A few weeks before the holidays, my Spanish teacher Sylvina asked me about my plans for the holidays. When I shrugged my shoulders and told her I hadn't really thought about it or made plans, she invited me to ring in the New Year with her family. I graciously accepted, looking forward to celebrate a big holiday Argentine-style.
Saturday afternoon, we met up at the train station in Once and headed for Ituzaingó. We chattered on as Silvina explained that once we crossed under the autopista we were officially moving into the province of Buenos Aires. After a quick walk from the train station, we arrived at her parent's house.
After sitting and chatting with her dad for a bit, who I will tell you looks exactly like SANTA CLAUS, we all piled in the car to head for her sister Georgina's house. There, I met her entire family. There were about 15 of us in total. Once all the food was ready, we headed out on the terrace to eat al-fresco. The food was AMAZING, and so was the company. They invited me right into their family, and made me feel right at home.
I love meeting people's families. When you get to meet the family of someone you know, you get to understand so much more about them. Silvina warned me that her family wasn't "normal" before I got there. I was glad for that. My family (love you guys) isn't normal either. How boring would that be? I think in "abnormal" families is where I always feel most at home.
We spent the entire evening chatting, laughing, and watching more fireworks. I just felt thankful that I didn't see any flying flaming paper lanterns burn anyone's house down.
When we got back to her house, she and I had a slumber party, and I felt like I was staying at my friend's house in 4th grade. We chatted on and on until we eventually fell asleep. On Sunday we slept the day away, then joined her parents for leftovers. I love any chance to spend full weekends with Argentines. I always have more to learn, and being with Silvina's family was no different. We milled around the table for hours chatting about everything.
I am so thankful to her and her family for adopting me for New Year's. I couldn't think of a better way to have spent the evening.
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