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According to Spanish tradition, on the night before January 6th, the same three wise men who visited Jesus when he was born fly around Spain on their three camels, land on the roofs of houses, rappel down to each balcony, break in, and leave gifts for the little girls and boys who have been good all year long. They especially make sure to fill the shoes that the little children have left out for that purpose. Does this sound at all familiar to my American audience?
I learned a lot of this last night as it was being explained to my daughter why her shoes needed to be polished. Apparently first impressions are important in this arena. So we each set out our shoes last night for the Wise Men to find and fill with goodies.
Cleaning our shoes is fun!
But not as fun as waving your arms in the air while someone else cleans your shoes for you!
Can you tell who each of these shoes belongs to?
And the next morning…
Woohoo! A present came!
We weren’t sure which shoe it was closest to, so we opened it together. It was a nice doll with a shirt that makes crinkly noises. We decided that, since Nora was the only one that polished her shoes, she probably deserved the present more than the grownups did.
I had a hilarious encounter with an elderly neighbor yesterday. He was ranting about the dire effects of globalization and the Yankee societal cancer. The upshot was that the Americans must think we’re idiots; “it’s just not possible for Santa Claus to be in Madrid, Barcelona and Caceres all on one night.” When asked about the difference between Santa and the Wise Men, he responded, “that’s different; they’re magic.” So, straight from the camel’s mouth, now you know.