The Sandpiper ... to bring you joy!
By Ruth Peterson
She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sand castle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea.
'Hello,' she said.
I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child.
'I am building,' she said.
'I see that. What is it?' I asked, not really caring. 'Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand.' That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided by.
'That's a joy,' the child said.
'It's a what?'
"It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy.'
The bird went gliding down the beach.
'Good-bye joy', I muttered to myself, 'Hello pain', and turned to walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance.
'What's your name?' She wouldn't give up.
'Robert,' I answered. 'I'm Robert Peterson.'
'Mine's Wendy... I'm six.'
'Hi, Wendy.' She giggled. 'You're funny,' she said.
In spite of my gloom, I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me.
'Come again, Mr. P,' she called. 'We'll have another happy day.'
After a few days of a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and an ailing mother, the sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. 'I need a sandpiper', I said to myself, gathering up my coat.
The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed.
'Hello, Mr. P,' she said. 'Do you want to play?'
'What did you have in mind?' I asked, with a twinge of annoyance.
'I don't know. You say.'
'How about charades?' I asked sarcastically. The tinkling laughter burst forth again.
'I don't know what that is.'
'Then let's just walk.'
Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face. 'Where do you live?' I asked.
'Over there.' She pointed toward a row of summer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter.
'Where do you go to school?'
'I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on vacation.'
She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day.
Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.
Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home.
'Look, if you don't mind,' I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, 'I'd rather be alone today.' She seemed unusually, pale and out of breath. 'Why?' she asked.
I turned to her and shouted, 'Because my mother died!' and thought, 'My God, why was I saying this to a little child?'
'Oh,' she said quietly, 'then this is a bad day.'
'Yes,' .I said, 'and yesterday and the day before and - oh, go away!'
'Did it hurt?' she inquired.
'Did what hurt?' I was exasperated with her and with myself.
"When she died?' she asked.
'Of course it hurt!' I snapped, misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strode off.
A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there.
Feeling guilty, ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey-coloured hair opened the door.
'HelIo,' I said, 'I'm Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was.'
'Oh yes, Mr. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please accept my apologies.'
'Not at all - she's a delightful child.' I said, suddenly realizing that I meant what I had just said.
'Wendy died last week, Mr. Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you.'
Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. I had to catch my breath.
'She loved this beach so when she asked to come, we couldn't say no. She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly...' Her voice faltered, 'She left something for you ... if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?'
I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something to say to this lovely young woman. She handed me a smeared envelope with 'MR. P' printed in bold childish letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues - a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird.
Underneath was carefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY.
Tears welled up in my eyes and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide.
I took Wendy's mother in my arms. 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry,' I muttered over and over, and we wept together. The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words - one for each year of her life - that speak to me of harmony, courage, and understanding love.
A gift from a child with sea blue eyes and hair the colour of sand - who taught me the gift of love.
Saturday 13 January 2007
Sunday 3 December 2006
What is it about organised religions?
There has always been a long and weary examination of religion.
Ever since man first created a reason for death and the resultant comfort and quelling of his fears of it, the religious leaders of this world have been powerful people. They have been able to establish rules and impose regulations upon their peers with, semingly, little real objection from them.
In the modern world, with wide and instant communication, the religious orders are happy to use the mechanics to account for their enormous wealth, but have become, generally, far too fond of their life style to try to change the way they do things.
What is the most common characteristic of most established churches today?
Good works? No.
Instant response to requests for help? No.
The distribution of largesse? No.
It is the acquisition of even more wealth.
Look at any of the apostolic television programmes featuring 'priests' in the USA. These priests are not humble men. They dress expensively. They spend a small fortune publicising themselves.
They spend an even bigger fortune ensuring that their 'collections' from their audiences are instant and maximised (all credit cards accepted).
Are they walking in the footsteps of the man they say they worship?
I don't think so.
One day I was walking past a large church, here, in Spain. It was a magnificent building in one of the wealthiest parts of town. I am told that a great number of people died during the construction and subsequent maintenance of this magnificent building. It was filled with works of art, valuable fittings and furniture and the gleam from gold and highly polished silver and brass was everywhere.
