Several years back, I visited Iceland in the dead of winter. I was researching a book on global happiness, and the small Nordic nation intrigued me. What was this country, adrift in the freezing North Atlantic, doing 41 atop the world's happiness rankings?

 In pursuit of answers, I buttonholed anyone willing to talk, dined on rotten shark, drank excessively, and, of course, 42 a dip in the Blue Lagoon, the otherworldly geothermal waters that have become synonymous with Icelandic bliss. Shortly after I left, Iceland's largest banks 43 belly up and the nation's economy teetered on the verge of 

Words like stoical, practical and pragmatic are just a few words that could be applied to describe the stereotypical Spaniards. The word “superstitious” usually is not on the list. However, once a year in the run-up to Christmas, it seems that their rationality goes out the window and many people change their patterns of behavior radically for just a few weeks. To understand why, we first need to understand “the fat one.” “The fat one” refers to the 205-year-old Spanish Christmas Lottery, “El Gordo,” which is the biggest lottery in the world in terms of the total prize money on offer. Its fund structure allows many more winners than other conventional lottery draws. This hugely popular lottery draw first took place in 1812 and has been held on December 22 every year since then, even continuing through the Spanish Civil War and both World Wars. Winning numbers are drawn by children from Madrid's San Ildefonso school, which was originally a home for orphans of civil servants. The pupils deliver the results in a song by picking and singing out a lottery number from one big golden drum, and then its corresponding prize amount from the other drum. On this date, the streets of Spain are silent as everyone watches the broadcast of the El Gordo lottery draw, a love affair which can take over three hours. There are many superstitions about the El Gordo lottery tickets. Some people claim that rubbing your lottery ticket against a pregnant woman’s belly, a bald man’s head or a cat’s back will make it a winner. In the northwestern region of Galicia, lottery players hang their tickets on horseshoes. In other regions, people tuck their ticket next to a figure of the Virgin Mary. Some Spaniards believe that the key to good luck comes in the form of an actual key, so they carry an old iron key in their pocket with the lottery ticket.