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Ever heard of this? It is a New Year's Eve tradition overhere (or Eve.... all day long in fact). It is a tradition to shoot carbide and to create huge noises. The tradition comes from an old pagan practice intended to chase off spirits.
How it works? Well... water and a small piece of carbide are put in a milk can with a lid.
The can is placed on a tyre to point it a bit upwards.
Then small pieces of carbide stone are placed in the milkcan together with a bit of water and the lid is
closed quickly a hammer (sometimes a football is used to close the can).
Nowadays (it is a very old tradition) the men even make their own cans to create an far louder sound.
Now the carbide reacts with the water and a gas is formed. Then ignition is done
with a long torch.
The gas explodes and with a short deep sound the lid is blown away. At the same time you can see,
for just a second, a large fire coming out of the can.
The distance a lid can be blown away is about the length of a football field. That is why they
attach the lid to the can with a rope.
The thrill for the men (always men...) is to make as much noise as possible with several cans in a row.
The bang is a very deep short sound, it makes you shake every time, it is really terrible for the ears
and even the windows in the houses move a little.
Sometimes it goes wrong, then there is just a lot of smoke. It goes without saying that this is not without danger.
Every year there are always a few people getting severely injured or even killed. A permit has to be asked for
the shooting, but nevertheless a lot of them are illegal.
This year there were four groups of guys around the village, the noise came from everywhere.
I was so glad the New Year started and the noise stopped!
How it works? Well... water and a small piece of carbide are put in a milk can with a lid.
The can is placed on a tyre to point it a bit upwards.
Then small pieces of carbide stone are placed in the milkcan together with a bit of water and the lid is
closed quickly a hammer (sometimes a football is used to close the can).
Nowadays (it is a very old tradition) the men even make their own cans to create an far louder sound.
Now the carbide reacts with the water and a gas is formed. Then ignition is done
with a long torch.
The gas explodes and with a short deep sound the lid is blown away. At the same time you can see,
for just a second, a large fire coming out of the can.
The distance a lid can be blown away is about the length of a football field. That is why they
attach the lid to the can with a rope.
The thrill for the men (always men...) is to make as much noise as possible with several cans in a row.
The bang is a very deep short sound, it makes you shake every time, it is really terrible for the ears
and even the windows in the houses move a little.
Sometimes it goes wrong, then there is just a lot of smoke. It goes without saying that this is not without danger.
Every year there are always a few people getting severely injured or even killed. A permit has to be asked for
the shooting, but nevertheless a lot of them are illegal.
This year there were four groups of guys around the village, the noise came from everywhere.
I was so glad the New Year started and the noise stopped!
AlistairJ
but it was great fun though...
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