Christmas- Long Overdue

I meant to write this a while ago, but after Christmas I became ill (tonsillitis), and as bed-rest and medicine are what is being called for, I just... let it slip out of my mind. Christmas in Poland is very different from in the US. For one, the main celebration is on the 24th of December. This is the day when gifts are exchanged, family visited, and all the other Christmas-y things are done. In most families, presents are exchanged when the first star is seen. before this, if people are gathered, there may be stories and Christmas carols, and just general happy conversation. After the presents have been exchanged, the meal is eaten. There is no meat eaten on Christmas eve. The dinner is twelve courses, you are supposed to try to try every one, and most of the dishes are fish-based. after the meal, there is often more conversation, before going to bed for the night.

Here is how my Christmas went.

After most of the day had passed, the kids doing stuff on their computers or reading books and stuff like that, the parents watching television (mostly sports), we went to my host-grandparents house. There we sat around and talked, as my host relatives arrived. I wont elaborate much, because it is a complicated family, very large, but I know for certain that there was one cousin, one aunt, one uncle, and two women who were related somehow, but I am not certain. when everyone was there, we talked for a little bit, and then Zósia (the cousin) and Antek (my host brother) were the Santas for the night. I was very surprised to receive a very warm and comfortable orange coat (my favorite color), a very warm and comfortable scarf, grey and orange, a button down plaid shirt (blues and whites), a plain long sleeve shirt (grey) and *Drumroll* ------ the entire Star Wars collection!!

After presents, we sat down to eat. I didn't eat much, although 1. I wasn't particularly hungry and 2. fish... I did enjoy the carp (although the gelatin that they use in some of their dishes will have no place in my stomach [I can't STAND gelatin, as jello or plain or... anything except for a lab experiment!]), the herring, and another dish I can't remember.  the desert cakes were quite good as well, although I could only have one of them as the others had walnuts, and I have learned here that I have at least a minor allergy to walnuts (and I would rather not risk it). After the meal, we all packed up, I helped clean the table, and we left for home to sleep. the next day, we did much the same, although we went to my host aunt's house. They have a cat, so some of the evening is a little blurry. beforehand, however, we saw two manger scenes, one at the nearby church, with live animals and a donkey that made this odd noise occasionally, and the other this incredible display in a church near the old town. When we arrived, we all settled ourselves, and I met some of the family who wasn't at my host grandparents house the night before. there were many cousins, and more obscure (to me) relatives. much of the food was leftovers, though there was some meat. I tried it, and was not a big fan. the next few hours were basically conversation. That night I would have gone to see "The Hobbit" part 2, but nobody ended up going because everyone was too tired.

The next day we came to my host family's house in Masuria (piękna), where we are right now, me "quarantined" due to my sickness, and my host family not wanting me to get sicker.

Maybe tomorrow, or the next day, I will tell of getting to see my friend who was visiting Warsaw. until next time, whenever it may be,
~Robert