Al Fin....

So it's been about 3 weeks since I've been back in the States and my trip seems like a huge blur now. It's really unfortunate because that trip has probably been the most exhilarating and eye opening experience that I have ever had in my 21 years. I know some of the events may seem stupid to you guys as readers, but they truly are the funniest moments in my life. Everything that happened on this trip, I am glad that it happened. I'm glad that my wallet got stolen in Prague, and that Jenna and I got lost in Rome, or that I had a near death experience with a man with herpes. The way that I look at it is that it's funny and it's very typical for these events to happen in my life. So everyone....just laugh. Take a moment now to realize that I am back in the states, in one piece and still healthy. It's ok to laugh about the stupid things that we did! We're 21! Give us a break and let us live! I know most of you guys wouldn't have experienced your trip like we did, but that's also why this was my trip and not yours! This blog also goes out to my aunt Carol who has been so bored in life without reading a daily dose of me! Even though she can see me on a daily basis, she would rather just read about my life! hahahaha



So our last week in Brussels was absolutely amazing! It rained everyday I think and it went by extremely fast even though we begged for the days to go slowly just so we could feel like we had more time. As each day passed, we knew that that was one less day for us to be there. We took advantage of every opportunity that we had there. We went to Daokta's boy scout ceremony and made fools of ourselves while all of Dakota's friends were convinced that we were his girlfriends! haha One boy even thought that Lindley was one of the boys mom! hahahahaha sucka.

We celebrated the 100th day of school about 2 weeks late with my first graders. The activities that they did were so hilarious. They made their faces as if they were 100 years old. They looked so funny because some were bald or some had hair just above their ears and some even gave themselves mustaches and beards and hair coming out of their ears! I took photos don't worry! There was this one little girl in my class who loved this other little boy and she wanted me to grab both of their 100 year old faces to see what they would look like together when they are 100. So I took both down and put them side by side and go "aww that's cute". I look at her and she is making a nasty face and goes..."ummm maybe I don't love him anymore!" hahahahahha she thought he was ugly at 100 and didn't want to marry him anymore.

The teachers took us to dinner that last week and we thought that we should bring them all flowers for helping us and putting up with us. Tracey takes us all around and we can't seem to find decent priced flowers that looked good. We ended up bring our teachers potted plants! hahaha. They said they loved them.

We spent that weekend wandering around Brussels and trying to get the last of our gifts. Tracey took us to the Stockel market and we had the best and I mean THE BEST waffle ever. It was fresh and gooey in the middle and it didn't need anything on it to make it soooo good. I think I died and came back to eat another waffle. We bought a crap ton of chocolate. Which now it is almost gone. We bought some Mankin Penis souvenirs and I even bought an apron made out of true Belgian lace. We'll see if I ever wear the apron. I think I just bought in my feat to be more domestic. I want to say FAIL.

Tracey took us out to this fancy restaurant where they are known for their mussels. Yuck....I had chicken. The girls had the mussels and they claimed they taste like chicken, but that makes me wonder....does chicken actually taste like chicken?! We then went to Delirium with Tracey. This place has over 2000 different beers! It's in the Guinness book of world records and in the book of 100 things to do before you die. I can cross that off my list now! They even had Duff beer from the Simpsons.

The next day we had to leave and it was a really sad departure. We had to leave the house by 6:00 am and even Dakota got up to take us to the airport! We were waiting in line to check our bags and the line was taking forever when there was about 10 people in it. It was ridiculous. We were right up front and this lady working was just chatting on the phone and saying ridiculous things. She told Jenna that she would have to put her purse in her bag because she couldn't have more than one carry on. Me, not knowing when to keep my comments to myself blurted out "Are we in the wrong line?! Is this Ryan Air?!" (Those who have flown Ryan Air or know anything about Ryan Air will know why that is an insult). The lady didn't appreciate that I guess and looked at me and told me "that if I had a problem I can leave and fly another airline" hahaha oops. She was definitely sending my bags to anther place than I was going! Turns out that my bags were 1 kilo over the limit and I was about to plead with her and she stops and goes "it's too early for this" and let them through!

We then said our last goodbyes and it was really sad. The Deverill's were amazing people and we weren't ready to leave them yet! I had to walk away fast because, I'll admit, I did start to cry. But the good news is that they are coming down to Texas in June so we get to see them again! WooHooo.

We got back to our house around 4 pm and Jenna and I had to start student teaching the very next day. We were exhausted and depressed. We've been teaching for 2 weeks now and I guess you can say we've settled back into our routine of things, but it's still different. I miss Tracey driving us to school and playing ABBA for us. I miss none of us being morning people and forcing conversations just so it wasn't silent. I miss the dogs. I miss Dakota. I miss Tracey and Dirk. I miss my kids. I miss the waffles and the chocolates and the beer! I just miss Europe.

Top 10 things I learned on this trip:
1. Beer is soo good.
2. Waffles are sooo good.
3. The chocolate is soo good.
4. Always have an umbrella ready because you'll never know with the weather.
5. I want to learn another language desperately.
6. People are fun in Europe.
7. Always have a house key on you. The no door knobs on the inside or outside can really throw you off.
8. Coffee is a necessity.
9. Some people smell really bad. They need the DO for the BO.
10. Europe is absolutely amazing and I now know why some Europeans aren't that fond of the Americans.

I LOVE BRUSSELS!