Goodbye New Orleans

Outer Journey

Today is the last day and I can honestly say that I loved everything the city had to offer and I can’t wait to come back again. As I reflect through my experience I don’t think I could have done this is a better way. Coming into this I had NO idea what to expect or know who I was going to meet. It turns out that I have met the most amazing people during my time there and I will always remember that New Orleans brought us together. I can now say that I have so many more wonderful friendships that will last a life time. While I was in the city for 5 days I got to visit a variety of exhibits and tours and it’s hard to choose which one was my favorite. Even though I loved the everything about the entire trip I have to choose a favorite so I would have to say my favorite exhibit would have been the Hurricane Katrina museum. There I learned the importance of water and how it plays a huge role in New Orleans. It was one of the biggest ports and was used for importing and exporting goods. I also learned how big of a rival they have with water because it has caused so many reoccurring problems to occur. The Hurricane Katrina museum showed reoccurring videos that showed the damaged the hurricane has caused. Most of the houses it hit there was nothing left of them. I learned how the entire community came together to rebuild the city of New Orleans and how they didn’t let that stop them from staying positive. A lot of people should live by their example because they never once let that negative activity stop them from coming together and getting the job done. I was fortunate enough to see that and just by 3 days it has already put an impact on me and has taught me not to take life for granted. The amount of detail and real belongings they put into that museum has made this museum made it my favorite also. It has put people’s belongings that were lost into this museum to really show everyone what all was lost. They also showed pictures of the people waiting to be rescued and if that didn’t hit your emotions, I don’t know what will. Others that have been rescued may not have had anything to eat. One guy kept a journal on the wall as the days went on and explained how he felt from day to day. We don’t really understand what everyone had to go through during this time, nor would I ever want to experience something so tragic. We have to realize the strength the city had in order to get through this and they had more strength and patience I could have ever had. I admire this entire museum and I couldn’t be more thankful I got to visit and understand everything. This was such an empowering museum. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone who has the chance to make it down south.

 

Favorite Place

Piano damaged by Katrina

Inner Journey

Back to reality I go and I’m definitely not excited about working this weekend. I should be at least a little excited because I spent WAY too much money in the South and I need more! Experience a different city with my classmates has made me feel very fortunate of what I have right now in life. Not a lot of students get the opportunity to travel to another state to learn the background and current information about the city. My favorite part of the class was going to all of the required events, because like I said, I have learned a lot about the city of New Orleans itself and I couldn’t wait to share it with my family back at home and explain in my blog what I learned for that day. Even though we had a frustrating experience when going to Louisiana, we are having a wonderful experience home. We have already been on the train for 9 hours, so it feels like it is going by pretty quickly. I am so glad because these seats are a pain in my but, literally. While I was there I had a wonderful experience with the people. We have taken several car rides with lyft, uber and the train care and for the most part we all enjoyed what they had to say. They are usually pretty friendly and I love that because that’s how a lot of people are in my home town because it is very small and everyone knows everyone. They treat everyone with the utmost respect for each other, unless they have given them a reason not to. Spending time with friendly people has made me feel right at home and some days that is just what I needed. I am a big home body and sometimes it is hard for me to be away from home because I am VERY close with my family and pets, but the generosity there has helped me adjust to being away. I did love my trip very much but I am so ready to be home. I miss being able to drive myself anywhere I want, I missed my friends, bed, family, and my pets. I face timed my mom every day so I could talk to her and my dad, but I also did it to see my puppy and kitty. I’m so glad I got out of the house and Illinois for a while because I needed it. While being there I learned that I have been needing to broaden my horizons and be myself more. I also learned that I wouldn’t actually like to live in a big city like that. It is fun visiting but I do not have the patience for all of that traffic and I think I would go crazy! I like knowing everyone so I can be more personable. I couldn’t thank Colleen Karn enough for putting this trip together and making sur ewe stay busy. Some people like to sleep all day and when we were there, it was not allowed. She had us learning so many different things and experience New Orleans the right way. Thanks again, Colleen!!

My baby, Nova

New friends!