This video was made possible by WIX. If you’re ready to create a website, head
over to wix.com/go/infographics2019 to try out one of their premium plans right now. There are many strange customs practiced by
people around the world. Some might jump from a 100 foot stand or get
stung by ants to prove they are growing up. Others get covered in cinnamon or pepper as
adults unlucky in love. Men jump over babies and women throw them
off buildings to protect their souls from harm. Others fling tomatoes or oranges in the streets
to honor the gods or reenact a myth. Some even create feasts for monkeys or bury
a fake sardine to symbolize death. Let’s discuss some of the weirdest things
people do in this episode of The Infographics Show, Strange Customs Around the World. In the transition between child and adult
most experience a few growing pains along the way. But these are nothing compared to what is
customary for some young boys in the Amazon to go through. First, they must get bullet ants and place
them in a pair of gloves. Then they put these on 20 different times,
dancing as they are stung by the ants over and over again. The pain from the ants is described as 30
times worse than the sting of a bee and each glove is swarming with them. Once they have done this successfully, they
can consider themselves a man. Another extreme type of test is expected of
boys on a Vanuatuan island. They must prove their ability to conquer fear
by a practice called land diving. This requires climbing a 100-foot tower of
wood and jumping head-first down to the ground, escaping certain death only because of vines
tied around their ankles. In Indonesia, young people of both genders
participate in a unique custom of their own to transition from wild children to being
considered fully human. It requires that their canine teeth are ground
down. This is done without any form of pain relief
and they are expected to sit quietly without a sound. It is believed that pointy teeth will prevent
them from reaching heaven as they will be mistaken for wild animals. Of course, with time children become adults
and most adults will at some point search for love. Beware if you are unlucky in this area and
remain single in Denmark. In some areas the custom is to go up to anyone
unmarried on their 25th birthday and fling handfuls of cinnamon on them. If you think that’s bad, just wait until
you’re still single at the age of 30. This is when you will get covered in spicy
bursts of pepper. Germany has its own strange customs in this
area, too. When single German men turn 30 in Bremen,
they must sweep cathedral steps to organ music until a girl takes pity on them and gives
them a kiss. But don’t think those that find love are
in the clear. Once a more widespread custom but still practiced
by the Tujia people of China, a woman must cry for a whole month before her wedding day. Once it is dark, she will walk around and
sob for an hour each night. After ten days her mother will join in and
cry along. Yet ten days after this her grandmother will
start crying, too. If the bride has any sisters or aunts, you
guessed it, they must also follow along. This is meant to make the wedding day seem
just that much happier by comparison. In Germany, it is customary to throw a Polterabend
party a few weeks before a wedding. During this guests show up and break a bunch
of porcelain and other pottery. It is then up to the future husband and wife
to clean up the mess. This can last all night, with guests continuing
to smash cups, plates, and bowls after the couple has just cleaned everything up. It is believed this will prepare the two for
the messes that life will eventually throw at them. In Scotland there’s a similarly messy custom
known as the Blackening. This is when the future bride and groom are
surprised, tied up, and blackened. In other words, they are covered in flour,
custards, dirt, or soot to become as dirty as possible. After they take a shower or two, it is believed
they will have more luck. In Greece when a couple actually gets married
those attending will spit. They won’t actually hit the bride and groom,
because though it looks like they’re really doing it, it’s really just symbolic. Making a spitting motion and sound three times
is thought to protect against evil spirits. Though rather strange, Indonesia practices
an even crazier, and rather uncomfortable, custom once a couple’s married. The newlyweds are kept in a room for three
days and three nights and not allowed to use the bathroom and guarded to ensure they don’t
cheat. Once this time is up, they take a bath, and
begin a normal married life. Strange customs continue around the world
in regard to pregnancy and family. In China, for example, the partner of a pregnant
woman is expected to carry her over burning coals. Though painful for the one doing the carrying,
it will ensure the future mother has a more pleasant and swift labor. Then, once born, cultures have a different
approach to celebrating birth and providing a newborn protection. In Spain during the festival of El Colacho,
babies are placed on blankets in the street. Men dressed as red and yellow devils run around
and fight pious men dressed in black. The men then jump over the babies, which is
meant to keep them safe from sin and disease. Though not exactly safe, in India they take
it to a whole different level of extreme. A few Hindu and Muslim parents wanting the
same spiritual protection for their children will throw their babies off the top of 50
foot buildings. When all goes according to plan, the babies
are caught in a sheet below. While some customs can be unpleasant or scary,
others can be more fun, though they also can get a bit messy. An example of this is La Tomatina, also known
