Merry Christmas to all and to all A Good Night

     Yes, I know this post is late, but I've been busy...
     Christmas was different this year, obviously. I mean, I knew it would be. I knew it was going to be hard being away from all my family and friends, as I've spent every Christmas that I can remember in the same house with the same people. But its a new time with new traditions, and I knew that was coming before the time even arrived. However, that didn't make it any easier.
     Not to say that I had a miserable Christmas...I had a GREAT Christmas, just a different one. This year, I awoke on Christmas Eve and read pretty much the entire day. I was reading Looking For Alaska by my favorite author, John Green, which is an incredible book that I hope someday you get the chance to read. Later, I got to see their Christmas parade, as well as the Basque version of Santa, Olentzero, whose "house" is right by mine!!. After that, I skyped my parents, which made me super happy and sad at the same time. It made me happy to talk to them and see their faces and be able to gossip about everything and anything. But it made me sad because all I wanted to do was crawl through the computer screen and hug them and be with them during this Christmas time so far away from home. At around 8:00 PM, we went to my grandma's house and had dinner with her, our little fam (mom, dad, sister, brother, and I) and my uncle. It was a nice dinner with great company. After that, we watched some show that I don't even know what it is but it was fun just being with the family:

Waiting to see Olentzero

Not sure why there are sheep

Christmas parade

Here comes Olentzero led by Ox who are blinded...not even gonna ask

Announcement from the King of Spain on Christmas Eve

      The next day, my sister woke me up at about 8 am to open presents, but when I got to the living room, my brother had already opened most of what he had...normal young boy on Christmas morning. I opened my presents: I got nail polish, lip gloss, a shirt, pajamas, an umbrella (because I don't have one of my own and I ALWAYS need one), a sweater, rings, and a necklace. I was pleasantly surprised at all that, as my host parents didn't have to get me anything. My parents had already sent me money to buy Christmas presents for myself on Black Friday. And yet my host parents still bought me presents and made me a part of their Christmas, which means a lot to me. After opening presents, we all got ready and headed over to my aunt's house where we had a huge dinner with the whole family. It was exactly how I had always wanted a Christmas to be...the whole family gathered around one huge table with enough food to feed an army and laughter filling the air:

Christmas morning!!!

What's Xmas without a selfie

All the cuzzos

Family dinner

Sissy and Laura (cousin)

Skyping the fam while they open presents

     I was sort of robbed of that. I have a bunch of siblings, but they're all older and live in California, so any family Christmas we ever had together, I don't remember because I was too young at the time. That's what always bummed me out about the holidays, that I couldn't spend it with ALL those that I loved. But it was always great with just my parents. 
     When I got home after spending the day at my aunt's house, I skyped my parents to tell them what I had gotten for Christmas and to wish them a Merry Christmas and things like that. I even got to watch the family opening up gifts through Skype. I may not have been able to be there in person, but I was there in spirit...and pixels...which was close enough for me. I didn't think I was even going to get that much this year.
     So I guess you could say I had a pretty dang good Christmas, though it was obviously very different from the usual Christmas I would have. This is the hardest part of the year, and I knew that before I even arrived here, but I'm so glad that I have an amazing family that loves me and takes care of me and that I feel comfortable with. For that, I didn't have a rotten Christmas...I had a great one. So thank you to them for giving me a great time away from home. 
     I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, and I hope that you realize that it really isn't about the gifts. I think I always told myself that but I never really believed it until now. Just like with Thanksgiving. We can say every year that it's not about the food or the gifts or a day off of school, but we never really understand exactly what that means. But I do now. It really is about family and being with those that you love and showing them how much they mean to you. You don't realize what you've got until it's gone. I guess I'm just thankful that all I have there isn't gone for good, it's just put on the back burner for a year so I have time to explore new things and make new ties. So Merry Christmas to everyone, and remember to cherish your family and everything that you have. 
     Merry Christmas to all, and to all, A Good Night.