Tandem programme bids farewell until February!

Before going on holiday, the tandem programme organised a special day to see out the semester and year. The local and international students on the tandem programme enjoyed an informal Christmas lunch, where everyone brought along something to eat and where international students got the chance to try typical Catalan and Spanish Christmas desserts, play Secret Santa and have a go at the Catalan Christmas tradition of fer cagar el tió — the tió is a wooden log with a smiley face painted on one end. It wears a traditional Catalan red hat and is basically the Catalan equivalent of Santa Claus.
 
The international students were able to experience the Catalan traditions, which included playing the Catalan version of Secret Santa: fer cagar el tió. They sang the traditional Caga tió song while hitting the smiling log with a stick, as tradition demands. In return, the tió “pooed” loads of presents as tandem souvenirs for the guests. After exchanging gifts, the tandem group watched the castells —traditional Catalan human towers — that were being built in Plaça Cívica by UAB student society Ganàpies on occasion of the Winter Diada Castellera.
 
The tandem programme is now taking a break but will be back at the beginning of the next semester in February with plenty of activities to practise languages every week! Merry Christmas!