The church occupied a prime real estate plot worth a great deal of money.
Just inside the enormous double doors was an exquisitely carved, antique table.
On this table was a small collecting box.
On this collecting box was a lable.
On the lable was written "For the poor"
What is wrong with this picture?
Ever since man first created a reason for death and the resultant comfort and quelling of his fears of it, the religious leaders of this world have been powerful people. They have been able to establish rules and impose regulations upon their peers with, semingly, little real objection from them.
In the modern world, with wide and instant communication, the religious orders are happy to use the mechanics to account for their enormous wealth, but have become, generally, far too fond of their life style to try to change the way they do things.
What is the most common characteristic of most established churches today?
Good works? No.
Instant response to requests for help? No.
The distribution of largesse? No.
It is the acquisition of even more wealth.
Look at any of the apostolic television programmes featuring 'priests' in the USA. These priests are not humble men. They dress expensively. They spend a small fortune publicising themselves.
They spend an even bigger fortune ensuring that their 'collections' from their audiences are instant and maximised (all credit cards accepted).
Are they walking in the footsteps of the man they say they worship?
I don't think so.
One day I was walking past a large church, here, in Spain. It was a magnificent building in one of the wealthiest parts of town. I am told that a great number of people died during the construction and subsequent maintenance of this magnificent building. It was filled with works of art, valuable fittings and furniture and the gleam from gold and highly polished silver and brass was everywhere.
The church occupied a prime real estate plot worth a great deal of money.
Just inside the enormous double doors was an exquisitely carved, antique table.
On this table was a small collecting box.
On this collecting box was a lable.
On the lable was written "For the poor"
What is wrong with this picture?
Monday 13 November 2006
A rare opportunity
One of the things I am helping to promote at the moment is a brand new product, quite unique in its niche, that releases 75% of the value of a private holding of gold WITHOUT the necessity of selling the gold.
The product carries the branding of the number one supplier and is recognised world wide.
As a PDO at the moment, there is a great opportunity for investors to get into something that will undoubtedly return at least 100% net profits within two years.
If you would like to know more about the opportunity or if you hold gold and would like to know how you can release the cash value without having to sell the gold, let me know by email to friends@arthurwebster.ws
The product carries the branding of the number one supplier and is recognised world wide.
As a PDO at the moment, there is a great opportunity for investors to get into something that will undoubtedly return at least 100% net profits within two years.
If you would like to know more about the opportunity or if you hold gold and would like to know how you can release the cash value without having to sell the gold, let me know by email to friends@arthurwebster.ws
Why do they do it?
You have probably been the victim of a 'scam' artist at least once in your life.
I seem to be finding that there are more and more of them sprouting from the detritus that litters humanity, with Nigeria seeming to be the central point of highest contamination (followed closely, I fear, by the Costa del Sol where I have made my home).
Scammers seem to be able to devote time and effort to producing something that has appeal to some people and these people appear to be ready and able to part with large sums of money.
Why, I wonder, don't scammers put their obvious talents to more regular use?
Why do scammers scam?
The obvious answer is, because they can.
They make enough money by being able to fabricate a reality that pulls in the unwary to not have to worry about any questions of morality. In a fabricated reality, they can tell any sort of lie they want to in able to satisfy their victim that everything is above board and proper. Since the victim will probably be a 'hit and run', the scammer doesn't even have to remember what lies he/she has told.
Once a scam has been in operation for a short while and the victims fleeced, it moves on and either becomes something else (though still a scam) or simply relocates.
Why do scammers scam?
Another answer is that scamming is ridiculously profitable.
I don't know why it is, but the most successful scams seem to rely upon the victim being aware that what is being asked of him/her is slightly illegal but the only losers will be 'nobody'. They seem to want to be able to remove $10.000.000 from an account which a countryman of theirs put into a secure depository just before being assasinated, being killed in an accident or dying from some other unforseen circumstance. (This is just one of many scenarios.) It is not quite legal but there seems to be no victim. Maybe it is the thrill of the idea getting away with something.
