The Sanad Prep Senior Sojourn: A Wayfarers Journal, Day 1
Day 1: Monday, June 10, 2019
The Sanad Prep high school students and graduating seniors all waited anxiously at the airport, for our teachers Ustadha Attiqa and Ustadh Rehan to arrive. They would be our guides on this epic journey, their two young children joined us too. Everyone was quite excited, for some this was their first trip without any parents!
When everyone had arrived at the airport, the group went through security and waited some more. We indulged in the typical time-passing intellectual pursuits of building a house with UNO cards and then playing actual UNO with the cards. Finally, the plane arrived and we boarded happily. Alhamdulillah the plane ride was safe and calm and uneventful.
Upon arriving in Knoxville’s quaint and quiet airport late at night, we followed Ustadh Rehan to the rental car area to get our beautiful, brand new, pearl white Chevy Suburban! The rental car agent ended being a Muslim who recently moved from Canada. She was really happy to see us in this small town. With her smile and salams and help, we were on our way.
We loaded up and headed for the mountains! Actually, no…we didn’t. We went to Walmart for some late, late-night grocery shopping for our weekend atop a mountain in a picturesque log cabin. A few important items on our list like milk, eggs, bread, and CAKE! Everyone headed in different directions and gathered the supplies. We brought halal meat with us from Florida; no taking chances out here in the boondocks looking for zabiha/halal meat 🙂 Alhamdulillah we found almost everything we needed to make some great meals and memories for the next few nights. It was time to head toward the town of Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Once we entered the city and began climbing the mountain roads it was well past midnight. Ustadh Rehan carefully kept us on the tiny roads as he drove the massive SUV up the steep roads and around the hairpin turns in the pitch-black night. At times it was a terrifying ride. Thank God no bears were waiting to welcome us at the front door of the cabin. We were told that could be a possibility.
What a cabin! Beautifully set on top of the mountain we were surrounded by forest and covered by the star-lit night sky. The cabin was like something you would imagine from a movie set. Amazing kitchen, cozy family room, stone mantle fireplace, screened patio, large kitchen table surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, second-floor loft and so much more! After the excitement of exploring the cabin we made our way to our respective rooms. Girls were on the second floor with Ustadah Attiqa and her daughter. Boys were on the ground floor with Ustadh Rehan and his son. After settling in, it was time for a tasty home-cooked dinner shared among the students and teachers. We topped off dinner with birthday cake dessert in honor of one senior’s on the trip.
Day two was now upon us. Carpe diem!
by: Inayah Mahmoud (grade 10), with Ustadh Rehan Mirza
This is a test bio for the widget style