Aug 6th, 2007

As we wake up at 6:45 in the morning on Sunday, we put our clothes on and check around the room for anything we might leave behind. We check our watches and wonder if our friends will be there to see us of. the tension and excitement of the morning is building in us as we are about to make our first travel day to Gallup, New Mexico.

We wrote quick notes to our host families in hopes that it could by some small chance pay them back for our 4 weeks. We put our 44 lb luggage in the trunks and drive away from our first host home. some look back, others look ahead. as we sit in the silence or talk in the last moments, we realize that this is the end of the beginning. The start of UWP is about to truly begin.

We climb out of the care with little drops on our faces, upset to leave behind our temporary moms and dads and brothers and sisters, but excited to experience the road ahead. We tumble our luggage into the compartments and give a last hug, maybe kiss goodbye. Some friends from cast C show up to wish us farewell until we meet again. We clamber onto the bus awaiting our voyage onto what would later seem like an eternity before we are reunited with our sister cast that we love so dearly.

Excitement builds as we roll off. I take the mic, “good morning cast B, next stop, New Mexico”. the last words of my first beginning.

Josh, USA