"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"

In less than a week, I'll be in southern Italy where it is currently snowing. Looks like I'll be having my very first frosty, snow-covered Christmas! And yes, that actually does excite me. I'm excited for snow. For once. I am usually overcome with fear at the thought of me and snow in the same context, but that's slowly beginning to fade away. I think the beauty of seeing snow-capped mountains everyday is helping me acquiese my fear of extreme cold weather (or "extreme" by Miami standards).

While I'm so happy to be going to a new country, I have mixed feelings about spending Christmas away from home. On one hand, I feel lucky and blessed to have the chance to experience the holidays in a foreign country, where I can learn new traditions, taste exotic dishes, make more friends around the world, etc. And I'm very thankful for my roommate's family welcoming me and Desiree into their small, already cramped home. We'll be in southern Italy for a week, Rome for New Year's and Florence afterward. :D Italian culture is so funny and I can't wait to experience it first hand. That probably sounds really strange (can a culture be funny?) but my roommate constantly makes me laugh with her Italianisms and stories about her people and her hand gestures and her "figura di merdas".

But at the same time, this is the first Christmas I will spend without my family. We're a tight group. I received two Christmas cards in the mail last week: one from my parents and one from my sisters. I barely managed to rip open the envelope before I started bawling. I cried for about 10 minutes and then finally read what they had written me. My littlest sister drew a picture of me and her and Santa and dancing gingerbread men (?) and put a heart in each of our hands. My teenage sister wrote that she misses me a lot, and that means so much to me coming from her because I didn't even know she remembered I existed (she's at that age). And my oldest younger sister's e-mailed message was glued to the card since she's away at college. I miss my family sooooooo much that I almost regret not having bought a return ticket for Christmas.

But in the back of my mind, Reason tells me that this will be a good, different experience for me that will make me stronger and will help me gain a new appreciation for those that I love.