India’s BollywoodBollywood is the name given to the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. When combined with other Indian film industries (Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada), it is considered to be the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced, and maybe also the number of tickets sold. The term Bollywood was created by conflating Bombay (the city now called Mumbai) and Hollywood (the famous center of the United States film industry).

Bollywood films are usually musicals. Few movies are made without at least one song-and-dance number. Indian audiences expect full value for their money; they want songs and dances, love interest, comedy and dare-devil thrills, all mixed up in a three hour long extravaganza with intermission. Such movies are called masala movies, after the spice mixture masala. Like masala, these movies have everything.

The plots are often melodramatic. They frequently employ formulaic ingredients such as star-crossed lovers, corrupt politicians, twins separated at birth, conniving villains, angry parents, courtesans with hearts of gold, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences.

Bollywood song and danceWhile most actors, especially today, are excellent dancers, few are also singers. Songs are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers with actors lip-synching the words, often while dancing. so […]

The dancing in Bollywood films, especially

older ones, is primarily modeled on Indian dance: classical dance styles, dances of historic northern Indian courtesans (tawaif), or folk dances. In modern films, Indian dance elements often blend with Western dance styles (as seen on MTV or in Broadway musicals), though it is not unusual to see Western pop and pure classical dance numbers side by side in the same film. The hero or heroine will often perform with a troupe of supporting dancers, usually of the same sex. If the hero and heroine dance and sing a pas-de-deux (a dance and ballet term, meaning "dance of two"), it is often staged in beautiful natural surroundings or architecturally grand settings.

What is Bollywood dancing? Bollywood dancing is a commercial name for modern Indian dancing. It's a combination of classical Indian dance (which is the base), folk dancing such as Bhangra and sometimes has a Latino and Arabic influence. It's fun and very expressive and there's a lot of deep meaning behind music in the films. You can actually express what the music means, through the graceful movements of the body.

Taken from http://www.bollywoodworld.com/whatisbollywood/

Japanese and Western Origami

East

The art of paper folding arose in China during the first or second century A.D. By the sixth century, it had spread to Japan. In this small island country, paper was a scarce, treasured material initially confined to the wealthy nobility.

As trade made paper increasingly available and affordable, the art of origami became popular among rich and poor alike. However, the Japanese never lost the impulse to save even the tiniest scraps of paper to fold into miniature origami models. The oldest surviving publication about origami, the Senbazuru Orikata ("How to Fold One Thousand Cranes"), appeared in 1797. The first comprehensive collection of origami figures, the Kan no modo ("Window on Midwinter"), was published in 1845.

West

Meanwhile, the Moors, Muslims from North Africa, brought paper folding to Spain when they invaded in the eighth century. Although their religion proscribed the making of representational figures, they were keen mathematicians and astronomers who were fascinated with the geometry of tessellation and the folding properties of the square.

Even after the Moors were expelled in 1492, the tradition of paper folding survived in Spain, to be revived and rejuvenated by the poet and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936). He created a number of original models, including a gorilla, a teapot, and a vulture. Through his followers, the art spread to South America, and by the 1930s, origami was enjoying a vogue in both Spain and South America.

As global trade introduced Japanese aesthetics to the rest of the world during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, origami gained popularity steadily. The influential educator Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) included ornamental paper folding in his kindergarten movement which he introduced in Germany around 1835.

Paper folding was a popular children's pastime in Victorian England, and John Tenniel's famous illustrations for Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll feature two simple paper hats. These hats are typical examples of the type of origami popular in the West, where, until recent years, it has been practiced mostly by children and has not been revered as an art, as in Japan.

Taken from: http://web.archive.org/web/20001008002845/http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~vbeatty/exhibit_archive/origami1/history/origins.html

Dia de los Muertos:The Dead Come to Life in Mexican Folk ArtBy Mary Jane Gagnier Mendoza

For foreigners, the traditions and celebrations in Mexican homes and cemeteries during the Day of the Dead seem strange, if not incomprehensible. There is mourning and rejoicing; sadness and silliness - woven together into one emotional fabric.

To me, it's like welcoming the return of a dear friend or relative, who moved far away and visits just once a year. Mexicans try very hard to be with their families for this fiesta, as the living and the dead gather for the most complete of family reunions.

