christmas (a little late, but... whatever)

i went home for christmas.

i spent some time with family and friend in florida, got to know my little sister all over again, went to a relative's house who has lived in florida for most of my life but i'd never visited before, had a little christmas party with some strangers, and went to my pregnant sister's city to pet her belly and go to dinner and a museum with most of my immediate family.

then i headed to texas to see the rest of my immediate family, my texas-dwelling sis and bro-in-law, and some friends. the weather was snowy and cold, incapacitating most of the state. i was sick for a few days with my sister so we sat on the couch watching 'lie to me' and sharing a box of tissues. i hung out with a few brave college friends and my childhood bff. we ate wings and chick-fil-a and chili's and mexican food and pei wei and olive garden. a friend invited me to her family's domino game night so i hung out with them and had a good laugh with her crazy grandma. had a slurpee and got a TON of new clothes, too.

off to illinois. after some luggage delays (which were settled 2 hours before i left illinois) i met up with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. we ate and talked, of course, 'cause that's what people do. i went to church (for the first time in a year and a half), played blitz (card game) with the grands, hung out with uncle/aunt/cousin who have lived far away my whole life but who made for a lovely weekend anyway, and i kissed the cheeks off my grandparents.

my grandfather, an ethnic hugarian, asked me to speak to him in his long lost mother tongue. i could say sentences to him and ask him questions, which he understood but couldn't reply to. then we played a translation game. i'd say some nouns in hungarian and he would promptly reply "tomato" or "dog" or "window." it was great to see him reliving his childhood and participating in my hungarian experience, too. he's so freaking sweet.

(family!!!)

back to florida. i took turns with dad reading bed time stories to morgan and we played games and sang songs.

dad, tara, morgan and i went kayaking one early afternoon. it was shorts and t-shirt weather, sandals and sunglasses weather. un-christmas, but very florida.

it was a good trip with a LOT of traveling. to and fro, here and there... overall i was on 11 planes. ELEVEN. luggage was lost twice, but always returned. i was on buses, planes, trains, in cars, trucks, and taxis. i brought some of hungary with me to the US and a LOT of the US back to hungary. i didn't get to see everyone i wanted to, nor do all i wanted to do with the people i did see, but i'm sooooo glad i went. it was a much needed reminder of home and my roots and my country.

i love america for a lot of reasons, mostly the people i know and love there.

but i love hungary just as much. that's right, JUST AS MUCH. and going between the two countries just proved that fact to me, because on both transatlantic flights i had the feeling i was "going home."

:)