Elective Post: Train Ride Home

The train ride home was interesting at first since there was a mix up with the seating but after that I think it was ok. I liked the discussion we had in the observation car because we got it discuss what worked and didn't work on the trip. I did not talk very much because I agreed with what everyone was saying. I think the schedule for the trip should be changed if possible and I think a Katrina tour would have been nice also. I know may people want to keep many of the tours that went along with nursing since we are nursing students and I think so as well but I also think if it is not a nursing class then I am ok not having everything geared toward nursing. I like to learn what is taught in the gen ed classes but now I feel like they are changing them to make everything have nursing information in them. I would like this trip to focus on everything that we focused on during the trip such as music, architecture, culture, food, etc. I slept well on the train and we arrived safely so this trip was a success in my eyes.

Elective Post: Overall Impression of NOLA

I really enjoyed New Orleans, I loved the City. The French Quarter was everything I expected and more. My first thought about the city was how amazing the architecture was. Then learning the history of the architecture was awesome because at first I thought it had a French influence then come to find out due to the fire the Spanish rebuilt everything thing so the architecture comes from the Spanish. The city to me felt very French which is my favorite aspect of the city. Many of the restaurants had French names, and some of the words or saying come from the French language. I also liked the culture of the people and how open everyone was and non judgmental. You can be who you want and it is embraced there which I know I mentioned this in another post but this is what I loved most about the city. I loved the music playing on the street I could have sat and listened for hours, I played the clarinet in high school so listening to the clarinetist and watching them play was amazing. New Orleans is so different then other cities I have been to but one thing that it has in common is the amount of homeless people on the street. Just like other big cities you see a lot of homeless on the street. It makes me so sad to see these people who have nothing and every time I see someone who is homeless I always wonder what their life was like prior to them being homeless and what got them to this point. I just wanted to speak on that since it is something I experienced everyday in New Orleans. The food was great, everything I ate was excellent. I tried some of the Creole and Cajun cuisine a few times but I did not try everything I could have. My favorite food that I tried was the gumbo we had on the cuisine tour. New Orleans was very fun and such a great learning experience, I hope to return with family and friends soon.  

Goodbye New Orleans

The French Market was my favorite place in to go in New Orleans. The reason I like the French Market is because I like to shop and see the people and I love handmade items, which a lot of the stuff there is handmade. I just really like the atmosphere and the different people who come and shop there. I would like to come back to New Orleans with family or friends because I really enjoyed the city and I would take them to the French Market because I know they would like it. There is also food stands, which I got something to eat or drink from three different stands and the food was very good. I know my family and friends would enjoy the French market for the same reasons I did. I would describe the French market as an outdoor craft show but better. I do plan on coming back to New Orleans with my father sometime in the future because he is a huge history buff and he would love New Orleans and all the tours we went on.  My Favorite Part of the class was learning about the culture and history or New Orleans. I liked learning about the culture and history of the city is because it really explains why the city is the way it is and the people. My favorite part of the trip was the pharmacy museum. The reason I liked the pharmacy museum the best was because we learned about 20th century healthcare and the changes that have been made throughout the years. The tour guide was hilarious, I had a great time on this tour. I liked that he talked about the voodoo priestess because voodoo seems to be a big part of the culture in New Orleans so it was nice to learn what it actually was. What I learned about the people in New Orleans is that they are so accepting and non judgmental. They also appreciate the talent of the people because everyone gathers around musicians and listens to the music and applauds when they are done and I just think they appreciate the different talent in the city. Also it seems like you can be anyone you wanna be in New Orleans and you can follow your dreams like you can play music, you can be an artist, etc and its not all about being famous but its about doing what you love to do. That is also what I learned about myself is you don't have to be the best as long as you are doing what you love then that's all that matters. Its also a plus if people get enjoyment from it. 

