The holidays as never seen before!

Christmas is getting into full swing here, although sometimes it's hardly recognizable to do all the very odd traditions it's attached to here. Two of these seem to stand out the most, and every time I see them, I'm still shocked at a) how they at all represent the Christmas spirit, and b)that not only are they politically correct, but it is harshly frowned upon to ignore said traditions. I will explain:
1) Caganer (which translates more or less into "pooper")
The Caganer is, crudely put, a statue of a man pooping. The traditional Caganer is dressed in black pants, a white shirt, a red hat, and is found with his pants down and in a squatting position, with a pile of poo under his rear-end. This statue is EVERYWHERE here. There is a particularly lovely one in a shopping center, that is two stories tall. But more commonly, you find them inside everyones house, in the manger scene. Yes, thats right. Squatting next to baby Jesus and Mary, is a little Caganer. I really can't get a good background on this little guy, although it's nothing new. Apparently he's been gracing manger scenes in Catluña for quite sometime. And now days, they've varied from the traditional Caganer, and you can get famous soccer players, actors, and yes, even an Obama Caganer.
2) Tio Nadal or Tio Caga (Uncle Christmas or Uncle Poop)
I hope your noticing the trend of the association of poop and Christmas. Tio Nadal is usually symbolized as a log, with a face painted on him and a red hat. For the month leading up to Christmas, the kids "feed" their Tio every night, and tuck him in with a blanket so he doesn't get cold. He sure eats a lot, because every morning the food is magically gone. After a month of good care, the kids then beat the log with a stick while singing the traditional song, and if the Tio is pleased and well fed, he will "poop" out little candies and gifts.
As you can see, I'm bound to have a very exciting and interesting Christmas. And maybe even figure out exactly how poop became associated with Christmas.
I'll admit I'm even more homesick now that it's getting closer to Christmas. I'm going to miss a lot of the traditions and being with my family. I'm trying to imitate some of them here (although sledding is just a little difficult here) and pick up on some new traditions. I think I'd be completely falling apart if Jack wasn't coming in 15 1/2 days (not that I'm counting) so at least I'l have someone familiar to spend Christmas with, even if we are surrounded my pooping statues.