as the World’s Biggest Food Fight. This takes place on the last Wednesday of
August in the Spanish town of Bunol. Thousands flock to this event from all around
the world. However, due to limited space, only 20,000
get inside. These lucky few are given over one hundred
tons of over-ripe tomatoes to fling in the streets. Believe it or not, though just an hour, La
Tomatina makes quite a mess and it takes fire trucks to clean it up afterwards. While some believe La Tomatina first began
as the escalation of a small food fight, a tomato toss during a parade, or the response
to a performance by an ungifted musician, its origins are not exactly known. Its purpose, on the other hand, is. The event is meant to honor Luis Bertran and
the Virgin Mary, Bunol’s patron saints. The Battle of Oranges in Italy is a custom
based on a much less light-hearted event. It is meant to symbolize a myth about a horrible
marquis who tried to rape a woman who instead cut off his head. After he died, the people of the town staged
an uprising and stormed his castle. This revolt is what is symbolized through
three days of citrus-based fights. It begins when one woman is picked who pretends
to the be the one who killed the marquis. Then nine teams are created to represent both
commoners and royalty. Dressed in their battle best, they fight in
the streets of Ivrea that have been set aside as a makeshift battleground. For three whole days before Fat Tuesday begins,
every person, man, woman, or child throws oranges at the opposing teams and symbolically
kills them on contact. While an airborne orange doesn’t sound like
such a threat, it is not uncommon for many to develop bruises, cuts, and other wounds. Not as big as La Tomatina, the Battle of the
Oranges is Italy’s largest food fight. More than 500,000 pounds of fruit are used
and pulp covers the people and the streets. While many in La Tomatina and The Battle of
Oranges find themselves running from flying food, the English go a different direction
in a custom practiced at Cooper’s Hill. The Cooper Hill Cheese Roll competition is
an annual event of a quite unusual type. It requires participants to hurtle down a
steep hill to catch a wheel of cheese. However, like battles with an orange, this
event has its own types of hazards. Chris Anderson, the man who set a new record
by scoring 22 cheeses in 14 years, recently tore his left calf during the last 2018 competition. It’s no wonder people get hurt when the
speed of the cheese has clocked in at 70 miles per hour. And, on top of this, the competition itself
is quite intense. Anderson had to race against another participant
who wore something similar to a Speedo with boots to give himself the benefit of near-nude
aerodynamics. But why should it be people who have all of
the food-filled fun? An interesting custom in Lopburi, Thailand
includes some monkeys in the mayhem. In this part of the world the monkey is revered
as a descendant of a brave Hindu deity that rescued a woman from a demon. As their reward they receive a feast on November
25th of each year. This includes over 4,000 pounds of food, and
such things as watermelons, pineapples, and bananas. Monkeys are free to nibble on these treats
while grabbing a soda to drink. While some cultures enjoy sweet and succulent
foods, in some places they serve something a bit different. An example of this is Hakal, a specially prepared
dish served in Iceland. It is made of pieces of Greenland shark that
have been left out for at least six months. The reason this is necessary is because the
shark has no urinary tract so its’ wastes build up to toxic levels in its meat. Another potentially dangerous treat is consumed
in the regions of southeast Asia. It is made from the pangium edule fruit with
lethal amounts of hydrogen cyanide. After its shell is removed it must be boiled
and then fermented in leaves for a month. If this procedure is not properly followed,
a little taste of the fruit will be your last. When someone does die, death and burial customs
can be pretty strange as well. The Yanomami have a tradition where they take
the body of the deceased and burn it. While there’s nothing so unusual about this
first step, it gets much weirder very quickly. After the body has burned, they then blacken
their faces with its ash. Following this, they collect any remaining
bones and turn them into a powder that they mix with bananas. This makes a kind of banana soup and everyone
eats it together. To the Yanomami people this is the only known
way someone who dies can reach eternal peace. In Madagascar, they have a strange after-death
custom of their own. They exhume their ancestors’ remains every
five to seven years and replace their old clothes with new ones. Then, stranger still, those in the Merina
tribe dance with the clothed corpses. By the time the day ends they are returned
back to the tomb upside down until the procedure repeats again five to seven years later. Though no one has died, at the end of carnival
season, Spaniards engage in symbolic mourning. This is supposed to signal the end of festivities
and the beginning of Lent. On Ash Wednesday a procession known as the
Burial of the Sardine walks through the streets carrying a large fake fish. They walk through Madrid until they get to
the burial grounds and at this point they bury the sardine. The world is full of many strange and wonderful
different ways of doing things, but we think everybody can agree that the only way to build
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in the description or going to wix.com/go/infographics2019 Which of these customs is the strangest? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called What A Dollar Gets You Around The World! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
