I'm such a baby

Leaving has been the hardest part. The stress if getting good seats in the plane, making it through with all our baggage, and clearing customs with my protein shakes turned out to be more than I expected LOL

But the hardest part was saying goodbye to the kids and Collin - never have I've been away this long and I could barely stand it not to cry. My son's red eyes and tears almost sent me over the edge, but I really had to pull it together so that we dont ball our eyes out by the customs agents. Bay was really brave and didnt cry... she just held on to me for a really long tiem :) - I miss those hugs already :(

Plane ride sucked, as all plane rides tend to suck, especially if they are 8 hrs long. We arrived in Paris and switched planes, which went fairly smoothly, and I have to say that the French are much friendlier than I had been led to believe :)

We arrived in Bucharest greeted by happy faces of friends and relatives I barely remembered... I met my cousin Mihaela for the first time and instantly fell in love. She is a beautiful, generous and intelligent 21 yr old with a hot temper and a sharp tongue - I was hooked line and sinker LMAO - she freed me from my relatives and proceeded to take me out and show me all the great sites of this city in which I was boen (pics are coming). It has been such a surreal experience to be a tourist in the place where I come from - taking pictures constantly and barely speaking the language, makes me stand out as foreign... My baby cousin graciously showed me all the sited and manouvered her vehicle through what I very loosely call traffic... armageddon driving would be closer to the truth but I'm not sure even that truly describes the experience of being in a car in Bucharest during rush hour.

We took a boat ride through Parcu Herastrau, then walked around to feed the swans and finally grabbed some ice cream and some mineral water and headed out to see the second largest building in all of Europe, Casa Popurului.

Honestly, I had a really great night/day/night - I thought I would be exhausted after flying 12 hrs and meeting everyone I havent seen in 25 yrs, or ever LOL - but the feeling of being 'home' and 'away' was too creepy and made me really hyper and excited... most of my mother's friends spent most of their time reminiscing about my childhood, which to be honest, I hardly remember... it's almost as if I'm hearing stories of some other kid, in a foreign land, which I barely recognize...

Now, I gotta go - hot tea and a good night's rest should be enough preparation for the phenomenon of burying my granmothers in the morning... miss you all

XOXOXO