welcome back! it sounds like you had the best time -- i'm going to check out your pictures now!
i know what you mean about peanut butter. when i did my semester abroad in france, i missed PB so much that my parents mailed me the biggest jar they could find of crunchy jif. it was huge, the size you'd get at a sam's club or costco. when i opened it, i literally got teary eyed from the wonderful smell.