#2: Thursday, January 11, 2024

 Where to begin? 

On the evening of Monday, the 8th of January, it began to snow in Iowa City. We had only had one “real” snow prior to this, a few weeks previous, and it melted off quickly. This snow was different; it piled on, and didn’t stop. Tuesday afternoon, we needed a team of five to clear our grandparents’ driveway. Tuesday happened to be my last day to pack before leaving for Santiago. I had sublet my apartment, so was spending Tuesday at my moms. The snowstorm knocked a power line down in front of her house, so I was forced to pack without power. I finished packing and (only then) the power came back on. After a long Tuesday of saying goodbyes to friends and family, I came to rest around 11:30. At 3:45 a.m, I awoke. My mother, stepdad, and I had breakfast, said our goodbyes, and my dad picked me up at 5. By 5:45 we were at the Cedar Rapids airport. 

7:00-9:00 a.m: Flight to Minneapolis, short and frantic layover. 

9:00-1:00 p.m: Minneapolis to LAX. 

3:00 p.m-6:30 a.m: Overnight flight to Santiago. This is where I was meant to get back the rest I had missed on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, I decided instead to sit in discomfort for ten hours, watching Titanic as the night passed me by. 30 mins of sleep maximum, then coffee generously provided by LATAM Airlines. I mustered enough energy to get through customs, get my bags, and get to our group chaperone around 7:00 Thursday morning. Over the next hour, people flowed in and assembled. We took a bus to the city center, where our host university is. Orientation, meet-and-greet, brief tour, and we were off to our housing. Then, grocery shopping. And now I am here. It is 7:00 Thursday evening as I write. I have gotten five hours of sleep total in the last two nights. But, I have gotten a glimpse of the place I will be living for the next four months, and it was very exciting. 

When we rode the bus from the airport to the city, we spent a long time on a road that runs parallel to Santiago’s Mapocho river. I was fascinated by it. The water level appears low, and trash was gathered at various points on the river’s edge. But the river still flows, through a strange path; the river appears to run dry at various points, but does not end. I am struck by the question of how the river works. Looking the opposite direction from the river, I saw many mountains. And walking through the city, I saw streets that looked new, cars that drove differently, and a warmness in the air that was impossible to fathom just a couple of nights ago. I feel that I have a lot to learn about this place that I am in. 

 

#1: Monday, January 1, 2024

 I have made this blog for a few reasons:

1) To document my upcoming semester-long study abroad trip to Santiago, Chile, my last full time semester as an undergraduate student.

2) To gather my thoughts as I continue my study in environmental history.

3) To exercise my writing muscles in a variety of ways.

I am not certain what the length and regularity of these posts will be--when I get settled in Santiago (trip beginning the 10th) I will get a better idea of what is feasible/desirable to do. For now I'll just say that they would ideally be somewhat regular, perhaps once a week, and preferably at least five hundred words or so.

So, what is going on right now? Well, it is a new year. I am moving stuff out of my room, and getting close to being essentially ready to go. I am deciding which books I can bring and which I must leave at home. This is proving difficult. Beyond that, I am doing some information gathering about Santiago. I will confess that I am nervous as my Spanish has not progressed beyond my (even then limited) high school abilities. I try and remind myself of the long game here, and that it is ok to struggle to communicate as long as you are trying your best. I feel that once I secure a metro card, get to my housing, and find a grocery store, my nervousness will dissipate. 

As far as my study in history goes, I am at an interesting time. I just finished my undergraduate thesis, which was about Iowa City's 2008 flood, and about a century of events leading up and through the event--floodplain development, flood control measures, land use change...then the flood itself and responses to it, which were infrastructural, cultural, and procedural. All centered around a particular relationship between the river and the city growing around (and through) it, and how this relationship changed through one hundred years of flooding.

Having "completed" this work, I now have the opportunity to assess what I am doing more broadly, and explore further different geographical areas, time periods, methods and methodologies. A naturally following progression might suggest I begin to focus on the Midwest as an integrated region of study, or something along those lines. Maybe the history of rivers, incorporating industrialized agriculture, something about waste, or a broader history of disasters (My thesis advisor, Dr. Robert Rouphail studies tropical cyclones in his work on Mauritius. A faculty member once told me jovially that he is the university's "master of disaster".)  Or, I could study Latin American history. Or some integration of the Americas as a coherent geographical area of study? Not sure...but I have some time to figure it all out.

I also want to improve my writing in addition to these things mentioned above. I had a fairly excruciating time at many points during my thesis writing. I understand that the difficulties, mistakes, imperfections, and deep sense of self loathing seem to be a natural result of this process, but I nonetheless feel that if I improve my ability to express myself, the process may go smoother (famous last words, I know.) I might also try less academic and more, I don't know, expressive writing. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. See you next week.