Gesticulations and Vocalizations

I've made many mentions of the Indian head bobbling. As was suggested by my parents' next door neighbor I would soon be bobbling. He was most certainly correct. I bobble my head now. Perhaps not with the voracity of natives, but it happens from time to time. Of course I have maintained my ability to SHAKE for NO and NOD for YES, I think this helps me out. It's very clear what I mean when asked a question.

In Lebanese I've been catching a little flack for being a bobble head. So I've been looking for Lebanese idiosyncrasies actively. I notice two particular things, one is apparently pan-mediterranean, and the other is more specifically a Lebanese thing (although perhaps has a German relative, and maybe the rest of europe as well).

The hand thing I call it. Most of the time it's a little subtle. It is a motion that people here make when they are talking even casually. It basically looks like the speaker is shooing away a fly at chest level combined with the hand signal for "come on."
It is usually subtle, but I find myself just picking up the faintest hint of it. When Mediterraneans get animated the hand starts going. It is especially apparent during dancing. The hand goes all the way to the sky with the arm slightly bent and the hand curled all the way so that the palm faces outward and the thumb and forefinger making an 'L'. Just watch some videos of 'dabke' to see what I mean.

The second thing which is perhaps more lebanese is a small vocalization of "oof" or more like 'if' or 'eif' or 'uf'. I definitely picked up this habit at home. However, I say "oof" or even "foof" combining my grandfather's "fooey" with "oof." This is said when we Americans might say "yeesh" or "yikes" or "oh my" or "ouch" perhaps "wow" with an extra pinch of pity thrown in for good measure. The funny thing about the way it is said here and the way I say it is that I lower the pitch of voice. The Lebanese raise the pitch of their voice significantly. So walking around Beirut you can hear grown men in fairly high pitched voices saying "iff" or however you spell it.

It's highly amusing to me, but I like the particular sound much better than I like the head bobbling. I guess it really comes from the idea that I actually understand its meaning whereas the head bobble, well, let's just say it's one of those things you never understand, you just get used to.