Fall Break

Hello all! I am currently in the middle of my fall break, hence me being MIA the past few days. Fall break was a little funny this year, especially in comparison to the past few years. I've managed to do some pretty epic things -- Chicago with my grandparents my first year; taking Amtrak up to NYC with a housemate I'd only met a month earlier my second year (love ya, Mads!) and visiting my BFF for a weekend of two-stepping and nose-piercing (ha) in College Station, TX, last year. So this year, when fall break was coming ever closer and I realized I had no big plans, no one to make big plans with, and, worst of all, nowhere to actually go (something that my adventures of the past few years had prevented me from realizing), it was kind of a strange realization.

But as things always do, it turned okay, even after my initial mental freak out. I got to visit my big sister and brother-in-law at their home in Rockville, MD, and see their grown up lives. We went to the zoo, of course:

I also got to see one of my friends from high school in Ethiopia. And then I got to come back to La Bamba and relax for a few days (it kind of feels like summer in how empty it is, which is kind of nice...for just a few days.) And today I got to hike with some girls in my small group on the most glorious October day ever, looking out at a view sponge-painted red and gold and orange. Stunning.

And I still have all of tomorrow, too.

So, Fall Break, you weren't as adventurous as I might have liked, but you've been quite alright.