Missing Bunu and Buna

The house feels pretty empty now despite the fact we have a baby in it. Bunu and buna left on Tuesday afternoon for Romania and I can't get used to not having them around. Usually my dad would be somewhere outside, working on the garage or building frames, while mom would always be there to hold Alex if I needed a break or had something to do. I was a bit worried I wouldn't even know how to put him to sleep as in the past few weeks she took over entirely. I was there just to feed him and hold him whenever I couldn't stand it anymore.

These eight weeks they were with us flew by. We got into a nice rhythm and for most of the time, we were all very in sync. A few times we had to put our foot down and almost force my parents to sit still and relax. Their 'mission' was to 'work, work and work' where we wanted them to enjoy this time as a vacation as well. We couldn't be happier with all the help they provided us, so we wanted to reward them a little too. Weekends would be our chance to get everyone in the car or bus and go places. We managed a trip to Richmond, Leesburg, to different shops, a picnic at Great Falls, a few trips downtown DC and to museums, a few restaurants and the unforgettable fish market. Some weeknights we would sit around the dining room table and play rummykub or yahtzee, or a few nights we watched some TV together. We showed my folks 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' and as we expected, it was a huge success even if their laughter was delayed due to my translation. A few days after we saw the movie, we were walking in the neighborhood and passing by a house with some little statues in front of it, my dad jokingly says 'they must be Greek.' It was awesome!

It's worth mentioning how goofy Michael and my dad would get. Those two are so much alike, it's scary to think of their potential if they actually spoke the same language. Despite the lack of common language, although Michael made HUGE progress in his Romanian, they would always read each other's mind and joke around nonstop. Michael remembered an episode  a few months after we just got married. He's been teasing me in such a way that at one point I turned towards him and said: "I've married my dad!"

One thing though that both Michael and I were surprised of their time here is that mom never cooked! I asked her why she never took over my kitchen but I never got a straight answer. She only said that a break of two months from being behind the stove was quite refreshing. I had fun planning meals and introducing them to all sorts of American specifics and not only: peanut butter, hot dogs and burgers, chili, corn bread, Indian food, etc. They loved everything we put in front of them, the only experience that we slightly failed at was taking them to the fish market! The sight and smell of so many sea creatures turned off their appetite and the crabs we brought home and thought would be special, turned out to be not so appealing to them. The day before they left, my dad was joking that they would get home and when it would be time for a meal, they would both sit at the table and wait for the food to miraculously appear, like it seemed to appear in our house.

Their last Sunday here we threw a little cook out and invited mainly the Romanian friends from the area. My parents enjoyed themselves and got to see that we have friends and good support even if our families are far away. We miss them terribly and already thinking of the time, next year hopefully, when we will see bunu and buna again!