An Oboe named Ezekiel

Hello.

That’s how people greet one another in America.

That’s where I am now.

America.

I’ve been another Busy Brenda since leaving here:

so to catch you up,

Sometimes when you go to Ecuador,

you see a waterfall,

or two,

you know, you’re right it was three waterfalls.

and sometimes when you go to Ecuador,

you hike up to 16,000 feet with your mom

and your bus driver and tour guide, José

who tells you to keep going even when you feel woozy

and can’t feel the breath on your hand.

and then you run into these indigenous Ecuadorians at the bottom.

and sometimes when you go to Ecuador,

you meet nice young men

who take you up to church towers to see panoramic views of Quito

and when you’re about to leave chases you down the street

to give you a bracelet.

Lucky for me, I have a weakness for such things.

And sometimes when you go to Ecuador,

you go on a canopy tour with your family and two men

who don’t understand your Spanish.

no matter how many times you try.

So, instead they just say ‘¡Qué Cheverre!’

13 times over. give or take.

And sometimes when you go to Ecuador, you spend the afternoon playing with an adorable 4-year old girl.

then visit her school in the middle of the Andes mountains

and have 20 kids come swarm you wanting to take their picture.

And you translate for your parents,

but you get to filter out the extraneous awkward things they say

and sometimes when you go to Ecuador, you find yourself in the middle of a full-fledged Capoiera fight.

then later you find a little town in the middle of a valley

and it’s so beautiful that you just want to marry the mountains

And sometimes when you go to Ecuador,

you like it so much that you decide to study here next year:

CHAO FOR NOW

Saraíta Morrill

PS.

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com?

I thought so.

Just like Back in Nom

Hola a todos.

Well, it’s official. I’ve sold my soul away to airport gate agents.

I wish the filmers of ‘Airline’ were here for times like this.

I’m on hour 22 of bro’ing in airports. in the past 2 days.

It’s a little game my family passed down from the old country.

We call it, how much can we possibly travel on our non-revenue passes as possible before our heads literally implode.

Some people call us crazy,

and they are right.

The rules are as follows:

Jim crunches the times, mostly.

Jane manipulates the phone people, mostly.

and Sara listens to Harry Potter, mostly.

So, that’s good.

So far there’s been a lot of this:

and this:

Dad likes to borrow the customer service counter to figure out the net gate to sprint over to.

Only to walk back where we started, of course.

Rinse and repeat.

And when people come up and ask questions because he looks like he works there, he answers them like a champ.

hahahahaha.

Every once in a while he looks up and shouts things to me

passed out on the floor.

like:

El Paso! 4:15

Houston! Terminal 3! 2 hours!

So, yeah.

Now we’re headed to Kansas City for the night.

“I’ll never travel on Spring Break again,” my mom says.

She means until next year.

So, until then, or when we get there.

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole

P.S. Did I mention I am going to Ecuador?

Cause I am.

Sometimes, I blog.

Hi, it’s me.

Sara.

I just wanted to let you know.

For those of you who are tired of seeing “breakouts are terrible on your face” on your blog roll.

For those of you who are tired of not scratching your Sara Morrill itch.

That’s good. because the boys are back in town.

Not really. I live in a different town now. duh.

I just wanted to tell you to stand firm. be strong.

I do continue to write in this thing.

I am more overwhelmed than I thought possible.

Not just with school. With bliss.

I am having one of those full-circle nostalgic moments.

sitting in the “Mind and Hearth” coffee shop with one of my best Whitworth buds, Kristin.

I flashed back to the coffee shop dates and

thinking back to the that first week of school when we used to spend our school nights in here.

When she cried with me and held me during my third week of school.

How it seems like eternities since then.

When I came to Whitworth, I never imagined that I would become so close to as many people as I have. The lifelong type.  I think I really hit the jackpot this year.  I never in my life thought I would be able to be living my life growing and living alongside so many people the way I have. Everyday, I just wait for the excitement of college to die down. I keep thinking that one of these days I will be walking back from class without gleaming from the fact that I get to be living here; but it never does.

I know that in college your life is in fast pace, but I feel like I will never take granted of all the people I have surrounding with me-- sharing our stories, taking late night hikes, bursting into eachother’s rooms at random moments, crying from hysterical laughter at most points during the day. I only wish this sentiment could be put into words.

I just decided for this one moment. In the coffee shop, I would let this blog take priority over the million other things that need to be done.

I wanted to take a moment to commemorate the last three month gap that has not been codified into blogger.com.

oh and,

Happy Birthday Alina!

this is us at sky high. the jumping arena. you win a matching knee injury. oops.

{Ryan, Ian, Elizabeth, Alina, Giles, Sara, Alden, Nick, Nathan}

It’s just nights like tonight when you hear someone say “I used to pop and lock then God did a work in me.”

That you know you are having fun.

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole