Departure Day

It was dark outside and although the thermometer said it was 55º it still felt warm—possibly a precursor of the temps we might find once the sun crept over the horizon.  In any case, it was good weather for Departure Day.

Today we saw our Penn and Vanderbilt cohorts meet at the same time as they picked up their itineraries, received some last minute instructions and advice from Wise Don and posed for the group photos that come part and parcel with these gatherings. 

For lack of anything better to do while waiting for the ILCers and their chaperones to arrive, the mental wagering began as I bet on which ILCer would be the first to arrive.  Today it was Shanti Shrestha from the Vanderbilt cohort who arrived a full hour early.  I wondered to myself whether she read the emails right or whether she might have misunderstood what time she was supposed to be there.  There’s early and there’s REAL early.

In any case, she was there and she was ready to go.

As long as she was there, I figured I could put her to work assembling the luggage tags I had prepared for the cohorts.  Even though she destroyed one of the tags for her chaperone, she did a wonderful job.  If she ever applies for such a job when she’s ready to enter the job market, I’ll write that letter of recommendation that will seal the deal. 

As we approached the specified time to be at El Cerrito HS, the individual members of both cohorts started drifting in.  Some looked wide awake and ready to go while others looked like they had gotten out of bed only moments before and mentally wanted to crawl back under the covers to enjoy the comfort of their own beds.  I don’t blame them and as soon as I post this blog I’ll be doing the same.

The airport shuttle—a big white tourist bus—arrived right before 5:00 AM, the luggage was loaded and the ILCers bade their parents farewell.  As the shuttle’s taillights faded in the distance, those that were left behind realized that if we hurried we could catch a few more zzz’s before having to wake and ready ourselves for the day in front of us.  Sounds like a heck of a plan to me.