CATALAN XMAS

MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

To make it a little bit catalanish... i'll explain you something we do here, annalisa knows it already and i think she liked it!

However, please, try to put some imagination on it okay?


So... this is what we call EL CAGA TIÓ and there's no translation for it... maybe "The Tió that shits??"



So, this is....maybe you are thinking as Annalisa thought " a wood with a face?? crazy catalan people!" and i would say...yes! but let me explain.


This trunk is supposed to be alive, so that's not just a piece of wood, it's something very special. Usually, two weeks before christmas, you take it from wherever you have been hiding it the rest of the year, and put him in a confortable place, probably next to the christmas tree and cover him with a blanket, as we don't want him to get a cold, we want him to shit presents!!


So, every night, before going to sleep, the kids of the house put next to him some food, biscuits, milk, fruits.... and surprisengly, the next morning the food is gone!! ( i think my father ate a lot because of that!), so it's like fedding him for two weeks.


And then the day come!! Well, it depends on the family weather you do it on the 24th night or the 25th. I'll explain exactly what we do in my place.


We meet on the 24th evening. We take some little trunks, ou umbrellas and hit him (softely) while singing special "caga tió" songs. After that we go to another room where we have a piano and also a small representation of Jesus birth, and the kings (look at the pic) .... there we sing 2 or 3 xmas songs... (while my mother puts the presents under the blanket) and then the kids run and discover all the presents for all the family!! it's so great!!


Look! Even in this representation of Jesus birth called "pessebre" by the way, there's a small caga tió!!



we do it several times, and....how can we know when the tió is not going to "shit" more? well, on the last shit, instead of presents, the tradition is find some sweets, chocolates or so, and also some sugar coal. The coal is because on the 6th we do the kings day (I'll explain it) but if you want to get presents, you have to behave well, otherwise you will get just coal!! So the TIO gives some coal the remind us that we have to be very nice childs!!



By now, you probably think we are crazy, but I promise you that when you are a child, and you believe that it's more than magic....waiting for that day seems too long!! However...the day when you are 7 years old, and you start suspecting and for some reason you discover it...it's quite sad... then you will always miss being an innocent child!

So, that was my piece of catalan knowledge, I hope you were interested and that you liked it!

I LOVE YOU!!!