The Day of the Dead activities actually span several days, beginning late at night Oct. 31, when the spirits of dead children (angelitos) start arriving, followed by adult spirits sometime during Nov. 1. They leave, after joining in a family meal, on Nov. 2. Although exact times for the spirits' entrances

vary from pueblo to pueblo, the angelitos always arrive ahead of the adults. […]

Mexicans have a distinct view of themselves in the afterlife. First, you keep your identity, since to return to this world for the Day of the Dead, you must remain who you were. This explains the profusion of skeletons of all sizes, doing ordinary day-to-day things. If uncle José was a barber, he continues as a barber after death. Placing a skeleton figure of a barber on your altar reaffirms to uncle José that he has not been forgotten on his spiritual return.

Most Oaxacan homes have a highly adorned Day of the Dead altar. Sugar skulls with the names of dead loved ones inscribed in their icing indicate to the returning spirits that they have indeed returned to the right spot, where the living await their arrival. The altar is a sort of landing pad and its objects serve as signals to guide the spirits home.

Throughout the year, but especially during the Day of the Dead season, calacas, or skeletons, are displayed in shops throughout the city. In the Abastos market, for a few pesos each, you'll find cardboard, wire and cotton-ball figures depicting nearly every walk of life. The more upscale folk art stores display elaborate ceramic and paper mache calacas, individually signed by renowned Mexican folk artists.

Dia de los Muertos:The Dead Come to Life in Mexican Folk Art

For foreigners, the traditions and celebrations in Mexican homes and cemeteries during the Day of the Dead seem strange, if not incomprehensible. There is mourning and rejoicing; sadness and silliness - woven together into one emotional fabric.

To me, it's like welcoming the return of a dear friend or relative, who moved far away and visits just once a year. Mexicans try very hard to be with their families for this fiesta, as the living and the dead gather for the most complete of family reunions.

THE SPIRIT OF POSADA

The name Posada and lively skeletons are linked as few other icons of contemporary Day of the Dead culture. Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) popularized Mexico's life of the dead in bitingly satiric, mass-produced etchings and lithographs that have enthralled Mexicans for generations.

By depicting social and political personalities as calaveras, Posada's posters achieved lasting and unrivaled popularity. By caricaturing his targets in their bare bones, his scathing and often risky political satire became funnier and thus more acceptable. In his posters, priests, politicians, farmers and streetsweepers

share the same destiny - death, an end neither money nor power can outwit. For a country living in extreme social inequality during the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship, the idea of the rich and poor alike one day rubbing elbows (if only bone to bone) was attractive to the masses.

Posada's handprinted calaveras, accompanied by witty social commentary in rhyming verse, reached the farthest corners of the Mexican Republic. To this day, his work pervades the image and spirit of Mexican folk artists. The Catrina, an upperclass lady of the turn-of-the-century always depicted in her broad-brimmed hat, has become a classic in Mexican folk art and is displayed prominently in many store windows. The images can be found in everything from fine ceramic and artistic paper mache figures, to inexpensive papel picados and plaster miniatures.

Nothing is static about Posada's calaveras (mischievous skeletons). They are always up to something, going somewhere or, as in the Calavera Oaxaquena, just raising hell.

Taken from http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/flamenco/

Dia de Muertos:The Dead Come to Life in Mexican Folk ArtBy Mary Jane Gagnier Mendoza

For foreigners, the traditions and celebrations in Mexican homes and cemeteries during the Day of the Dead seem strange, if not incomprehensible. There is mourning and rejoicing; sadness and silliness - woven together into one emotional fabric.

To me, it's like welcoming the return of a dear friend or relative, who moved far away and visits just once a year. Mexicans try very hard to be with their families for this fiesta, as the living and the dead gather for the most complete of family reunions.

THE ALTARS AND THE ROLE OF EPHEMERA

No exploration of the Day of the Dead would be complete without a discussion of the empheral creations used in its celebration. Most of the elaborate Day of the Dead altars found in Oaxacan homes are adorned with authentic works of art meant to last no longer than the fiesta itself.

To Western culture oriented to preserving everything as long as possible, it may seem strange to expend so much labor on objects having no other purpose than to be consumed and destroyed. Mexicans, especially indigenous Oaxacans, see themselves as empheral beings in an empheral world. To enjoy material objects, yet be willing to relinquish them, is totally natural to them.

Nothing is more empheral than the sugar used to make elaborate skulls, angels, and animals for the Day of the Dead. Saving these items for the following year would never occur to Oaxacans. Children used to wait all year for parents to buy them calaveras de azucar with their names inscribed in the icing. Today, chocolate skulls are replacing the sugar ones, but the tradition of eating sweet skulls is as alive as ever.