Cabildo & Presbytere

The Presbytere was very sad but it was nice to learn more about Katrina and what really happened when this disaster happened. For a long time I only knew about Hurricane Katrina from what I heard from the media. Much more happened and went on then what people really know because the media only covered what they wanted to cover. After visiting the Presbytere I learned about the different responses from the people affect. The media covered a lot of the rioting and fires that happened during that time and even though that did go on there was an overwhelming majority of people helping each other and just trying to survive. There was a short film in the Presbytere called Ordinary Hero's, and I did not get a chance to watch it but I heard the video featured people who helped out others during the disaster. In the video there was a many who actually helped a woman deliver her baby. There was also a video on first responders and health care providers that I actually got to watch and the health care providers were amazing during this time. The health care providers went above and beyond during Katrina and one patient in the video made a statement about the nurses and how thankful he was for them and it almost made me cry. New Orleans was in shock when this happened and they city did not have the help they should have had from the national government. The stories of Katrina were very touching and sad. The saddest part to me was the lack of attention from the national government. It seemed like there was no immediate response and I am sure there was more that could have been done for them. The stories were also touching because the people all worked together and the courageous acts of the people touched me.

The Cabildo was also a very interesting museum and I felt like I already knew some of the information in the museum because of all the tours we went on. It was actually a good feeling already knowing some of the information in the museum and also learning more of what I already knew. In my opinion the most interesting story the Cabildo told was the story of the first families of Louisiana. I thought the French were the first settlers in Louisiana but actually many Indian groups already lived in Louisiana when the French settled in 1699. I thought this was interesting because from everything we learned on the tours I was under the impression that the French were the first people but in fact the Indians were already here. The Cabildo was very interesting and taught me a lot about the history of New Orleans.

Elective Post: Free Day

During the free day I went shopping in the French Quarter and the Outlet mall by the hotel. Many of the store I went into were on Royal street and also Decatur. There was live music being played on Royal street all day, and I saw people dressed up in different costumes. One person was dressed as a transformer which I thought was very funny. People wear performing magic shows in the streets, palm readers, etc. I think what makes New Orleans so different from other cities in America is the culture of the people, such as people can wear transformer suits and no one would think twice about it. The people in New Orleans to me are what make it such as interesting city because if it wasn't for the people then it would just be a historic town with old buildings and lots of history. My favorite part of New Orleans was the people, I loved all the artist and the musicians. During the free day we went to a restaurant in the French Quarter, I forgot the name, and I ordered the gumbo which came with French bread on the side. This Gumbo was very different then the one we had on the Cuisine tour, I thought the one we ate on the tour was better. I had a great free day and I loved being in the quarter and experiencing the city and the people.

Elective Post: Cuisine Tour

The Cuisine Tour was one of my favorite tours in New Orleans. I enjoyed the cuisine tour because we go to taste and learn about the famous food served in New Orleans. Since this city is widely known for its cuisine it was nice to learn and taste the different foods that have influenced American cuisine. New Orleans is a melting pot of different cultures such as French, Spanish, Italian, Caribbean, German, and African. Each culture has had an influence on New Orleans cuisine. The food was very good, I tried everything besides the red beans and rice because I do not like beans. My top two favorite dishes from the tour were The gumbo and the gelato. The gumbo had great flavor, the broth was very good, and everything was cooked perfectly. The gelato was also vey good and not extremely sweet, it was perfect for a desert. One dish I tried that I did not like was the cannoli. I did not like the cream in the cannoli and I did not seem like a treat to me. Besides that the food was very good and I am glad we got to taste some of the famous food from New Orleans.

Excursion

Both museums were a learning experience for me. I could not believe how much I learned today about not only Louisiana's history but American History. During the Hansen's disease museum tour I learned a lot not only about Hansens disease but about the patient population, their feelings, their living situations etc. I thought the artifacts in the museum were interesting to learn about such as the wheel chair with the hand cranks and the money. The Museum seemed like a small isolated town instead of a hospital to make people better. It was interesting to me that some of the patients changed their name to protect their families. It was also amazing to me that some patients have just left a few months ago. The tour of the rest of the facility was interesting because we got to see where the patients stayed and some of the activities that were provided for them. The next tour we went on was the Whitney Plantation Tour which was one of my favorite tours since we have been in New Orleans. I really enjoyed this tour because I learned a lot about American history from the view points of the slaves. The Whitney Plantation does a great job of keeping the tour from the enslaved point of view and what it was like to be a slave on that plantation. It was a very touching tour and hard to hear and see some of the parts of the tour. Both Museums mad me sad because of how isolated the patients were and how mistreated the slaves were.