Scammers scam because they can make a lot of money and because there are a lot of volunteers out there just waiting to be fleeced.
I seem to be finding that there are more and more of them sprouting from the detritus that litters humanity, with Nigeria seeming to be the central point of highest contamination (followed closely, I fear, by the Costa del Sol where I have made my home).
Scammers seem to be able to devote time and effort to producing something that has appeal to some people and these people appear to be ready and able to part with large sums of money.
Why, I wonder, don't scammers put their obvious talents to more regular use?
Why do scammers scam?
The obvious answer is, because they can.
They make enough money by being able to fabricate a reality that pulls in the unwary to not have to worry about any questions of morality. In a fabricated reality, they can tell any sort of lie they want to in able to satisfy their victim that everything is above board and proper. Since the victim will probably be a 'hit and run', the scammer doesn't even have to remember what lies he/she has told.
Once a scam has been in operation for a short while and the victims fleeced, it moves on and either becomes something else (though still a scam) or simply relocates.
Why do scammers scam?
Another answer is that scamming is ridiculously profitable.
I don't know why it is, but the most successful scams seem to rely upon the victim being aware that what is being asked of him/her is slightly illegal but the only losers will be 'nobody'. They seem to want to be able to remove $10.000.000 from an account which a countryman of theirs put into a secure depository just before being assasinated, being killed in an accident or dying from some other unforseen circumstance. (This is just one of many scenarios.) It is not quite legal but there seems to be no victim. Maybe it is the thrill of the idea getting away with something.
Scammers scam because they can make a lot of money and because there are a lot of volunteers out there just waiting to be fleeced.
Sunday 12 November 2006
We celebrate well in Spain - how about you?
A Christmas Chronology
by Arthur Webster
Spain still tends to observe Christmas as a religious festival and the national devotion to the Virgin Mary is never so fervent as in this season.
There will be early signs of Christmas in some of the areas (particularly the Costa del Sol) where there has been a large influx of north Europeans but, generally, Christmas does not start until the first week of December. (Contrast that with the UK where Christmas goods are in many shops as early as late September!!)
For myself, the first sign that Christmas is in the offing is the appearance of turrón in the shops. These are especially Spanish types of nougat and chocolate and, for people with a sweet tooth, they are devastatingly ‘more-ish’. I do notice, also, that there is far more glacé fruit available, though this delicacy is available all the year round from many pastelerías.
Shortly after this, usually in the first week of December, the shops will start to fill their shelves with the usual Christmas goodies and most town and village councils, major shopping centres and larger shops will start to build their very intricate and detailed Belens. Many homes also will have Belens built and cared for by the children. These are fabulous nativity scenes and depict life, as it was supposed to be, in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus. Although it is not unusual to see a cow in the stable where jesus was born, in Spain the cow is given much more prominence because of the belief that the cow kept the baby Jesus warm with its breath. Many Belens feature moving figures and flowing water. (Belen = Bethlehem)
One feature of many Belens which often creates amusement is the inclusion of a figure answering a call of nature (usually necessitating a squatting position with pants round ankles) – it is not unusual for these figures to be recognisable as local or national political figures and no offence is intended or taken, indeed, it is often taken as an honour to be so depicted.
There are countless local traditions but I suppose the most well known is ‘Hogueras’ on the shortest day of the year when bonfires are lit and people will jump the fire in order to obtain protection against illness in the coming year. This celebration is particularly popular in Granada and Jaen. It, like many celebrations throughout the year, has its origins in the pre-Christian era and has simply been continued because the tradition was too well established for it to die out.
Naturally the stocks and availability of ‘seasonal foods’ is huge and one of the great pleasures is to be able to walk around the many street markets and simply marvel at the fantastic displays of fruit, vegetables, a dentists nightmare display of sweet and sticky candies and, of course, flowers.
A visit to the fish markets will amaze you with the range that is available (fish being a major part of Spanish Christmas feasts).
Talking of feasts, visitors to Spain who cannot rid themselves of their traditional bed times will not be too pleased when their Spanish neighbours start Christmas dinner after attending midnight mass and follow up a joyous and often rowdy meal with Christmas carols and hymns – sung, I might add, with mucho gusto and often in the streets (well, it is probably almost daylight by then).
