Passover's Limitations

I broke passover last night at a Turkish restaurant on 28th and 3rd last night. In American standards, I was a day early, but our family has a tradition of breaking when the clock strikes twelve on the 7th day Israeli time. The first bite of bread was perfect: a hot roll that still has the fluffy insides and reminds you that, really, leaven is essential in all ways. The rest of the meal was great too, as I surprisingly seem to miss Turkish food when I don't have it all the time. I ate a shrimp casserole and my friend Daniel overdosed on lamb and eggplant. I think he was farting all night long, but apparently it was well worth it.
I had to think about why I keep Passover this year, since doing it at school was much more difficult than last year, being in Israel's guilt-free zone. As opposed to Yom Kippur, during which I personally fast to punish myself, Passover's traditions seem a bit more ambiguous. I decided to keep a bare minimum, not eating bread but still eating corn, nuts, and rice. The only time I really felt the pain was on 4/20, when the munchies seemed to dominate, which isn't really fair. It was hard to feel proud of myself when I went to a Thai restaurant and could eat mango curry and rice (mmm...) without any violations. If it's this easy, is there really a point? Yes, I decided. I was still limiting myself enough to remember that those 8 (7, really) days were different than normal. It's important to take a measly 7 days out my year to feel thankful to be free.
At the same time, now that it's over, I am thankful to be free to eat bread.