Exploring Iowa

Since arriving in Iowa, some things have been as I expected, and others have been a complete surprise. When I first got out here, it was FREEZING. My first full day of work (Sept 22) I nearly froze. I could not feel my face and my ears hurt SO MUCH. I was concerned, not gonna lie. But, since then, the weather has actually been mostly quite nice. It is normally in the 60s/70s during the day and so it was much more pleasant while walking. More recently it has gotten colder again, but I have bought a hat (since I stupidly forgot to bring mine) and I have my nice warm neon-colored Sundance jacket that serves a dual purpose – it keeps me completely warm, and it serves as my safety vest (I don’t have to wear an orange vest because the coat is brilliantly neon on its own). 

At first I was a little bit concerned. I knew that I would be in the middle of nowhere, and I thought I was prepared for that. I thought it would be good in enabling me to spend time working on grad school search, etc. However, I hadn’t really considered that having NO ONE around and NOTHING to do would leave me with TONS of time on my hands. I really missed my friends and having things to do. Both of the closest towns are barely towns… they don’t have much in them at all. Not even a bookstore or coffee shop. But, then I discovered that there is a preserve nearby that has a ton of trails and actually has some lovely hiking (with pretty fall colors and even some elevation!). That has been a huge life saver. Then I also discovered that there is a town (Decorah) about 50 minutes away that is an actual town. It is really cute and has neat stores that I like going in – a book store, a neat music/movies store (kinda like Princeton Record Exchange. Not as awesome but still pretty great), a local natural candles store, delicious ice cream shop, etc. And best of all? There is a co-op grocery store. That was the thing that really made things better. The grocery store I had been going to was basically the only option and it was fine but they did not have most of the foods I would normally like to consume. The co-op, however, is perfect. They have a wonderful bulk foods section, they have all the healthy food I would normally want to buy, and they even have a café where I have gotten tasty lunches a few times. Their seating area for the café has wi-fi too, which is wonderful. To top it all off, there are a series of trails just outside Decorah that again are quite pretty and have real elevation to them. I’ve been making a trip to Decorah at least once a week, and it is nearly always the highlight of my week. :) 

fall colors on trails in Decorah

in the preserve by my house

The other huge surprise of middle-of-nowhere Iowa is that there is one of the greatest radio stations I have ever heard. In fact, the more I listen to it and the more I think about it, it might just be the best radio station I have come across thus far in all of my travels (even better than my favorite Philly station 104.5). They play such a wide variety of music, tons of which I have never heard before. Then they play gems like an old-school Guster song, a new Glen Hansard song, a They Might Be Giants song that I had never even heard before, and much much more. It makes my drive to and from work (and during work) that much more enjoyable. Good music, as I note time and time again, simply makes everything better. :)

And so, things have been going well. Work is, well, not great but it is fine. My friends have been phenomenal – I text and email and talk on the phone to people all the time. And I have lovely places to go hiking. I also have been able to be relatively productive on the grad school front, which is a relief. I think, in the end, it was a good decision to come out here for this month of temporary work.