Papel picados - intricately cut tissue paper banners depicting scenes of skeletons dancing, drinking and otherwise celebrating - are strung along the edge of altars, creating a lacey border. Non-Mexicans often ask how to preserve them. "You shouldn't," I say, "because they were never made for that." Such emphemera celebrate other events and fiestas as well. White tissue paper is used for weddings. Red, white and green commemorate Independence Day. A riot of color surrounds the Day of the Dead. When fiestas end, papel picados are left to fly in the open air until rain reduces them to nothing.

Spanish Flamenco

Flamenco is a genuine Spanish art form, or, to be more exact, a genuine Southern Spanish art. It exists in three forms: el cante, the song, el baile, the dance, and la guitarra, the guitar playing. Gypsies are often credited with the "invention" of flamenco, and it is at least certain that they played an important part in its creation. But the popular songs and dances of Andalusia also had a major influence on early Flamenco.

First there were the legendary Tartessos, and later, nine centuries of Muslim occupation. Neither passed without leaving an imprint on Andalusian culture, and both influenced flamenco, directly and indirectly. The earliest mention of flamenco in literature is in Las Cartas Marreucas of Cadalso, in 1774.

During its Golden Age (1869-1910), flamenco developed into its definitive form in the epoch´s numerous music cafés (cafés cantantes). Flamenco´s most intense form, cante jondo, expressing deep feelings, dates from this period. And in the cafés cantantes, the art of flamenco dance rose to new heights as the dancers became the major attraction.

Cante JondoThe role of the guitar reached its peak during the café cantante years, as well, with the guitar developing into an essential part of the flamenco art form. From 1910 to 1955 flamenco singing was marked by the ópera flamenca, with an easier kind of music such as fandangos and cantes de ida y vuelta-the latter clearly showing South American influences. From 1915 onwards flamenco shows were organized and performed all over the world. However, not everyone was happy with that development and in 1922 a group of intellectuals, among them Manuel de Falla, organized a contest in Granada to promote "authentic" cante jondo.

Modern day flamenco frequently shows influences of other kinds of music, such as jazz, salsa, bossa nova, etc. And flamenco dance has changed, with female dancers often showcasing their temperament more than their artistry.

Taken from http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/flamenco/

French Polynesia: Tattoos The people of the Polynesian islands have evolved their own distinct culture over hundreds, even thousands of years. Though there are many islands in this area, the people all came from a common homeland – though no one is exactly sure where this might have been, or when they came or how.

  Sacred art performed by shamans

According to the mythology, the 2 sons of the God of Creation Ta’aroa taught the art of tattooing to humans. It was a tapu or sacred art form. It was performed by shamans (tahua) who were highly trained in the religious ritual, the meaning of the designs and technical aspects of the art. The designs and their location on the body were determined by one's genealogy, position within the society and personal achievements.In preparation for the tattooing, one would have to undergo a period of cleansing. This generally involved fasting for a specified length of time and abstaining from sexual intercourse or contact with women.

  Traditional tattoo designs

The traditional tattoo designs, which disappeared after their ban by the first missionaries, reappeared recently thanks to the notes and sketches of over 400 drawings made by missionary Karl Von Steinen! Traditional designs used to represent one’s life history, island of origin, social level, work and activities. These motives were also related to seduction. A fisherman for example could have symbols protecting him from sharks, or a warrior against his enemies. Mystic symbols represented past ancestors - chiefs and shamans - and the gods (Tiki). These symbols would confer honor amongst the tribe and protection from gods (against natural dangers and evil spirits). These mystic symbols are closely related to the mana – the spiritual force. The mana was inherited from ancestors but the people were supposed to develop and master this power.  Tahiti Tatou strives to help you get your custom meaningful tattoo design.

Polynesian Tattoo today

Today, you will find many places to get tattooed in French Polynesia (see the list of tattooists). The most popular and appreciated designs are the tiki, the turtle, the gecko, the ray, the shark, the dolphin, as well as many abstracts symbolic designs.

Taken from  http://www.freetattoodesigns.org/polynesian-tattoos.html

French Polynesian Tattoos The people of the Polynesian islands have evolved their own distinct culture over

hundreds, even thousands of years. Though there are many islands in this area, the people all came from a common homeland – though no one is exactly sure

where this might have been, or when they came or how.

  Sacred art performed by shamansAccording to the mythology, the 2 sons of the God of Creation Ta’aroa taught the art of tattooing to humans. It was a tapu or sacred art form. It was performed by shamans (tahua) who were highly trained in the religious ritual, the meaning of the designs and technical aspects of the art. The designs and their location on the body were determined by one's genealogy, position within the society and personal achievements.

