A Very Merry Christmas!

          Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays to celebrate, so as it drew closer and closer this year, I became sadder and sadder at the thought of missing it. Because for me, the best part of the holiday isn't the gifts (though those are always nice and appreciated), but all the traditions my family has for the holiday. And since I knew that those traditions were not going to happen this year, I was understandably sad. Christmas isn't really celebrated here, because of the almost entirely Muslim population, so I was expecting it to be just a regular day. 

         Gone were the luminarias and Christmas caroling in the park, the cinnamon roll breakfast, the presents under the tree, and the tamales for dinner. They were the things that I most missed this year, but I am glad I experienced a different kind of Christmas this year. 

          The biggest difference between this Christmas and Christmases past was that I went to school. Yes, you read that right. School on Christmas. And while I could have skipped on the basis of it being an American holiday, I decided that I can always say that I didn't go to school on Christmas, but this may be the only time that I can say that I went to school on Christmas. School was school and it was actually a little sad just because I felt like everyone needed to be celebrating but no one even realized it was Christmas unless I told them. So after being a little sad all day because of that, I went to hang out with the other exchange students for a bit and then headed home.

The cute little wreath on the door to our apartment. 

A very sweet text from my Turkish teacher wishing me a Merry Christmas. 

          But that was when my day turned completely around.  First, a package from one of my friends in the US arrived, bringing with it a beautiful bracelet, a very sweet letter, and lots of Reese's. I had been waiting for this package for a very long time so I was incredibly excited that it finally arrived. During dinner, my host family played Christmas music and afterwards, I gave them each chocolate and tried to explain how it was like what we give in stockings in the US. 

The contents of the package from my friend. Love you Megan!

The chocolate for my family. I had no way to wrap them, so I tied them together with strips of plastic bag. Sometimes you just have to get creative!

          After dinner, I was supposed to call my family but I could not get FaceTime to work. During the great FaceTime battle, my host family came in decked out in party hats and sparkly scarves, that they promptly stuck on my head as well. As we attempted to sort out the technology problems, they gave me two gifts, a sweater and a very pretty cardigan, and watched as I opened them. My host family had been wanting to meet my natural family for a very long time, so when I was finally able to get a call through, they stuck around for awhile to talk to my family and let them join us in a little celebrating. Watching my two families meet each other and how excited they all were brought me so much happiness and I am so glad I got to see it. My host family had even made a cake and brought it to show my real family before they left me to talk with my family for awhile. I loved talking with them again and I think my family loved seeing my host family and everything that they had done for me. 

The presents from my host family. 

Me and my host sister in our sparkly holiday gear. 

The cake my host family made. It was delicious!

          And this weekend, Priya and I got together and attempted to make Christmas cookies. They didn't turn out the best ever, but they taste decent and we had fun making them. 

Me and Priya with our Christmas cookies.

And this adorable picture that sums up mine and Priya's relationship in one photo. 

            I can not fully describe how special this Christmas was for me. There are not words to sum up how much it meant to me that my family went to the effort to make this holiday special for me even when it's not something they celebrate here. And getting to have my natural family celebrate with me (even if just virtually) made it that much more special. 

          While it wasn't the tradition filled Christmases of my past, this was a Christmas that I will never forget and that I will always love to remember. I am so glad that I got to celebrate with both of my families and that this holiday wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be. I hope that everyone had a very happy holidays! Görüşürüz!