamenco can have any imaginable theme, from up to date stories, to politics, to love, to history, to humor, and so on. Often however, the tragic lyrics and tone of flamenco reflect the sufferings of the gypsy people from whom it originated. This tradition is interesting and it is cool to learn how and why it came to be. Although we don't even have anything close to this in the U.S. (outside Native American culture) it seems to me that it would be odd if we did.

Site: http://www.spain-info.com/Culture/flamenco.htm

The Running of the Bulls

    Yeah, I would agree with what most people think that haven't grown up in a traditional Spanish speaking environment, and that is that the running of the bulls and bull fighting seem unusual to say the least. Also they seem unnecessarily dangerous. The running of the bulls sounds interesting however and why they do and what it means surprised me a bit being that they do it to honor their patron saint, San Fermin. By the way the running of the bulls is held in Pamplona, Spain.
     
        Every year from July 7th-14th the running of the bulls begins, thousands of people gather in Pamplona to start the most famous bull-running celebration to honor Navarre capital's patron saint, San Fermin. In the morning of July 7th, runners mostly younger men gather at the bottom of Santo Domingo, which is where the starting line is. They then group up and sing a tradional song. Then, a rocket goes off, and a bunch of bulls are released. The bulls run along the rather narrow street a half of a mile to a bull ring. The runners run in front of the bulls, trying to get as close as possible. I would guess that participating in this would be quite the adrenaline rush and honestly I could never see myself doing this. Although impressive the fact that these bulls are bred for this and then killed later in the day by a matador in a bull fighting ring seems a bit cruel, however the running of the bulls part seem exciting.

Site: http://www.spain-info.com/Culture/bullrunning.htm

Spanish Birthday Traditions

     Many different cultures around the world celebrate birthdays in many different ways I am going to inform you on some traditions of a normal spanish birthday or "Cumpleaños". Many Spanish celebrate two personal days of celebration, their birthday, and their name day, or Saint’s Day. Many people think that a spanish birthday only consists of a piñata, this is not the case, however,but they usually do have piñatas as part of the celebration.

     Lets start with birthdays. Birthdays are pretty low-key events in Spain. I suppose one advantage of being in Spain is that if you’re 40 or 50, people really don't make it a big deal. They don’t really send cards in Spain. Also don’t expect piles of presents either. Close relatives might give presents, but these will probably be small and probably not a big deal, unless you have a party then most guests will bring along a gift of some sort. I guess that if you were getting older than it would be awesome since you don't have to be reminded of aging every year but being younger and not getting a ton of presents? That wouldn't be so great, not trying to sound spoiled or all about "getting and not giving" but I enjoy getting presents! Another tradition often celebrated for people of Spanish speaking countries is mostly for younger people and this tradition is the breaking of a piñata which is generally full of candy.

Site: http://www.solchannel.com/andalucia/expat-life/expat-survival-guide/-special-occasions-in-spain-vi247.html

Taco

     People all over the world know what a taco is and most of them have had at least one in their life, although in many different countries tacos can be very different. The Aztec people of the Mexico area had been making "tacos" since around 3,000 BC. Different cultures in Mexico alone filled their version of the taco with different things, some used insects even! Although corn was the most common way to make the wrap of a taco some of the ancient peoples did use wheat also.

     Well I personally am not sure that I would be able to eat a taco that alls it had was insects in it. I'm more used to the good old "American" style tacos, just beef, cheese, lettuce, and a lot of probably very unhealthy things. Nowadays it has been changed into all sorts of different things, you can put almost anything on the taco, from insects to seafood to just seemingly ordinary meats like beef or chicken. I decided to do a blog specifically for the taco because I figured that since I love the "Americanized" version so much, then why not learn more about it. Maybe sometime in the future I will get a chance to try an authentic Mexican taco with all the fixings and all sorts of spicy things on it, but probably not for awhile.
     Site: http://www.helium.com/items/1185705-taco-how-to-make-a-taco-best-tacos-great-food-mexican-food-taco-belltortillas

Contaminacion Ambiental

      Mexico city has been said to be the most dangerous place in the world for children, due to how polluted the air has become over the last 50 years or so. Although humans played the biggest part in this pollution level the geography of Mexico city also played a part in it. Mexico City is located in the crater of an old extinct volcano and is 2,240 meters above sea level, being that high up causes all sorts of problems pollution wise, one of them being that it causes automobiles to give off more of the dangerous emissions like carbon monoxide. Being in a valley the city's air pollution goes into the air and stays there, because not a lot of wind can sweep it away.

      Well I have heard that breathing the air in Mexico City is like smoking a pack of cigarettes, and this article has really just contributed to me actually knowing how bad it is and honestly it doesn't sound like a place I would want to go to. With all the geographical issues that the city face, like the wind not sweeping away the air pollutants and the high altitude causes extra emissions, but to add to that i've done another blog about how the city is sinking, That really makes me wonder why people dont leave, there are plenty of other decently-sized cities in Mexico and I don't think that living in El Ciudad De Mexico is worth it. The fact that all the pollution there causes health issues just seems like a dead giveaway telling people  to move away, I don't think that increased chance of any health problem happening is worth it, also for the people that have asthma (like me) have increased chances of issues and I know that out of the around 20 million people that live in Mexico City many of them have it. I don't think that I will ever live in El Ciudad De Mexico.

        Site: http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Resources/Publications/Pages/ArticleDetails.aspx?PublicationID=740

Mexico's sinking city

     "La Ciudad de Mexico" is sinking at a relatively rapid rate and already is affecting the lives of the people living there. Most people living there have noticed things that are odd. The sinking can not only cause issues with the buildings but also it is possible that it effects people's health, “When a building tilts more than 1 degree, then I think it begins to become very uncomfortable,” said Enrique Santoyo Villa, an engineer. Many things are in need of repair and repairing some things is very expensive.
                  
                   The reason that this city is sinking is because there is aquifer under the city that keeps getting drained by people there to get water. The clay is hard at some spots but others it dries out and cracks and breaks down and the city slowly lowers. If I was living there I would be a bit scared and probly try to reduce how much water I use. Since there is roughly 21 million people in the whole area around mexico city and in it, the people there drain the aquifer at a rapid rate. In some parts of the city, sidewalks buckle, window frames lean, subway lines need expensive repairs and drainage canals no longer flow downhill. If I were in this kind of situation, I would probably move away since why stay in a overpopulated, sinking area? Also the cost of different repairs would just be an unnecessary expense.           Site:http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/mexico-city-continues-to-sink-into-the-earth/