Christmas eve is often marked by the use of small oil lamps and, of course, a great and joyous pealing of the church bells.
An old tradition, which can still be seen in some of the smaller and quieter, traditional villages, is ‘swinging’. I haven’t been able to discover the origin of this activity but it is not unusual to see courtyards and open spaces occupied by swings with a large and jolly crowd singing songs and having so much enjoyment from them that you get the impression that they are satirical or risqué – or both. The nearest I have ever come to an explanation is that it is all part of the pre Christian traditions, maybe to encourage the sun to speed on its way back.
All in all, Christmas is a long and deeply religious festival and to enjoy it at its best, you must get involved – going to bed before midnight at this time of year is not an option.
So, to the time table:-
8th December: This is the feast of The Immaculate Conception and signals the start of the celebrations.
21st December: The winter solstice is celebrated with bonfires (see above) and protection against illness in the coming year is sought by those athletic enough to jump the fires.
22nd December: Not part of the religious festivities but an integral part of the Spanish Christmas is the drawing of the winning numbers in El Gordo – a very popular national lottery with ginormous prizes. Many Spaniards will be glued to their TVs as school children sing out the numbers as they are drawn from the drums. The process takes many hours so many children are needed to ensure no damage is done to young voices. National News programmes will report the winning numbers and TV cameras will be rapidly dispatched to winning towns and villages to record the wild celebrations where El Gordo winners are to be found.
24th December: Nochebuena, the most important family event of the year. Friends will meet up for a social drink or two before returning home to a family evening and meal. As well as turrón, after the meal, cava (Spanish champagne) will be in evidence for the toast as will polverones, a sort of cross between a biscuit and a cake, made from flour, sugar and almonds that literally melt in the mouth. (More nightmares for the dentists!). Naturally, Spain producing a wide range of delicious wines, wine will be taken!
25th December: This is a national holiday but the children, if they receive anything, will only receive a small gift. This is not a day for wild celebration but more a day to recover from the night before and to spend some leisurely, quality family time together – maybe going for a walk and visiting the local bars – maybe even giving mother a rest from cooking by enjoying a quiet meal out (quiet, that is, by Spanish standards).
28th December: This is All Fools Day with knobs on! If you are not aware of the Spanish sense of humour, today will cure you! For foreigners who follow the Spanish news, this is not the day to believe everything the news reader or newspaper says! Many a tall tale and odd story is told on this day. Many areas celebrate with fireworks and bonfires and in some areas, a young person takes on the office of ‘Mayor’ for the day and can order adults to carry out some very strange tasks – and they can’t refuse to do them!
31st December: Nochevieja. This is probably one of the wildest nights throughout all of Spain. Nothing much happens until 11pm or so and then people will start to flock to the village square or the major plazas in the larger towns and cities. Fancy dress is adopted in many places and it is not unusual to be (literally) bombed with the very loud fire crackers the Spanish are so fond of throwing around. Many hotels and clubs will hold special events for the more, shall I say, staid members of the community but the revelry is wild and carefree, where ever you are. As midnight strikes, it is traditional to eat a grape with each strike of the bell to give yourself good luck for the coming year. This is a very new tradition and, like so many new traditions, was ‘invented’. In this case by grape growers who were finding too many grapes left at the end of the year. The grapes go down very well with cava. It is worth noting that the grapes, nowadays, can be bought in tins of 12 from supermarkets – who thought THAT one up, I wonder? Once this tradition has been observed, as was commented to me by a bemused fellow Brit – ‘All hell breaks loose!’ The Spanish can party any other race into the ground but you will have a fantastic, if exhausting, time while you try to keep up.
1st January: Hangover day. What more can be said?
5th January: All over Spain, this is the night the children have been waiting for. The three kings hit town in fabulous parades from which they hurl, literally, tons of sweets into the watching crowds. These parades are something you have to see – the pen may be mighty but not that mighty!
