#15 Milk, Shower, Books

I don't have too much to report from the last week; really, not much has happened. I have been living at the same house with a bunch of kiwis that I didn't know and while being here half have moved out and new ones have moved in, but no one has been around all that much.

Being that I have been to london a few times and have done the tourist stuff I have just been laying low trying not to spend too much money since london is not known for being a cheap place to visit. My traveling plan is to be "Ballin on a budget" just like nappy roots say. In this last week I have gone for walks each day, read a couple of books (Angels and Demons-the prequel to The DaVinci code, and The Kite Runner). Both books were entertaining, if I had to pick one for others to read it would be the Kite Runner. I have watched a few movies and of course feeding myself every so often.
During this eating part of the week I have constantly been drinking milk with every meal. The milk I've had in Ireland and here in England has been just delicious. I really don't know what it is but it taste like what I've always dreamed of milk to taste like, full, milky and satisfying. It makes all the milk I've ever drank just seem artificial no matter whether it's been skim, 1/2 percent or 2%. All of it has never tasted like the milk I've had here. Not only that but milk is very cheap here. It cost less than bottled water. Why is this? I have no idea and no one I've asked can answer the question either and I've asked quite a few people and intend on finding out an answer, and will let you know when I do find out. I don't feel like people here drink milk like we do in the U.S. They have it with tea and coffee and maybe with cereal but you don't just see people drinking it. When I'm walking around town with my pint of milk and a big smile on my face I feel that I get a lot of weird looks; I know it might just be me getting the weird looks but I like to think it's the milk. Anyways, milk; strong bones, good teeth, right? The english aren't known for having the best teeth; Austin Powers? (except for my English friends, I love you guys). Enough about milk (Mike-your favorite blog yet)

I was watching a dvd version at the house of Miami Vice. In between when the camera gets someone walking down the aisle and putting a bag over the camera so we could only hear the sound because I'm guessing some security where the movie was being pirated came by, there were a couple of shower scenes. You know the shower scenes; it's where one is enjoying a shower like they've never showered before when how could it get any better but their love comes in to join in the shower and so on and so on. All I could think while watching this was that it could only happen in American movies. I don't know how many of you have traveled around Europe or maybe other parts of the world but the showers in general only shower you thanks to what many call gravity. These are not the full power, lots of pressure showers we are used to. You stand directly under the head which is often no taller than my shoulders and let the water get an inch of your body wet at a time. At first I thought that people here love taking showers which is why they are in there for an hour but then I realized it takes an hour to get the shampoo off every part of your body. This is why there couldn't be a shower scene in Europe. With two people in there they would do better spitting on each other. In fact, instead of a romance scene it is more likely that it would turn into a fight over the shower head scene. Enough about showers. (Now you may appreciate your shower a little more)

Living in this house with all people from New Zealand I have learned that when people sneeze and I say "bless you" they are thrown off. I was told they are not religious. Ok. We just say it. Since they are from New Zealand and have been calling me the yank all week I said it is sort of like if a farmer in New Zealand sees a sheep, they don't know why they get suddenly arroused it just happens. Nothing new, they've heard these types of jokes before. Then they asked "are we supposed to say thank you because I don't feel better since you said bless you so it is just a hassle to have to say thank you" which made me think of the "you're so good looking/sneezing Seinfeld. How did Bless You come about? Here is what I found:

Origins
There are many theories regarding the origin of this custom.

One traditional explanation for the custom is that it began literally as a blessing. Pope Gregory I the Great (AD 540-604) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the start of the bubonic plague in AD 590 (his successor succumbed to it). To combat the plague, Gregory ordered litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for God's blessing. When someone sneezed (seen as the initial onset of the plague), they were immediately blessed ("God bless you!") in the hope that they would not actually develop the disease.

Nevertheless the phrase bless you or god bless you in Greek literature predates the ascention of Gregory.

"Bless you, my dear!" he said, and "bless you, bless you!" at the second and third sneeze.
-- Apuleius, The Golden Ass, AD 150
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Superstition
Other theories are based on superstitions and urban legends about sneezing and what a sneeze entails. Some well known superstitions that may have contributed to bringing bless you into common use are:

The heart stops when you sneeze (it doesn't), and the phrase bless you is meant to ensure the return of life or to encourage your heart to continue beating.
A sneeze is the expulsion of some sort of evil, and the phrase is meant to ward off the evil's re-entry.
Your soul can be thrown from your body when you sneeze, and saying bless you prevents your soul from being stolen by Satan or some evil spirit. Thus, bless you or God bless you is used as a sort of shield against evil.
A sneeze is good luck and saying "bless you" is no more than recognition of the sneezer's luckiness.
Alternatively, it may be possible that the phrase began rather uninterestingly as a response for an event that wasn't well understood at the time.

Another urban legend states that you cannot open your eyes while you sneeze, or if you manage to your eyes will pop out. This is, as stated, nothing more than an urban legend

That is my lesson for today.

I will be meeting up with friends from now until the middle of October so will have more stories to tell and you won't have to hear about my thoughts (you might still) and get my random facts that I come across.

Bless you all, relax, take a nice shower(alone or with a friend), get a book and enjoy a tall glass of milk!!