Peace On Earth? Nah. My two front teeth? Got ‘em. White Snowfall? I don’t think so. Okay, what then could a woman, totally, okay, mostly removed from materialism, living in a complex and foreign culture, really want for this holiday season? Why a caganer, of course!
As you may remember, last Navidad season, I was bewitched with the tradition of Caca-Tio. Actually, I’d misheard the term Cagatio because this Tio is actually a log that shits presents for the children at Christmas. Really? Yup, you feed a log with a smiley face and two front legs every day for two weeks in hopes that you fatten him up to deliver. Just in case, you proceed to whack him with sticks and sing him songs on Christmas Eve and lo’ and behold, you have glorious gift-wrapped presents the next day.
But, that’s not what I want. I want a caganer.
This little 7 cm icon is deftly placed inside the sacred Nativity Scene (pessebre), hidden, as a token of good luck for the kids to find. I suspect that it had to be titillating so that the kids would spend the time actually observing the scene while they searched and well, that it had to be somewhat of an important representation of someone famous and/or respected in order to grace the manger. But, a shitting nun? A Pope? Good night. What they ended up with was an industry devoted to creating tiny little shitting figures. Ones that pay homage to history and yet, expose their buttocks. You can get Obama, Hillary or Castro. Or Futbolistas. But, unlike the USA, no actors. Sorry Brangelina.
What is the Catalan obsession with poop? Who knows. They don’t even know, or question it, for that matter. It doesn’t come up until a foreigner asks. Or a Spaniard. Who cares. It is still damn funny.
Fortunately, if you look them up on the website, they are only down the street from me. I am personally going for Messi, a nice gold-ball bearing Messi. Let me know, and I will pick one up for you, too!