6th January: Epiphany. This is the day the children find out what Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar (who seems to be the favourite) have brought them. They are often given lumps of ‘coal’ as a joke but this coal is made from sugar – even if it does look extremely realistic. Just as British children will hang a stocking up, Spanish children will leave their shoes on the doorstep or window sill, often filled with hay or food for the camels. Since Balthasar is such a favourite because it is widely accepted that it is he who actually gives the presents and he usually is depicted riding a donkey, hay is the most popular stuffing.
7th January: Like a switch being thrown, everything goes back to normal. The children go to school and parents go back to work. But there is next year to look forward too!
One aspect of a Spanish Christmas that is often over-looked is the huge amount of work the three kings do. During the weeks up to 6th January, they visit hospitals, schools and nursing homes, call on the sick and raise huge amounts of funds for charity wearing very elaborate costumes befitting kings and, of course, often with the necessary string of servants.
by Arthur Webster
Spain still tends to observe Christmas as a religious festival and the national devotion to the Virgin Mary is never so fervent as in this season.
There will be early signs of Christmas in some of the areas (particularly the Costa del Sol) where there has been a large influx of north Europeans but, generally, Christmas does not start until the first week of December. (Contrast that with the UK where Christmas goods are in many shops as early as late September!!)
For myself, the first sign that Christmas is in the offing is the appearance of turrón in the shops. These are especially Spanish types of nougat and chocolate and, for people with a sweet tooth, they are devastatingly ‘more-ish’. I do notice, also, that there is far more glacé fruit available, though this delicacy is available all the year round from many pastelerías.
Shortly after this, usually in the first week of December, the shops will start to fill their shelves with the usual Christmas goodies and most town and village councils, major shopping centres and larger shops will start to build their very intricate and detailed Belens. Many homes also will have Belens built and cared for by the children. These are fabulous nativity scenes and depict life, as it was supposed to be, in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus. Although it is not unusual to see a cow in the stable where jesus was born, in Spain the cow is given much more prominence because of the belief that the cow kept the baby Jesus warm with its breath. Many Belens feature moving figures and flowing water. (Belen = Bethlehem)
One feature of many Belens which often creates amusement is the inclusion of a figure answering a call of nature (usually necessitating a squatting position with pants round ankles) – it is not unusual for these figures to be recognisable as local or national political figures and no offence is intended or taken, indeed, it is often taken as an honour to be so depicted.
There are countless local traditions but I suppose the most well known is ‘Hogueras’ on the shortest day of the year when bonfires are lit and people will jump the fire in order to obtain protection against illness in the coming year. This celebration is particularly popular in Granada and Jaen. It, like many celebrations throughout the year, has its origins in the pre-Christian era and has simply been continued because the tradition was too well established for it to die out.
Naturally the stocks and availability of ‘seasonal foods’ is huge and one of the great pleasures is to be able to walk around the many street markets and simply marvel at the fantastic displays of fruit, vegetables, a dentists nightmare display of sweet and sticky candies and, of course, flowers.
A visit to the fish markets will amaze you with the range that is available (fish being a major part of Spanish Christmas feasts).
Talking of feasts, visitors to Spain who cannot rid themselves of their traditional bed times will not be too pleased when their Spanish neighbours start Christmas dinner after attending midnight mass and follow up a joyous and often rowdy meal with Christmas carols and hymns – sung, I might add, with mucho gusto and often in the streets (well, it is probably almost daylight by then).
Christmas eve is often marked by the use of small oil lamps and, of course, a great and joyous pealing of the church bells.
An old tradition, which can still be seen in some of the smaller and quieter, traditional villages, is ‘swinging’. I haven’t been able to discover the origin of this activity but it is not unusual to see courtyards and open spaces occupied by swings with a large and jolly crowd singing songs and having so much enjoyment from them that you get the impression that they are satirical or risqué – or both. The nearest I have ever come to an explanation is that it is all part of the pre Christian traditions, maybe to encourage the sun to speed on its way back.
All in all, Christmas is a long and deeply religious festival and to enjoy it at its best, you must get involved – going to bed before midnight at this time of year is not an option.
