With much preparation and conjecture concerning Furman MayX: Farm, our greatly anticipated mid-western journey began as one more amusing than our immediate expectations. In fact, our journey commenced antecedent to our first steps upon the rich soils of Iowa. After most of us, excluding three members of the group, happened upon each other at the Atlanta-Jackson Hartsfield airport in Atlanta, it didn’t take long for us to greet each other and make friendly introductions. There, at wee hours of 8:00 a.m., and with consideration to all our colorful personalities, we happened to form strong friendship during the two hours we awaited our departure.

Landing in the Des Moines airport in Iowa, after an “interesting” flight, we met HN (Dr. Glen Halva-Neubauer) and Hagan who arrived a couple of hours prior. After Mariah finally arrived in Des Moines and while awaiting the arrival of our last member, we traveled for a nice lunch at Gateway Market, one of HN’s favorite spots in the city. The restaurant, to our surprise, consisted of both a dine-in and a grocery store. Moreover, the menu consisted of a number foods, some very common, some not so common but popular in Iowa, and others we had never heard; all of which proffered an insightful and conversational meal.

Shortly after this meal, we proceeded to pick up our last member from the airport and traveled swiftly to the Neubauer family farm in Radcliffe, Iowa. There we were politely introduced to HN’s brother, Denny, who, as we came to know, is a kindred soul but interesting character. He provided much insight concerning some of the issues related to tractors and planters as well as personal experience he’s had with using precision agriculture. Not only was he excited to meet us, we were also greeted by the Neubauers’ amazing canine, Shadow (one the biggest highlights of the day).

Subsequently, we proceeded to meet our host families. Mariah, Hagan,and Sophie (the Girls) met Morris, who is unquestionably the funniest and most lovable of people we’ve met so far on this trip. Jessie and Josh met the Knutsons, the most adorable and sweetest hosts whom we have coined our “Mom and Dad” for the next 3 weeks. Lastly, the Boys (Parker, Ethan, Reid) met the Sweeneys, a caring and daring family with close relations to the Neubauers. After settling in and unpacking, the group along with our hosts and hostesses met for dinner at Morris’s home known as “Versailles” (the nicest and most well decorated home in the area). There we made brief introductions and enjoyed some of the best cuisine prepared by the lovely Diane Schwartz.

Immediately after dinner, the group debriefed at the Neubauer barn and discussed the schedule for our three weeks in Iowa. We also watched a documentary video on Henry Wallace, Henry A. Wallace: An Uncommon Man, which provided an avid example of some of material we would be learning during this course. This video completed our first day in Iowa and the group returned to our designated host families to await the wonders that would come tomorrow.