Scouting Iowa

Sometimes travel requires a scouting trip. The first week of May marked the end of the semester and a change in my future. My students were aware of this change, so the last week of classes was good. They told me they would miss me, and that they had wanted to take more of my classes. As a teacher, this is the best compliment. So, even though the end is always chaotic, it was a good end.

What made the end of the semester more chaotic was also the fact that we had to go to Iowa City before the summer session began. Ernani was scheduled to teach that session. So, while the semester was ending, I was also packing and making arrangements to be away for a week. We were also setting up appointments to see apartments and houses in Iowa City. We left for the Farm May 7^th. It is an 11 hour drive and the next time we make it, we will have a Uhaul and our cat and our possessions. We could not help but be happy that we only had to drive that route one more time.

And, that Saturday we hung out at the Farm with Ernani’s family: his sister and her girls, his brother, his brother’s wife, and their girls. We had a wonderful time catching up, and they stayed the night, so we got also hang out with them a bit on Sunday, Mother’s Day. Rebecca, my mother in law, was going with us on Sunday to Iowa City. We left in the afternoon, checked in with Shaner and Barb, Ernani’s other brother and sister in law, and their kids Andre and Helena, who kindly let us crash at their place. The hunt for an apartment started the minute we got there. We drove around and took down a ton of numbers. Ernani found a paper and we got more numbers. We also dropped by for a quick, unannounced visit on Ernani’s old roommate Ben and his fiancé Katie. They were getting married in a week. He gave us a good idea about what the average rent should be on a 2 bedroom.

It was through the paper that we found the final place, the place we chose to rent and which we will move to soon. But, it was some time before we saw it and chose it. Monday began our appointments and our first lesson: a condo is really just an apartment. The first place we saw, a condo, was really a disaster. Some young kid lived there who never cleaned and decorated with his Rasta pictures. How many Bob Marley pictures does one room support? At least two, according to this young designer.  And, the place had a deck, but it was shared with the neighbor next door. How appealing. It was an easy no. The guy who showed it kept apologizing about the tenant and the condition of the place. We left as soon as we could.

We drove to the next place, the exact opposite of the one before. There was only one similarity between this next place and the previous place, the guy we met to show us the apartment was the same guy we had previously met at the Rasta apartment. We chuckled over this and then toured the garage and apartment. Immediately, I could envision living here. The tenant was also completely opposite from the last tenant. She left a note about utilities and costs. She also said she had loved living there. She was neat, organized, and decorated tastefully. She had a cat, somewhere. She was gold. If all the other places were dumps, I knew at least I could live here. It was far from Ernani’s Law School though.

And after having lived in Oklahoma, I was a bit scared of the open spaces without trees where this large complex of townhouses was built. I could imagine the tornado and the complete exposure scared me. I liked the hills. They protected me from tornados. The minute we pulled off the interstate, my first reaction to Iowa was I feel more exposed. It is great to see the sun and the horizon, but I have not seen that in about 5 years, so will be an adjustment. I am assuming it will pass quickly and when I need my hill fix, Arkansas is only 10 hours away. Take me home.

We ended a long day of looking having dinner with Shaner and Andre and then watching Transformers. Barb and Helena were busy all week. Helena dances and there was a big recital on Sunday that she was preparing for all week. The whole family wanted to hear about our day, so we would tell Shaner and Andre about it in the afternoon and Barb and Helena about it in the morning at breakfast.

After day one, I had seen 3 places I could live, a Sonic, and found one good Mexican restaurant. My list of must-haves was being met.

Tuesday was more of the same, except that I found a place I really like. I went to the rest of the viewing comparing the places to it. It had some issues, like no garage and a tiny, tiny kitchen, but I loved the wood floors, the light, and the sealed basement. I was sure we would not find one better. It was also close to campus. I kept calling it the place I love. I was a bit smitten. But, something better was just around the corner.

Rebecca came with us to the morning appointments on Tuesday, but left that afternoon to go back to the farm for her Wednesday yoga. We looked at places, joined the amazing co-op, and made plans to meet up with my friend Carol at The Red Avocado for dinner at the end of our day. It was a great restaurant, all vegan. I have not been able to order everything off of a menu in over ten years. And Ernani liked Carol, so all was perfect. We told her about a dump we saw just before our dinner that ended our day of searching. The landlord sold his driveway to football fans and the tenants got nothing of those proceeds. In fact, he allowed the football fans to use the bathrooms in the basement and the tenants paid for the water they used. I had never heard of such a ludicrous arrangement.

