Merry Christmas / Feliz Navidad / Bon Nadal from Barcelona. Yes, that is a picture of George Bush defecating. There is a rather peculiar Christmas tradition here in Catalonia; in the nativity scene, amongst baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Joseph, there is a figurine nonchalantly installed in a corner. It is the caganer (literally, the one who shits). He usually takes the form of a peasant with a red hat. But nuns, Presidents, football players, Osama Bin Ladens, always with their pants down, are pretty common as well. None of my Catalan students have been able to provide adequate explanations of the presence of this intriguing little fella, but there is something quite strange about the Catalans and their scatalogical obsessions. Instead of Christmas stockings, they have the cagatio (the shitting log). A log is covered in a blanket and the children beat it with sticks and sing a song that goes "if you don't shit well, I will hit you" and presents come out of it. Needless to say, I am quite enjoying my time in Catalonia.
My Christmas has been great. I had latkes and played dreidel. I also discovered that the TV in my apartment has ten channels of music videos. I have been sitting in front of the TV for the last two days, drooling.
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