Well I'm back after a fabulous weekend in Northern Ontario. My flights into his hometown went well and on time and I was greeted and picked up by his mom and grand ma-mere. It was like I was never away. They had snow!! Chicago doesnt have snow yet so it felt like winter up there. We got to his house and his other grand ma-mere showed up and an aunt so we sat around, drank wine and had girl talk. They are so fantastic, so welcoming. Then the rest of the family showed up for dinner. More aunts and cousins.
His mom made an "American Thanksgiving." It wasn't turkey dinner but other foods like perogies, caesar salad, crab, shrimp, wings and other stuff. His one aunt brought over an "American" cake which was an American flag and a weiner dog dressed up as Uncle Sam. It was a great dinner. Later Rumba and I had a good laugh over the movie Napoleon Dynamite.
Thursday, Rumba had school so I stayed home and watched football and worked on my paper. His 2nd brother was home also so we hung out together. I think I got on his good side after I taught him how to make a new drink. hahaa!! Later Rumba and I cuddled up and watched Batman Begins.
Friday we went shopping and wandered around town for the afternoon. Later we went to an OHL game and his home team won. It was an exciting game. CanadiEn fans are insane. I was so happy to watch hockey again. After that game we drove an hour to a small town so that Rumba could play in a family tournament. The tournament is just a bunch of amateur guys, usually family members and they play a round robin tournament. Rumba's team is made up of all family...2nd and 3rd cousins of all ages coming together to play for their name. All the wives and girlfriends and mothers sit in the stands to cheer on the men. Lots of beer and food. I was introduced to poutine which is a gravy and cheese mixture that they pour on french fries. They all looked at me like I was crazy when I said I used ranch dressing on my fries. It was really cool experience, the fans welcomed me in no problem.
Saturday we went back to the tournament for 2 more games. The games got pretty vicious. It was amazing to me to see how dirty they were in their play. Rumba said thats not a normal thing with the amateurs and that usually everybody just has a good time. But there was lots of beer and good small town fans and it was a great atmosphere. Lots of French flying around too. Truly, if you can see a CanadiEn game, any level or age, and be amongst the fans, do it. Its a totally different experience from American hockey. Between games we went to one of the cousins ranch for dinner and beer. After the last game the party started at the ranch. About 25 of us drinking beer, wine and whiskey, playing poker, karoke and having a good time. Rumba and I went into the house at 4am. A few didn't get in until 7am. The house looked like a refugee camp with everybody passed out and sleeping in every direction. I had a lot of wine, felt a little icky after but didn't get sick or a hangover. Another game at noon on Sunday. We lost that one in a shootout so our team was out of the tourney. We won the first 3 games though and it was a lot of fun.
I was supposed to leave on Monday but my flight was canceled due to really bad fog. The planes were circling above the runways but couldn't land and had to fly back to Toronto. So I stayed an extra day, woooo hoooo, and came back today instead. My flight into Toronto was really bumpy, lots of turbulence. The flight into Chicago wasn't too bad but it was still bumpy and uncomfortable. I hate flying, I hate it, I hate it. I was so glad to be on the ground.
It was a fantastic weekend. Lots of family and hockey and meeting new people. And of course, lots of quality time with Rumba. Now we only have 3 weeks until our next meeting!!! So much better than 4 months. We have to start planning now for the stuff we want to do while he is in Chicago.
I hope ya'll had a safe (wowza weather) and good Thanksgiving. I miss you!!
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