  Tattooing indicated status

Tattooing was begun at adolescence. Teenagers (around 12 years) were tattooed to mark the passage between childhood and adulthood. Different tattoos were added with the passing of years. The more a man was tattooed, the more prestige he had. Tattooing was not only a sign of wealth, but also a sign of strength and power. Therefore chiefs and warriors generally

had the most elaborate tattoos. Men without any tattoo were despised, whereas those whose bodies were completely tattooed – the to’oata – were greatly admired.

The tattooing of womenGirls right hand was tattooed by the age of twelve. Only after that were they allowed to prepare the meals and to participate in the rubbing of dead bodies with coconut oil. The tattoos of women were less extensive than the tattoos seen on men; generally being limited to the hand, arms, feet, ears and lips. Women of rank or wealth may have their legs tattooed as well.

Tiki TattoosAll Polynesian statues and carvings that depict a human figure are known as Tiki art. The word tiki refers to the mythical ancestor and first human called... Tiki.

Temples were the home of those large wooden Tiki statues, who have tattoo patterns on the hands and the face.

Nowadays, the Tiki figure has a certain popularity as a tattoo design.

Taken from http://www.freetattoodesigns.org/polynesian-tattoos.html

The History of Polynesian Tattoo in Tahiti and French

PolynesiaThe origin of the English word 'tattoo' actually comes from the Tahitian word 'tatau' and goes back as far as 1500 BC. In ancient Polynesian society, nearly everyone was tattooed. It was an integral part of ancient Tahitian culture and was much more than a body ornament.

Tattooing indicated ones genealogy and/or status in society. It was a sign of wealth, of strength and of the ability to endure pain. As such, chiefs and warriors generally had the most elaborate tattoos. Tattooing was generally begun at adolescence, and would often not be completed for a number of years. Tattooing was not limited to men. Tahitian women were also tattooed – it was an indication of a girl’s sexual maturity.

With the arrival of Europeans, came a dramatic change to both tattooing and the culture in general. Captain Cook and others returned from the Pacific with tales of exotic islands, of "savage" cultures indulging in erotic dance and bizarre rituals. One of these rituals was tattooing. It wasn’t until the arrival of the missionaries that this art form was nearly killed. Considered to be a sinful glorification of the skin, the missionaries strictly forbid tattoo. Fortunately the art of tattooing was well documented and it is only in recent years (since 1981) that tattooing has enjoyed a renaissance. Today, Tahitian tattoo has again gained recognition as a highly respected art form and is sought by travelers the world over.

Traditional Tahitian TattooTraditional Tahitian tattoo is the tattoo practice originally invented by my ancestors. The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian word tautau. Tautau was the sound made by tattooing -- tat tat. Traditional tattoo involves the creation of traditional tattooing tools called tatatau. The tools consist of a comb with anywhere from 3-20 needles and are carved from bone, shell or shark’s teeth. These “needles” are placed on the skin and the handle is tapped with a second wooden stick, causing the skin to puncture thus inserting the pigment.

Traditional Tattoo in Tahiti The tools are made specifically for you, used only on you and you get to take them home when finished. It takes two artists to do traditional tattoo -- one to stretch the skin and the other to do the tat-tau-ing. Traditional tattooing was banned in 1986 by the Tahiti-based French Ministry of Health due to the difficulty in sterilizing the wooden and bone equipment but was allowed again in 2001. There are only seven artists left in Tahiti who still practice this art form. I happen to be one of them.

Chinese New YearChinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon 15 days later of the lunar calendar. The corresponding date in the solar calendar varies from as early as January 21st to as late as February 19th. Chinese New Year, as the Western New Year, signifies as a turning over a new leaf - representing the importance of family ties, a time for family reunions.

The 15th day of the New Year is celebrated as a ‘Lantern Festival’, displaying thousands of lighting lantern at night and children carrying lanterns in a procession on streets.

Chinese Lunar CalendarThe Chinese calendar is based on a movement of lunar and solar cycle. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days, Chinese ads an additional month after few years-say 7 years after 19- year cycle to adjust the solar calendar. This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. Due to this solar calendar, the Chinese New Year does not have any fixed date and falls on a different date each year.

