Even solemn nativities in Spain will include caganers. “It’s not mocking religion — it’s really an integral component of Christmas,” explains Daniel. “People like to hide the guy somewhere, like behind a tree — you know, because he’s taking a shit.” (Having camped outside once before, I told Daniel that I did know.) “Right. He wouldn’t do it right in the open. That allows for a bit of a game where kids try to find him. People like to put together these nativity scenes with lots of different figurines so it’s not just Jesus and Joseph and the Virgin Mary. There’ll be villagers and townspeople and farmers. And so somewhere dispersed in this live scene about what life must have been like 2000 years ago, there’s a guy, uh, shitting somewhere.”