Europe trip- What everyone has been waiting to hear about!

This is the post that I started writing about Europe a week an a half ago:

We got back from our trip to Europe on Sunday night and boy were we ready to put on some fresh underwear. You see- we had just spent a week in Spain and Paris with no luggage. Yes, they lost our luggage last Monday. I would recommend losing your luggage in a foreign country (especially one that has as one quickfire way to ruin a vacation.) We assume that it is still in some room in the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris waiting around with no one being able to find it even though we've called at least 20 times since we lost it.

I ended the post there because we did have a great vacation, however tarnished by not having any stuff and the fear of never seeing our stuff again.

So now I just want to write about our trip, and not about our suitcases (because we still don't have most of our stuff.) Let me just say that it is really cool to go back and visit a place that you relive in your thoughts, dreams, and sweet memories almost every day. Going back to the area that I served helped me realize that the mission really wasn't a bizarre crazy foreign flick, but that it really did happen. It was so incredible to see the two kids that I helped baptize in that area. They are so grown-up now!

Seeing Spain again was really cool. It was much different this time. The first time I went to Spain was also the first time that I had really been to a foreign country (other than Canada and that isn't much different except all the speed limit signs are in km/hr not miles/hr.) I felt so lost when I first arrived in Spain and went through some major culture shock, no matter how I tried to fight it. Now that I am more experienced in the world and have gone to Asia that is much more of a contrast, I felt like I had that experience to recognize some of the things that I might have missed. Not only that, but it was different this time because I wasn't a missionary, that's for sure. Everyone was a lot more nice, and I didn't happen to meet as many crazy or depressed people (as I did when I was a missionary.)

I could go on an on about my thoughts and feelings, but now I'll just give you a little travelog of what we did. Monday we got there and walked along the river at night and went to a Flamenco show that was excellent! Sevilla is known for their flamenco and it was even better than I imagined! Tuesday we saw Plaza de Espana and went to a suburb or Sevilla with my missionary companion. We ate dinner at her house- go Spanish food! Wednesday we saw the cathedral and the alcazar- an old moorish palace. Both very beautiful. We took the train to Huelva and visited with "mi gente." We at at telepizza- So MANY MEMORIES. We used to eat barbecoa at every zone conference! The next day we saw more people, ate churros, saw the chapel, and ate more jamon. We returned to Sevilla that night and went to Paris. In Paris we spent the first day with Reuben's parents recuperating from a very choatic time in Spain. It was a lot of fun and we had some very good French food. We saw the Effle tower and the arc de triomphe. The next day we saw just about everything else in Paris including the Moulin Rouge and the Mona Lisa. We were so exhausted. That night we ate crepes.

That was a very quick summary but we really did have an awesome time! It helped that Ariana was an angel! Maybe I'll post more about Europe later. . .