Tuesday, January 3, 2012

I Miss Europe.

I miss Spain.
I miss living with a Spanish family.
I miss Llucia.
I miss Consuela.
I miss Lica {the tiny dog}.
I miss the heat.
I miss not being allowed to put my hair in a ponytail when wet.
I miss not being allowed to go barefoot.
I miss eating Spanish pizza.
I miss siesta.
I miss Olexiy, the French boy who lived with us.
I miss not having a towel.
I miss sleeping on top of the covers.
I miss hearing Spanish everywhere.
I miss being able to speak English without anyone else understanding.
I miss Spanish thunderstorms.
I miss Spanish malls.
I miss Llucia's wonderful mother, Rosa.
I miss going to the park.
I miss vendors with their stuff on a sheet so they could take it and run in a moment.
I miss streets without lines.
I miss people who drive too fast and turn too quickly.
I miss weird intersections.
~~~~~~~~~~
I miss the other People to People people.
I miss Alicia putting up with me and making me feel like myself.
I miss hating John.
I miss Nalin looking beautiful all the time.
I miss Briar trying to beat people up for me.
I miss avoiding Michael.
I miss being disgusted by Matt and Tori.
I miss holding back Jackie's temper.
I miss Haley keeping me grounded.
I miss making fun of "the Barbies."
I miss Geno making me laugh.
I miss Emily being emo and cynical.
I miss Geno making Larry Boy faces.
I miss Torin cussing up a storm and our weird, close-distant relationship.
I miss Geno wanting to hold my Polly doll.
I miss Pedro's gelled hair and constant eating.
I miss Geno asking me to please wear my lion shirt.
I miss Kyle and Alexsis being adorable together.
I miss Adam's shoulder massages.
I miss David being a MASSIVE teddy bear.
I miss Leron's hilariousness and singing southern gospel on the bus.
I miss Alyssa being annoying.
I miss hating how Kelly talks out of the corner of her mouth.
I miss catching phrases from peoples' guidebooks.
I miss Drew being disorganized.
I miss Cindy being reliable.
I miss hating the way John pronounced "nutella" as "new-tella."
I miss Emma walking around being homesick.
I miss Sabine saying, "now, when we get back to dah HOE-tell..."
I miss Sabine's massive green eyes.
~~~~~~~~~
I miss France.
I miss pointy noses.
I miss being corrected when I speak.
I miss crystal and fancy smells.
I miss putting my bread on the table.
I miss nasty seltzer water.
I miss walking.
I miss climbing mountains.
I miss not knowing what to wear.
I miss the random weather.
I miss trying new food.
I miss feeling stressed over purchases.
I miss venders with delicious accents.
I miss trees growing from rocks.
I miss Via de Amore.
I miss blue, blue water.
I miss cheap expensive clothes.
I miss blue and white stripes.
~~~~~~~~~~
I miss Italy.
I miss green.
I miss exploring.
I miss music coming from tunnels.
I miss real pizza.
I miss foreign guys that scare me and intrigue me at the same time.
I miss tan, huge-eyed toddlers.
I miss Brother Alesandro.
I miss Assisi.
I miss the tiny cathedral inside a cathedral.
I miss Brother Alesandro's beautiful explanation of prayer.
I miss castles.
I miss parks and playgrounds.
I miss that tiny little phone booth.
I miss the leaning tower.
I miss the colosseum.
I miss gelato.
I miss Pedro stopping to get a panini at every restaurant.
I miss closing our curtains because boys were staring in.
I miss laughing from our balcony at boys calling "Baywatch!"
I miss people playing soccer in the street.
I miss pasta.
I miss Italian cola.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I miss the trip.
I miss getting ready and packing in 45 minutes exactly.
I miss eating breakfast with 39 other people.
I miss never being alone.
I miss hearing someone else breathing as I go to sleep.
I miss using each others' bathrooms when Alicia or I had a bathroom-hog roommate.
I miss Haley doing Alicia's hair in cornrows.
And dreadlocks.
And French braids in Italy.
I miss putting all our luggage in the elevators and sending it up alone.
I miss taking the stairs when the Barbies' luggage took too long.
I miss never wearing makeup.
I miss riding on the bus for hours.
I miss Momma's little notes.
I miss journaling until my hand seizes up.
I miss looking for presents.
I miss Haley calming me down.
I miss Alicia laughing whenever I was in a pissy mood.
I miss Jackie being my homesick buddy.
I miss Geno making me laugh, but never laughing at himself.
I miss Briar being fun, then obnoxious and me telling him so.
I miss falling asleep to the sounds of chaos down the hall.
I miss military time.
~~~~~~~~

I haven't been sick for Europe at all until just last night when all this came crashing down on me. Gosh, I miss it. I had an amazing time and I don't regret anything and I know I really seized every day.

But gosh, I miss it.

~Stephanie

4 comments:

  1. Beautifully written, you make me long to go on an adventure around Europe..

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  2. I didn't realize your travel group was so big! Sounded like a great time :)

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  3. Liked the unique elaborative take on Missing places, people, things!! Impressive

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  4. Ginger: Thank you! It was an unparalleled experience. I was so lucky {and blessed} to be able to go.

    Jay: Yup, forty of us, some from Oregon, some from my own state. It was :D

    Lily: Thanks!

    ~Stephanie

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