MADE IT!!!

After arriving last Monday evening, I'm finally back online and writing my first post from the comfort of my new home in Grinnell, Iowa. The packing, moving, and driving over 1000 miles will always test one's patience and it certainly did. I hate having my life upended. I also hate not being connected to my friends via the internet, but there's always an end and J and I are finally feeling like we're at home. I think this weekend we'll have our first real chance to check out the town and the surrounding cities like Des Moines and Iowa City. Here's a few quick highlights ...

• Grinnell is really a small town ... population of 9000 people and you can drive to the boundaries of the town in a few minutes.
• Wild rabbits scampering through our yard!!!
• Dragonflies and other bugs.
• The tomatoes grown here are absolutely delicious!!!
• Lots of thunder and lightning storms. Our power went out for a few hours once.
• We have a toilet and semi-repaired shower in our basement. It was really weird but my colleague informed me that is there in the event of a tornado in case we become trapped. It's more prevalent in older homes like the one we have when Grinnell was seriously damaged by a tornado. Obviously, my new home is one of the older ones in town.
• Our basement is hella' musty.
• We met our new neighbors within 10 minutes of arriving. Everyone is incredibly friendly. As a matter of fact, everywhere I went people talked to me and said hello. My colleague in sociology lives next door and I found out my other neighbor is a native San Franciscan. He's a classic '60s liberal who has a beautiful garden. Awesome!
• Lots of cornfields. Seriously. Corn is everywhere and is the state's main product along with soybean.
• Lots of farm equipment like tractors.
• We saw a truck load of pigs being transported through Grinnell.
• Walmart is the local store that is the only establishment open for 24 hours. I really hate that store but there were a number of things that I needed to fix my place up.
• Unpacking is about 90% done. I checked in with my department and will get settled in as soon as possible. I have an OFFICE with my name on it. J has a more beautiful office in the Center for the Humanities with a window.
• J and I scored on our first trip to Des Moines by finding a really good Asian market. We came home with over $200 of dumplings, noodles, tofu, meats, bean sprouts, bean curd, seasonings, snow pea shoots, BBQ pork buns, preserved mangos, pickled cucumbers, and daikon. To hell with junk food!

That's about it for now. Will check in again and post pictures as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone for sending me your emails of support!