If you go outside with wet hair...

In Hungary there are a number of superstitions/old wives tales that are taken very seriously. Some of these include:
-If you go barefoot on anything cold (tile floors) you will catch a cold.
-If you go outside or sleep with wet hair you will catch pneumonia.
-If a girl/woman sits on anything cold her ovaries will freeze and she will loose the ability to have children (akin to the Kyrgies belief that if you wear wet socks will you also loose your child bearing abilities...)
- Don't sit at the corner of a table, you won't get married.
-Don't drink ice cold beverages, you will get a sore throat.
-Don't clink your beer glass (as in Cheers!), there is a curse on it! (The curse expired in 1999 after 150 years, but most Hungarians either don't know this or still feel uncomfortable with it anyway.)
-Don't light your cigarette from a candle, you will kill a sailor.
-The woman must always walk on the man's right hand side, or she may be seen as a prostitute (there are a lot of variations on the reason...)

Most of us know that these things are not scientifically grounded, but people still observe these things very strictly. I can not tell you how many times someone has asked if I need a cushion to go on my chair because it is cold, or some old woman has yelled at me or another American because we ventured outside with wet hair. And then there is the yelling because your shirt accidentally slid up a little and your back is showing... you will surely die of some type of cold. It does not matter that germs cause colds... when I told a friend this he laughed at me. Not kidding. Laughed.

The point of this rant is that... I caught a cold this last week. I did not go to school on Thursday or Friday. I have not been wearing proper shoes since I have been here (just flip flops) and I definitely went to school with wet hair on Tuesday. I am now quite certain that even though I know that scientifically sitting on something cold will not freeze my ovaries, I have sat on many cold things in my life and I will never have children. I have also sat at the corner of many tables and should just sign into a convent tomorrow because it is hopeless. I don't smoke so I don't have to worry about killing any sailors and most of my guy friends ensure that I walk on their right side all the time.

If I die of pneumonia please blame it on the Hungarian superstitions. Thanks.