Christmas in Barcelona, like a local! PART 1: How to make a Nativity at home.

Setting up the Nativity (pessebre in Catalan or belén in Spanish) is a family ritual that children love! Christmas isn't Christmas without a Pessebre!
So since I figure you aren't much familiar with this tradition, here are some instructions on how to set a Catalan Pessebre.

STEP ONE: GOING SHOPPING
- Visit a local Christmas Market (the two best are in front of the Old Cathedral and in front of the Sagrada Familia church). There, buy a miniature stable, little figures of the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the mule and the bull, an angel to hang on top of your stable, a star, the Three Wise Men and their pages, a "Caganer" and as many shepperds and other decoration stuff as you like. Get also some starry-night paper, a couple of oak three trunks and some muss.



STEP TWO: PREPARING THE SETTING
- Back home, free a shelf of books and anything you keep there, cover it with some old newspapers (to protect the shelf) and pin the night-paper on the wall as background.
- Then place the Stable in a corner, and hang the star above on the wall.
- Put the oak tree trunks as the mountains at the back, lying against the wall and the night-paper.
- Use some sawdust to create a path accross the shelf, a line of aluminum foil to make a river, and cover what's left of the shelf with muss (it'll be the grass).
- As final touch, use thyme branches as trees, flour as snow...



STEP THREE: PUTTING THE FIGURES IN THE RIGHT PLACE
- The Stable: Put the Holy Family and the bull and mule inside, and hang the angel on the edge of the rooftop.
- Put the three Wise Men with their camels and pages in the opposite end of the path leading to the stable.
- Put some figures of knealing shepperds in front of the Stable, and some walking shepperds along the path.
- Hide the Caganer somewhere where it's hard to see it.
- Other traditional elements of any good Nativity: the Anunciation group (shepperds around the fire + angel on a tree), well, bridge over the river, houses on top of the mountain, sheep, poultry and other animals.



STEP FOUR: THE NATIVITY DAYLY LIFE!
- The Three Wise Men: Every day you must move them one step closer to the Stable, so that they arrive there on January 6th, the Epifany Day.
- The Caganer: Weren't you wondering why would you have a figure hidden so nobody can see it? That's precisely the point! When you have guests, make sure to challenge them to find your perfectly hidden pooing-man! (at least, that's what all kids do here!)