Chinese New Year-A Traditional Celebration The Chinese New Year is perhaps the most exciting, colorful, and resplendent festival of all Chinese celebrations. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated with all rituals and with full enthusiasm. It is a family affair, a time of reunion and thanks giving occasion. The religious ceremony is traditionally performed with celebrations, in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. Common expressions heard at this time are Guonian to have made it through the Old Year, and Bainian to congratulate the New Year. Expired ones are remembered with due respect and honor, as they are the milestones, responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and eminence of the family. The communal feast is organized at this occasion known as "surrounding the stove" or Weilu. It epitomizes the family unity and tribute the past and present generations.

The New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrationsMembers of the family would gather in evening for a prestigious family supper of the New Year’s Eve. At midnight, following the feast, the younger members of the family would bow and pay their respects to their parents and elders.

The New Year Day is of great importance to children, they are given Red Lai- See Envelopes- a good luck money wrapped in little red envelopes. On this day everyone wears on new clothes, and show on his finest manners. Telling a lie, raising up one’s tone, using indecent language, or break anything on the first day of the year considered as a disgraceful. People visit friends and relatives, taking with them gifts and Lai-See for the children. Traditional New Year delicacies are offered during this occasion, such as melon seeds, flowers, fruits and trays, along with Niangao - New Year cakes.

http://china.tourism-asia.net/chinese-new-year.html

Native Americans: Navajo SandpaintingsNavajo sandpainting textiles come from an area near Shiprock in northwestern New Mexico. Sandpaintings, also called dry paintings, are called "places where the gods come and go" in the Navajo language. They are used in curing ceremonies in which the gods' help is requested for harvests and healing. The figures in sand paintings are symbolic representations of a story in Navajo mythology. They depict objects like the sacred mountains where the gods live, or legendary visions, or they illustrate dances or chants performed in rituals.

The Navajos, or Diné (“the People”), have created a rich cosmology of gods, or Holy People, who are represented by nearly everything, including the four sacred plants (corn, squash, beans, tobacco), clouds, animals, stars, lightening, thunder, etc. According to Navajo myth, as a reward to a hero, the Holy People bestowed upon the Diné the right to create transient pictures in sand of their own sacred designs, which the gods drew on spiders' webs, sheets of sky, clouds, fog, buckskin, and fabric.

Curing ceremonies in which sandpaintings are drawn help restore hózhó, which is variously translated as beauty, balance, harmony, or holiness. Navajos try to live in harmony with Mother Earth and Father Sky, and all of nature. But they also believe that hózhó is difficult to maintain because of witchcraft, evil spirits, violated taboos, and the fact that the Holy People are sensitive and easily offended. Ceremonies can last up to nine days, with four or more sand paintings created in that time.

During the ceremony, the patient is seated on the sandpainting facing east, the direction from which the Holy People come. Evil or illness is replaced by the healing power of the gods depicted in the painting. Guardians of the gods can be represented by the moon, the sun, or animals such as bats, buffalos, snakes, beavers, or otters.. When the ritual is completed, members of the audience approach the painting and rub sand on themselves, thus participating in the healing ceremony and bringing harmony to themselves. The sandpainting is then ceremonially destroyed in the reverse order of its creation, and buried to dispose of all

absorbed evil, preventing it from angering the Holy People.

How are sandpaintings made?Sandpaintings are made with sand, colored charcoal, pollen, corn meal, white gypsum, red sandstone, yellow ocher, and crushed flower petals. The colors used are symbolic, and also represent the four sacred mountains of the Navajos: white, meaning east or dawn (White Shell Mountain, or Sierra Blanca Peak in Colorado); yellow, for the west or twilight (Abalone Shell Mountain, or San Francisco Peak in Arizona); black (male), meaning north or darkness (Coal Mountain or Hesperus Peak in Colorado); blue

(female), for the south or sky (Turquoise Mountain, or Mount Taylor in New Mexico); and red for sunshine. The borders are garlands to ward off evil, such as rainbows, interconnected arrowheads, sunflowers, or multicolored mirages.

Healing: The Navajo Sand PaintingThe Navajo word for sandpaintings means "place where the gods come and go." The sandpainting has been used for centuries in religious rituals, including healing

ceremonies performed by Navajo medicine men. A sandpainting for a ceremony is made on the ground in the ceremonial hogan and destroyed at the end of the ritual.

