Holidays Away From the Ones I Love

Holidays are some of the most fun times of the year for me. I get to eat, drink, and be merry with my family and friends! Let’s just say I celebrate them all. But, this time I had to celebrate the holidays away from my family.

I arrived in Poland at the end of October, just in time for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. In Poland they celebrate the day of the dead on November 2, but not in the same way I celebrate Halloween. I wanted to plan a costume party for the whole family and all of Mateusz’s neighbors. But, Mateusz squashed that idea because no one really does all of that for Halloween in Poland. Ugh! Ok.

Thank God Tyeisha had a pumpkin painting at her house before I left! My holiday season spirits would have been low. Aren’t friends just awesome!

Now we are at Thanksgiving and I wanted to cry. Thanksgiving, dear old Thanksgiving, oh how I love the food that I receive while I am gathered together with my friends and family. Well, I am mad because I ONLY had turkey wings, kale, sweet potato soufflé, and scalloped potatoes. My glutinous soul was so sad. Shoot! She still is sad.

I want to cry just thinking about it. On this day, I called all my family members who I would normally visit. And my friend Nikima was over at Momma Jenkins’ house just rubbing in all of the delicious eats that she had. On another note, friends ain’t no good! LoL

I refuse to let this happen again! If I cannot go home for Thanksgiving, I will not be in Poland. *insert ugly cry* Oh how I miss the richness of Southern home cooking.

Mateusz and I did the typical “get dressed up to stay at home” thing that a lot of people do on Thanksgiving. Mateusz had to work and I was cooking. This made Thanksgiving seem like any other day of the work week. :’(

Christmas in Poland, I have done before. And I have done New Year’s Eve in Poland. So, this was a walk in the park. The traditions are grand and almost followed to a T, but just like any other cultures every household’s practices are a little different. We decorated Christmas trees, went on a hunt to find carp (Mateusz and I saved Christmas Eve), and we found bread (ok, ok, best friends are great)!

We did all of the things that make the holidays delightful. ☺

But, this Christmas was a little different because my grandfather became ill and no one could figure out what it was. His tests were all over the place. His heart was fine, but he was tired. He went from being the over 90 year old man in the neighborhood whose yard was always top of the line (because he cut the grass and cleaned the yard about 4-5 days a week) to laying in the bed and confused.

My Grand-grand was the man who was up at 5am, took a nap around 12pm, and was in bed for the evening at 8pm. He ate a banana and had coffee for breakfast, 2-3 klondike bars with 2 slices of bologna and cheese and a coca-cola, and I think the only “real” meal he ate was dinner. In his eyes we ate too much. LoL! My Grand-grand <3