Holidays!

So, I have officially had my first holiday in Italy, away from my family, and managed to survive. But to be honest, it didn't really feel like Christmas. I woke up at about 9 am, just like any other morning, and went into the living room with Rebecca (a girl from Oregon who's studying in Milan for the year and is staying with us for the break). We went to the living room where my two host sisters had already opened a few of their presents, and had been waiting for us to open ours. Since I had gone with my host family a few days earlier to go shopping, I knew what one bag already was. But there was one other and I opened it and they got a nice purse/bag for me! After that we all went downstairs and ate a small breakfast (like always). We had hot chocolate and coffee.
After that, we just hung around for a few hours, relaxing.
In Italy, they celebrate Christmas by having a huge feast and staying up very late the night before, and eating a big lunch the next day. Needless to say, I was still full from the night before, and a bit tired since we didn't get home until 2 AM.
For lunch we went to the grandmothers house, which is connected to our house. We went there with the entire family, my host moms mother, and my host moms brother.
We ate lasagna and meat and potatoes, and for dessert had tiramisu. It was all delicious!
Later in the day my host sister and Rebecca and I went to a city nearby, named Taormina. In Taormina they had adorable lights in the streets, and we even went into this little museum where everything was made of chocolate! It is also Italian tradition to have a gigantic miniature Nativity scene. (sounds confusing, but I think you'll understand!) meaning everything is small and detailed, but the scene took up a third of the entire room! It was fascinating.
Overall, it was a good Christmas! It didn't feel like Christmas to me, really, but it was not bad in the slightest!