Bellydancing, Good Food, Wine, And So Much More

Bellydancing, Good Food, Lots Of Wine, And So Much More...

My dad came into town this weekend to celebrate my uncle's b-day. Now I had arranged to take today off from the hospital and spend the weekend out at my uncle's. I knew that my dad would let loose a bit, but it was really nice to see how care-free he truly got. It all began with a call earlier in the day on Saturday from my dad telling me that he was flying in around 10pm, but that since he'd be on CA time, he'd be 3 hours behind and would be hungry and want to go out.

My dad made it in and got to my uncle's place just around 10:30pm. At that moment, he was raring to go. He was calling everyone and telling us to call the other cousins and see what they're up to (not mentioning that it was now getting closer to 11pm and most people don't just drop everything at a moment's notice). Well, with a few minutes left before 11, my dad, uncle, aunt, and I jumped in the car and headed off to a place called Maestros. We met up with my cousin Stevie and headed in. We knew that they sold Arabic food, but we knew little else other than that they served dinner up until 11pm.

Somehow, we made it there (a few minutes after 11), and they were still willing to seat us. It turns out that it's a restaurant/Arab night club. We ordered nearly every appetizer on the menu and a few beers. All around us were other people (nearly 100% Arabs) smoking Hookahs at the table and dressed up like they were ready for a good time.  The food and beers started coming around the same time that the music started playing. There was a dance floor and all sorts of lights. Unfortunately, I don't speak Arabic, so I don't know what the songs were saying, but they had such a good beat that it was hard not to move our bodies to it. Next thing I know, I'm the only one at the table not smoking a cigar, and as the music kept playing, more people headed out onto the dance floor. Finally after midnight, my aunt and my dad decided to go head out onto the dance floor and get down. Let's just say that I was the designated driver having only 2 beers throughout the night. I am so used to seeing my dad in a much more rigid and professional setting when he's with patients (he's an oncologist/hematologist-cancer/blood Dr.).  A little later, a bellydancer came out and we stayed to watch. A good night was had by all, and I managed to drive us home safely.

I am used to going to bed by about 10 or 11pm so I can wake up by 5am to head off to the hospital. Little did I know that the night was far from being over. I don't think that we all managed to get to bed until about 4am.

The next morning, I was one of the first to rise (around 9am, much later than the 5am wake-up that I'm used to). I let the dog out in the back to play in the snow and go to the bathroom and started to get ready for the day. Somehow, my dad was the next one up, and we decided to go hit the grocery store and grab some bagels, cream cheese, and cheese to have for breakfast. By the time we got back, my aunt and uncle had woken up. We sat around the table eating bagels and drinking coffee and just chatting about everything. I guess that since I have many of the cousin's #'s in my phone, I became the liaison and I called up all the family in the area to see what they were doing that day. We all decided to meet up for dinner at the house of one of the cousins, and we'd go from there.

In the mean time, we decided to try some more ethnic food by heading out to a Polish restaurant for lunch. Yes, we are partially Arab and yes, we do have some Polish in us as well, but I wasn't expecting to have a weekend of foods I haven't had in some time. The Polish place was similarly interesting for very different reasons. The place looked like a small cafeteria and it was loaded with the most homogenized group of white/Polish people (mostly elderly). Is it just that people stick to their kind and only eat at certain places? Anyways, the food was delicious, deep-fried, and I'm pretty sure that my arteries thickened a little.

We had just enough time to head over to Calder's Dairy and pick up some homemade ice cream, or so I thought. After doing so, we decided to make a trip back through Lincoln Park to head home. Although we had somewhere to go, we decided to watch part of a movie in some Asian language for an hour. By the time we were back in the car, we were running a bit behind and made it over to cousin George's place which was already packed full of cousins of all ages (although the little ones weren't allowed any wine). A few glasses of wine later, and the conversation had become rather loud. Even so, it was a really good time. We made it back to my uncle's place and decided to keep going with that Asian movie. I decided to be proactive and I went to bed by 1am even though everyone else was still up.

This morning, I packed up my care with all the stuff that I had brought out, and my dad and I headed back over to the East Side to meet up with another cousin, grab lunch, and then head back to my apartment to see where I lived. Now I hadn't showered in 2 days, so I definitely wanted to take a quick shower. I was in and out of the shower in just over 2 minutes and yet when I had gotten out, I saw that my dad was already getting started on washing my dishes. I had warned them that the apartment wasn't clean and that dishes were piling up. Luckily, when they came in, they felt that it wasn't nearly as dirty as I made it out to be. By the time I had shower, gotten dressed up (to go to the hospital), and whatnot, my dad had literally washed all of my dishes.

I drove us over to the hospital to show them around and I took them in through the Emergency room entrance so they could see a little more action. I gave them an abbreviated tour that was just long enough for the cafeteria to open back up at 3pm for us to grab coffee and sit down and chat before heading out and parting ways.

Although my adventure with the family is over now, the fun and excitement will keep continuing for them until tomorrow. The plans for tonight sounded really nice, but I needed to get back on schedule to see patients tomorrow. We said our goodbyes and they were on their way back. It was a nice vacation for me as well. I'm used to either living at the hospital or living in my desolate apartment void of the contact with others that I love.

It is hard to go back to reality.