So, to the time table:-
8th December: This is the feast of The Immaculate Conception and signals the start of the celebrations.
21st December: The winter solstice is celebrated with bonfires (see above) and protection against illness in the coming year is sought by those athletic enough to jump the fires.
22nd December: Not part of the religious festivities but an integral part of the Spanish Christmas is the drawing of the winning numbers in El Gordo – a very popular national lottery with ginormous prizes. Many Spaniards will be glued to their TVs as school children sing out the numbers as they are drawn from the drums. The process takes many hours so many children are needed to ensure no damage is done to young voices. National News programmes will report the winning numbers and TV cameras will be rapidly dispatched to winning towns and villages to record the wild celebrations where El Gordo winners are to be found.
24th December: Nochebuena, the most important family event of the year. Friends will meet up for a social drink or two before returning home to a family evening and meal. As well as turrón, after the meal, cava (Spanish champagne) will be in evidence for the toast as will polverones, a sort of cross between a biscuit and a cake, made from flour, sugar and almonds that literally melt in the mouth. (More nightmares for the dentists!). Naturally, Spain producing a wide range of delicious wines, wine will be taken!
25th December: This is a national holiday but the children, if they receive anything, will only receive a small gift. This is not a day for wild celebration but more a day to recover from the night before and to spend some leisurely, quality family time together – maybe going for a walk and visiting the local bars – maybe even giving mother a rest from cooking by enjoying a quiet meal out (quiet, that is, by Spanish standards).
28th December: This is All Fools Day with knobs on! If you are not aware of the Spanish sense of humour, today will cure you! For foreigners who follow the Spanish news, this is not the day to believe everything the news reader or newspaper says! Many a tall tale and odd story is told on this day. Many areas celebrate with fireworks and bonfires and in some areas, a young person takes on the office of ‘Mayor’ for the day and can order adults to carry out some very strange tasks – and they can’t refuse to do them!
31st December: Nochevieja. This is probably one of the wildest nights throughout all of Spain. Nothing much happens until 11pm or so and then people will start to flock to the village square or the major plazas in the larger towns and cities. Fancy dress is adopted in many places and it is not unusual to be (literally) bombed with the very loud fire crackers the Spanish are so fond of throwing around. Many hotels and clubs will hold special events for the more, shall I say, staid members of the community but the revelry is wild and carefree, where ever you are. As midnight strikes, it is traditional to eat a grape with each strike of the bell to give yourself good luck for the coming year. This is a very new tradition and, like so many new traditions, was ‘invented’. In this case by grape growers who were finding too many grapes left at the end of the year. The grapes go down very well with cava. It is worth noting that the grapes, nowadays, can be bought in tins of 12 from supermarkets – who thought THAT one up, I wonder? Once this tradition has been observed, as was commented to me by a bemused fellow Brit – ‘All hell breaks loose!’ The Spanish can party any other race into the ground but you will have a fantastic, if exhausting, time while you try to keep up.
1st January: Hangover day. What more can be said?
5th January: All over Spain, this is the night the children have been waiting for. The three kings hit town in fabulous parades from which they hurl, literally, tons of sweets into the watching crowds. These parades are something you have to see – the pen may be mighty but not that mighty!
6th January: Epiphany. This is the day the children find out what Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar (who seems to be the favourite) have brought them. They are often given lumps of ‘coal’ as a joke but this coal is made from sugar – even if it does look extremely realistic. Just as British children will hang a stocking up, Spanish children will leave their shoes on the doorstep or window sill, often filled with hay or food for the camels. Since Balthasar is such a favourite because it is widely accepted that it is he who actually gives the presents and he usually is depicted riding a donkey, hay is the most popular stuffing.
7th January: Like a switch being thrown, everything goes back to normal. The children go to school and parents go back to work. But there is next year to look forward too!
One aspect of a Spanish Christmas that is often over-looked is the huge amount of work the three kings do. During the weeks up to 6th January, they visit hospitals, schools and nursing homes, call on the sick and raise huge amounts of funds for charity wearing very elaborate costumes befitting kings and, of course, often with the necessary string of servants.
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