Wednesday we were on our own. It was also our 3 year anniversary. This was the day we found the place. We saw it that afternoon. The tenants showed us the place. It was a duplex with three stories: a basement with the laundry facilities we alone use, a first floor with the kitchen and dining and living rooms, and a third floor with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. It also has a garage and is in a quiet neighborhood near the bus stop. One of the tenants said what we were thinking: it has everything you look for in a place. We discussed it that night at dinner and found out from talking to Barb that she knew the landlord, who owns a great, local coffee house chain in Iowa City and whose daughter dances with Helena.

The next day, we saw one other place and then as we were sitting in the car in a driveway to another place in a downpour, I turned to Ernani and said: Let’s get the place we saw yesterday. He was happy. I was happy. Our cat in WV had no idea the plans we were making for her future. We immediately called the coffee landlord and made arrangements. The rest of the day, we spent at the Corraville public library, which is beautiful and where I plan to spend a lot of time in Iowa City.

The next day, we signed the lease. We had a successful scouting trip. Everything was moving in the direction of Iowa City and it felt good. The hard part has been waiting for the end of July. 

A Reflection on Travel

Yes, this is a travel blog, but I am a metaphor person too. Travel in its most dramatic form is physical. I buy that expensive plane ticket, get on that plane, my body moves through the sky, and I arrive at an exotic, new-to-me destination. We recognized that form of travel without question, but we can also never physically leave a place and travel too.  For example, when I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, my imagination plays the scenes of the novel in my head. Time passes fast with a good book. I have never left the couch, expect maybe to get some food or tell the cat no, but I have been traveling in my head. We also understand this concept of non-physical travel. We even understand how life itself is travel as a journey. That cliché comes up in many an old 80’s Rush song.

I have blogged about a physical and exotic travel I took in January to Brasil. This was also a life travel as well since I was meeting a whole set of in-laws I had never meet before. My concept of family doubled when I met and married my husband and then again after we were married and I met the Brazilian side of his family. I even meet some of my mother-in-laws friends, her extended family, and they joined our life as well. That is clear from the previous posts. I would also call these elements of travel blessings.

But, our life was about to take on another dimension of travel when we arrived back from Brasil. Ernani had rocked the LSAT and we were waiting to hear which schools he got accepted into and which were to offer us money. We had a big decision to make that would result in us moving, or traveling, to a new city and it could have been Austin, D.C., Chicago etc. They were all over and all interested in him. This physical travel was again coupled with a mental change. He would go to law school and I would pursue work. That work suddenly became open to any possible kind of work, not just teaching.

We have of course made our decision by now. We will be moving to Iowa City, Iowa. This is a place that is close to my husband’s heart. He went to school there for his philosophy degrees and his brother and sister-in-law and their family live there. In many ways, he is going home. I, on the other hand, am moving to a new place. It is another exotic destination and one that presents many options and life travel paths for me. Ernani of course has his new path: law school. What will mine be?

Right now, all I can say is we will see. But, this morning as I was catching up on Gretchen’s blog (http://www.happiness-project.com/), I read an interview she posted with Richard Florida who was talking about the importance of where you live. It does of course matter in terms of happiness. We are happy where we are accepted and where we can pursue what we enjoy. It also matters in terms of what travels we take. Our place does affect us and the places we go do as well. Being close to family matters to both Ernani and I. Being in a job that allows me to teach and be creative matters to me.

We visited Iowa City a few weeks ago. It was a very good trip. We were productive, we found a bank and a place to live. Ernani took a tour of the law school. We found a great coffee shop. The public libraries are amazing and wonderful. There is park every 10 feet. The food in the grocery stores is reasonably priced and there are 4 days of farmer markets in the area. My friend Carol is 20 minutes away. My parents are only a day away. My brothers about 5 hours away. The farm is 2 hours away. It seems a wonderful place to live and raise kids and be a writer. When I told the landlord I was going to pursue writing as work, she did not dismiss the idea or respond negatively. She was sincerely enthusiastic about it as a workable idea. I took this as a good sign of community and acceptance.

If community acceptance is key to happiness as Richard Florida asserts, I pray that Iowa City accepts me as I think it might. This is my wish. This is my new travel destination.