New Orleans, you took a piece of my heart. Let me tell you something, you will never experience a city like New Orleans. There is a picture above this that is black and white with my orange umbrella that is colored. In the photo, I am located in Jackson Square at one of the gated entrances. In the picture, I was looking at the Andrew Jackson statue. When you walk into the garden, go to the front of the Andrew Jackson statue and face towards the cathedral. If you don't go wow, you're not doing it right. Anyways, that is exactly what I did when I walked to that spot. The entire area is gorgeous and I could not seem to walk away from it. Jackson Square as a whole is my favorite spot. In the garden of Jackson Square, you are surrounded with beautiful flowers. Since the weather is warm year round, the flowers are always blooming.
The garden itself is properly maintained and you won't ever find garbage lingering around. That's another thing about New Orleans, it is clean. They wash the streets daily which surprised me, and they do the same in the square. If you go out into the streets in the morning, there is a fresh scent smell from the soap. I'm definitely going to miss going to Jackson Square. There's something about going into the streets and hearing the performers. They are constantly playing these graceful tunes on their instruments. I can't help, but stop and listen for a while. It's music to the ears (literally).
So, I haven't mentioned this, but I play an instrument myself. I play the flute and piccolo and have been playing since I was 10 years old. If you're unfamiliar with the music world, there are two ways to learn music. You can play sheet music or play by ear. The street performers play by ear and they improvise constantly. The craziest part of it all is that they improvise constantly and yet the audience has no idea. They just know they are hearing this incredible music and don't think much of it. Since I have my music background, I appreciate music for more than non-musicians. The work that goes into playing music takes a lot. The performance you see on the street has so much work beneath it.
Anyways, enough about my spiel... The reason I want you to come visit Jackson Square is because you are going to get an experience like you've never had before. When you walk the square, you will hear these sounds and voices from street performers that just draw you in. I want you to sit or stand nearby the street performers and just listen to them. After you listen for a while, I highly suggest putting a few dollars in their box. It's important to remember that some of these people make a living off the money that is placed in there. You might ask why don't they go get a real job, and the thing is they may or may not have a job elsewhere, but this is what their heart desires. The music that is played might be all they know.
After you've listened a while, I want you to venture out into the streets. You're going to feel like you're elsewhere like Europe or something from how the buildings and streets are set up. I recommend taking a stroll through the garden first so you see a different perspective of the St. Louis Cathedral and the surrounding area. Also, I recommend you go into the St. Louis Cathedral if you want to see a church like you have never seen before. I mean the amount of history in that church alone is astonishing. If you're deciding whether to go into the Presbytere or Cabildo, I recommend the Presbytere. The Presbytere had so much information about Hurricane Katrina. There were plenty of videos that had real people from the time that explained their purpose and experiences. If you do go there, I recommend sitting down and listening to each of the videos playing.
If you had to ask me what my favorite part of the class was, I would say it was the blogging. Through this blogging, I have captured my favorite memories and really elaborated on them. If this was a vacation, I would not remember some of the things I have done. I think it's really important to blog or keep a journal of what you have done and how you felt doing it. To be honest, I don't know the next time I will come to New Orleans. I mean I would love to, but I know it will be years down the road. At least, I have my blogging to read back through to actually see what I enjoyed.
This was my very first travel course, so everything is new to me. I thoroughly enjoyed blogging and obtaining new friendships. There are classmates I have in the course, and I grew so much closer to them. Through them, I experienced new things. For example, I went to a palm reader and I have never done that before. I think having the trip be with classmates who are currently going through nursing school with me and actually had a course where we got to have fun and visit new places was an experience I will forever be grateful for. This was the trip of the lifetime and I get to read this blog later in life to relive the experiences again. Who knows, I could be a travel nurse in New Orleans? ;)
The residents of New Orleans are super friendly people. They really enjoy entertaining the tourists and the locals. I mean they have their music in which they do live jazz shows almost nightly. After I went to Frenchmen Street, I gained even more appreciation for music. Since I live near Chicago, they have bands who will come and play small shows. Here in New Orleans, the performers invite the locals to play with them. The craziest thing to see was the locals joining in and not even missing a note. They just stand up and join with the band when cued. I have never seen that until I was down here. I grew up playing sheet music so it would be hard improvising since
I've learned how much I actually appreciate music and appreciating everything I have. Music has been a big part of my life and I know how frustrating it can be when it comes to an instrument. The people who play on the streets might only have music. Speaking of the streets, some of these people live on the streets. I complain if my room is too warm in my apartment, when these people are sleeping on the cold hard ground. It's really sad to think about it. I have become so much more appreciative of the things I have. I mean look at this trip. I complain about sleeping in a reclining chair, when the people on the streets would love to have a place to sleep whether it's a chair or not. The people on streets don't complain, but rather try to give you something in return for a few dollars. They play their hearts on the street for a few dollars. As I sit on this train home, I think about how grateful I am to even have this experience and to never take anything for granted. Things can happen in the blink of an eye. Thank you, New Orleans for the wonderful memories!
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