Paolo's Omani Christmas

Paolo was a little Italian boy who lived in Oman with his parents and his pet cat, Sheesha, because his father worked there for an oil company. 

One Christmas, Paolo’s grandparents, Nonno and Nonna, came to visit him from Italy. They liked to make the Nativity crib which had images of Baby Jesus and his parents, and also those of shepherds and lambs. 

Nonno lay out a table in the front yard and set about making the crib by spreading a tablecloth on it. Paolo fetched some sand from the garden to make the sand dunes while Sheesha followed him to and fro. Nonno carved an old tree to make a stable and planted some wheatgrass around it. He cut out a castle from cardboard and put it in the background. Nonna wiped the images and carefully put them in the stable. Sheesha wanted to sniff everything and Paolo had a hard time keeping her away from the table. 

When the crib was almost complete, Paolo, Nonno, and Nonna went in to have lunch. Sheesha, in the meanwhile, was so anxious to see what was on the table that she pulled at one corner of the tablecloth, and the scene came crashing down to the ground! 

Oh no! What will Paolo, Nonno, and Nonna do now?

“Oh Sheesha, you naughty cat!” they said. Sheesha quietly curled up at Paolo's feet.

After lunch, they came out to fix the crib, but just then a sandstorm took shape and sand filled their noses and eyes, so they had to rush back into the house. They had nothing to do so they decided to play ‘dressing up’. Since it was Christmas Eve, they all dressed up as characters from the Nativity scene. 

Paolo’s parents dressed up as Mary and Joseph. Paolo rolled up in his favourite blanket and pretended to be Baby Jesus. Nonno and Nonna wore long robes and head scarves to become the shepherds. 

Later in the evening, when the sandstorm stopped, they came out again to see the damaged crib. And what did they see?

The front yard was flooded with golden sand. There were wavy sand dunes all around. A fallen tree had a cozy corner in which Sheesha had curled-up to sleep. A shiny yellow star-shaped kite hung over a palm tree which stood in the middle of the front yard.  Paolo was very sad as it was Christmas and their crib had been destroyed.

He decided to fix the crib. He went out into the front yard again and saw Sheesha sleeping peacefully under the fallen tree. Paolo suddenly realized that his front yard looked like a life-size Nativity scene!  Meanwhile Paolo’s parents, Nonno, and Nonna came out of the house searching for him. Since they were all dressed up as characters from the Nativity scene, they took up their places in the life-size crib. Some hungry goats came to nip at the green leaves of the fallen tree. A curious herd of camels which was passing by stopped and completed the background. 

A neighbor, who came to wish them ‘Merry Christmas’, was amazed by this sight and took some pictures.    

Nativity figures in Terracotta from Italy, 2015

(An original story by Aashoo and Anna, inspired by Paolo's real crib in Oman, Protected by Copyright. 2015)