When I think of Mediterranean family reunions, I almost always think of this classic series of Dolce & Gabbana images:
What I got today was almost a replica to the real thing. Growing up in a Polish family, I often had this same scene. When my Ciocia’s and Wujek’s came to our house with their families, they would bring food and drinks, gather around a table, play music, sing old songs, tell ancient stories, laugh, yell, tell us how old we are getting, reminisce about the Motherland… And here is Spain, I was expecting something different! The truth is, no matter where I go, it’s obvious how important the family is, just like in Polish homes. It’s almost identical to what I have always known.
Today was Mercedes’ (my host sister, not to be confused with Mercedes my host mom) birthday. Although I was informed of this just last night, I came prepared to the gathering after 11am mass with a box of pastries, mazapan, and tarts from the best bakery in Toledo. The guests were invited for 2pm for lunch, so I bought 10 small bite-size pastries for us all (and a clown cupcake for the birthday girl).
The food was excellent and was followed by tapas for the rest of the night. We had chicken baked on onions, soaked in apple wine with a lot of cake afterwards…
Little did I know, just a few hours later, the doorbell would be ringing every 15 minutes and the tiny Casco apartment would be flooding with people though the doors. It started at 5:30pm with a few cousins and their kids. Then came the sister with her husband and family. Then came Uncle Pepe’s children. Then came Mercedes’ friends and their newborn babies. Then came the family with the adopted child from Africa. Then came the Argentinian couple…
By 8pm I lost track of how many people had entered and left, and the doorbell was still ringing every 15 minutes. I literally could not imagine how this apartment could hold any more people, there were at least 30 at one point inside this tiny place. I didn’t know where they were going! The living room was beyond full, the kitchen was half occupied with cooks and half occupied with smokers, all the children had split up the hallway and were playing 2 simultaneous games of soccer in them, and Mercedes was with her friends trying on new clothes in her room. The apartment had turned into a bottomless pit or some kind of clown car, where you could never have enough people inside.
In the end, it was only the four of us left again. Just like with the aftermath of Polish gatherings, all that’s left is empty plates, half-full glasses of wine, the sound of washing dishes, misplaced toys on the floor, and a house of people only wanting to go to sleep. However, also similar to Polish gatherings, we cleaned up absolutely everything and Mercedes even mopped the floors, just so we could wake up to a tidy house and finally rest after a busy and social day. In a sense, today made me miss home and my own family – the noise of people you love, the smells of your own mother’s cooking, seeing people you are familiar with… But at the same time, it was so nice to see that the family I now live with has the same thing and that they were happy to share that with me.
Julia Goes to Spain 
Julcia ! Chlopaki pojechali na curling a ja postanowilam przeczytac wszystkie Twoje “blog posts”. Nie zdawalam sobie sprawy ze bede potrzebowalal wziasc male wakacje zeby przebrnac przez wszystkie !!! Masz prawdziwy dar do pisania .Wszystko co opisujesz jest tak pieknie napisane ze czuje sie jak bym byla tam z Toba. Jestec taka osoba ktora zajdzie daleko ale bedzie zawsze pamietala skad pochodzisz !!! Love you and Miss you !!! Bye …got to go and read some of the earlier posts :)))