The Navajos have a complex series of healing ceremonies, or chants. They are designed to restore harmony to the patient, or as the Navajos say, "hózhó." Some of these Navajo ceremonies last as long as nine days and nights. Ordinarily, on each of these nights, the medicine man directs the making of a sandpainting that illustrates an allegory used in the ceremony. According to tradition, the sandpainting must be ceremoniously destroyed before dawn, or dreadful taboos can be inflicted upon the Singer and/or patient. The problem in making a sandpainting textile or rug, it cannot be destroyed. Therefore, it was believed that dire consequences would come to the weaver of a sandpainting.

According to legends, the Holy People kept paintings of sacred designs on spiders' webs, sheets of sky, clouds, fog, fabric and buckskin. These holy designs were an integral part of the Gods' own religious ceremonies recounting the lessons of life. The Holy People bestowed upon the Dine the right to create transitory illustrations of these paintings.

The Navajo copies of the gods' paintings are used in their own sacred rituals, usually the illustration of an allegory within a healing ceremony. The Dineh copies of the Holy People pictures assume the form of sandpaintings depicting anthropomorphic supernaturals, the four sacred plants (corn, beans, squash and tobacco), clouds, animals and numerous other objects. Usually, sandpaintings are made inside the Navajo home, the hogan, an eight sided, cribbed-log dwelling. The paintings often are laid out on a one- to three-inch-thick bed of fresh sand that has been smoothed with a wooden weaving-batten, though sometimes a buckskin or cloth serves as a surface.

The principal sandpainting colors--white, blue, yellow, and black--convey symbolic meaning and are linked with the Four Sacred Mountains marking the boundaries of Dinetah, the traditional tribal universe.

 

French Cuisine   Culture of French Food French cuisine is extremely diverse, with only the Chinese having similar variety in their food. This variety is supported by the French passion for good food in all its forms, France's extraordinary range of different geographies and climates which support the local production of all types of ingredients, and France's long and varied history. In many ways, an understanding of the

culture of French food is an understanding of France itself.  Regional influences on French foodAlmost all the famous French dishes are regional specialities, some of which have become popular throughout France (such as Coq au Vin and Foie Gras) while others are mainly enjoyed in the regions in which they originate. Although regional specialities are often offered throughout France, the quality of ingredients and preparation is often superior in their region of origin.

Each region, in addition to boasting local specialities, also has a general style of cooking and choice of ingredients. For example, in Provence the food typically features olive oil, herbs and tomatoes. The evolution of regional cooking styles has been influenced by:

The French Mediterranean uses olive oil, herbs and tomatoes in many of its dishes. The cuisine of northwest France uses butter, soured cream (crème fraiche) and apples. The cuisine of northeast France (Alsace, and to a lesser extent Lorraine) has a strong German influence which includes beer and sauerkraut. Throughout the south in general there tends to be more use of vegetables and fruit (in part due to the favourable climate). Near the Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean there is a greater consumption of sea food, while inland areas favoured by rivers (e.g. the Loire valley) use more fresh water fish.

Wine and cheeseAside from bread and water, the most common accompaniments to a French meal are wine and cheese. Unlike other countries, in France wine is considered a standard part of everyday meals, and is neither expensive nor reserved for special occasions. With everyday meals, ordinary wines are served, although it is expected that the style of wine match the style of food (see French Wine for further information).

In addition to its use in cooking, cheese is often served as a course in itself. In this case, it is served after the main meal but before dessert. This typically consists of a platter with three or four different cheeses, from which guests can slice pieces according to their preferences. Sliced bread (e.g. slices of a baguette) are typically provided at the same time.

Taken from:  http://www.france-property-and-information.com/french_food.htm

Egyptians, if offered anything, will refuse the first invitation, which is customary, so therefore (unless you're dealing with Egyptians used to western frankness) you should do the same. If the offer is from the heart, and not just politeness, it will be repeated. If you're invited into a home, especially in small villages, and have to refuse, the householder will often press for a promise from you to visit in the future, usually for a meal. If you make such a promise, keep it, for having foreign guests is often considered a social coup.  If you fail to arrive, your would-be host will be humiliated. To repay invitations, you may host a dinner in a restaurant, a common practice.

Tipping is a way of life in Egypt, if someone does something you would consider as an extra effort, he expects to be tipped. You should only tip if you feel you want to, you are under no pressure to do so, but it would leave a good impression, and many Egyptian people survive on very little. 

Tip appropriately and please, don't give small notes or coins as a tip to people who helped you all the way throughout your trip, such as drivers, tour leaders, and tour escorts, it would be an insult to them, Also, do not offer tips to professionals, businessmen, or others who would consider themselves your equals, as you may seriously offend them by your act.

http://www.ask-aladdin.com/culture1.htm