While I had started high school in Des Moines, I tried not to get too attached as I knew I would be switching schools in October. My mom had found the same position, but in a different hospital, 1200 miles away in Charlottesville, Virginia.
During the first week of October, we headed east. We drove through Illinois where we picked up my aunt in Chicago. She was going to help my mom drive cross-country. They decided on the scenic route. We drove through Indiana and Ohio, where we had to stop along the way in Amish country. I was not at all excited about this…I remember thinking, can’t we just get there already?! We then went through West Virgina. I think it was here that we spent the night with a friend of my aunt’s.
Driving through West Virginia was my first experience with terrain that included hairpin curves and mountains. I have never been car sick a day in my life, but I found myself feeling dizzy and sick to my stomach. I was also taken aback by the number of trees. Seriously, there are trees everywhere!
Growing up in Iowa, I was used to seeing fields everywhere….a landscape that would allow you to see for miles. And the soil is rich…it’s a dark brown or black. Upon arriving in Virginia, we immediately noticed the red clay.
When we arrived in Charlottesville, it was late so we got a hotel room. The next day, we drove to the house my mom had rented. We waited and waited on the truck with our belongings to arrive. Finally, when it showed up there was only the driver. He had no one to help him unload. As I recall, we ended up having to help. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but sometimes you have to make do.
The next day, Mom took us to school to get registered. I remember the guidance counselor telling me that Homecoming was that week and I should attend the football game. Perhaps I was still quite shy, but attending a high school football game with absolutely no one I knew, did not sound like a good time.
The following Monday we started school. I now had to ride a bus to school. It wasn’t just kids my age like the bus that took me to school in Des Moines. This bus was K-12 and it was crowded. The first thing I noticed was the twang with which these kids talked. It seemed I was in the boonies.
The story that really sticks out from my first few days at this new school involved a kid on the bus. They all went through the inevitable “Where are you from? Idaho? Potatoes? Ohio??”
“Iowa – it’s the Hawkeye State” DUH.
“Oh, well what else is it known for?”
“It’s a huge agriculture state…” That means farming.
“Oh so like corn?”
Wow! They do actually teach you stuff here, huh? “Yes, soybeans, corn…”
“Oh so did you grow corn in your living room?” Wow, I guess I spoke too soon….seriously? Did he just say that to me? I think that may have been one of the most ignorant questions I’ve ever heard. For some reason that conversation has stuck in my head for the last 20 years.
