Pre-Departure Orientation

What a great day! Everyone made it, some through snow and hazardous roads, to assemble the night before departure. So now we've compared suitcases and backpacks, swapped shopping for clothes stories, laughed together at the various pieces of advice we've been given, and caught up on life since the end of Fall semester.  We've said goodbye to parents and siblings and other family.  We've worked out a first draft of a group covenant. We've anticipated the various lines, planes, and airports we will stand in before we lay our heads down on the pillows of the Umeå hostel.  And, at the end of this day, some of us are splashing in the hotel pool and enjoying the hot tub. I'm feeling so grateful for the help that we've gotten from the CICE, and for everything these twelve young people's families have done to get their students ready for this experience. It's good to feel that we are as equipped as we could possibly be to set off for what will be a long day tomorrow!