Preparing

I feel as though I have been mentally preparing for this trip for months and months. The anticipation has been building and now I am feeling somewhat frantic. There is a lot to be done around my house before I should leave, such as cleaning up after the tornado that is known as “Christmas.” I will feel better once things are in order.

 I am looking around my bedroom, mainly my closet, that is absolutely jam packed full of clothing I am sure I will need or want to wear on this trip, and trying to determine what can actually fit into my suitcase.(This thing has been sitting here, with my other bags, just waiting to be packed, for weeks!)

I am not an outfit planner, but I really just throw in a bunch of stuff I like and figure out what I am wearing once I get to where I am going. I am wondering how many pairs of shoes I can actually fit in my suitcase! I have begun my list, which is beginning to look like a list of preparations for a month long trip rather than a week long trip. I always over pack, but I am almost positive I will forget something I cannot possibly live without during this trip. I have this whole table worth of makeup and hair products, lotions and body sprays, face masks and moisturizers, maybe 5 items of which I use every day. I will try to bring it all! I have been known to go over my luggage weight limit without regret, each and every time I stepped on a plane. I always imagine barely unzipping it and everything but the kitchen sink spewing out. I will attempt to downsize and make things more manageable this time around!

I plan to bring some snacks to keep for the train and hotel, a book or two I actually want to read, my Mac of course, and some headphones. I purchased a new pair of rain boots since I saw several rainy days on the forecast, but I am almost positive they won’t arrive on time.

Probably the biggest thing I worried about dealing with is being away from my sweet son. This will be the longest period of time I will be away from him so I can imagine a few rough moments, along with a few moments of guilt for enjoying my break and the different opportunities we will experience! I am bringing my new bracelet he got me for Christmas, with a charm in the shape of the state of Illinois, so I remember where my home and heart are!

            I have set aside the softest, plushest blanket I own, my favorite, flat pillow, and my slippers, because I am all about comfort! I hope no one judges me for wearing the baggiest sweats in the world for the train ride.

            And finally, the whole reason for this trip, the school work and studying. My group and I are doing our travel guide project on Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, there are an abundance of articles and other forms of information we can attain to complete this project. This was such a devastating time in New Orleans and although it is an interesting subject to research, it is incredibly sad to see the damage that was caused and the lives that were taken. To think that there are still some people suffering from this catastrophe is absolutely tragic and disturbing.

     I am sure that I know this class will be a lot of work, and I am expecting to feel exhausted most days. The itinerary shows several hours of “class time,” which will include some early mornings and lots of activity. However, I will take this kind of class and workload over sitting in a desk a few hours a week for 16 weeks straight any day. I think it is very cool that our assignments are based on what we are experiencing and less on research like we are used to in nursing school. I feel lucky that I will get to experience the amazing city of New Orleans again, on a much different level than before, all while earning course credits towards my degree. It is somewhat rare that I take time to do anything away from my family and I can honestly say I am looking forward to that just a tiny bit. I love my family of course, don’t get me wrong, but it will be nice to do something different and for myself. My son has gone on several vacations with his grandparents, to places I’ve never even been, so I don’t feel too guilty about leaving him.

            When I originally planned to take this course, I thought, who wouldn’t want to take a vacation that counted for course credit towards a nursing degree? Who wouldn’t want to go to another, warmer state during this brutal Illinois winter weather, and get to learn about a different culture? It still amazes me at times that there are so many cultures in just a few states away. I was a little worried about financing the trip but decided to go for it and figure out the money issue later! I may skip a lunch or two, but really, the sacrifice will be worth it ;). As previously mentioned in my blog, I have been to New Orleans before, but there was a lot to the city that we did not get to see. There were several people on our trip and we mostly stuck together, but we didn’t take any tours, expect the swamp tour, which I honestly have no desire to ever do again. I feel like a lot of the trip was a blur and I didn’t absorb as much as I would have liked. I am sure that places might be familiar to me but I am looking forward to seeing them in a new light and hearing what the tour guides have to say. I would say that the thing I am most looking forward to the pharmacy tour. I think that the history of medicine is so interesting and I cannot wait to learn more about it and see some of the tools that were used years ago. I am especially interested in how surgeries used to be performed and how blood transfusions during them were pumped into the body manually. I love seeing that kind of thing and letting myself imagine how much things have changed for the better, thankfully for us!

           

            

Assumptions (Inner Journey)

My expectations of this New Orleans trip come from a vacation I took with my boyfriend and ten of his family members. When you take a vacation with that many people, it is difficult to make sure that each person gets to see and do everything that they would like. When I discussed the architecture and scenery in New Orleans, I was discussing things I had seen personally, however, I am not familiar with much of the history and culture involved in the city. I feel that I had a great experience while there, but cannot recall names of restaurants, historic buildings, or certain neighborhoods in order to be able to accurately describe the city to someone who has not been there before. I would like to leave on this trip feeling more knowledgeable about the culture and lifestyle of the people of New Orleans.

Based on media, such as television and movies that depict New Orleans, I would say that the city is known for creole food, jazz music, Mardi Gras, and Hurricane Katrina. I know several people that have been to Mardi Gras, so I can understand that things can get pretty wild. I have been told that Bourbon street can become a dangerous place for someone who is alone or in a small group, especially late at night. I would be really interested in learning about the history of Mardi Gras, though, and finding out how it began, how long it has been happening, and how different people might celebrate this season. I have a friend who attends the Jazz Music Festival that is held in New Orleans every year, so I know that Jazz is a huge part of the music scene. While I was there on my last visit, you could hear music everywhere you went. Each bar or restaurant had someone playing inside, while other musicians would be performing on the street corners, somehow creating tunes with something as basic as a plastic 5-gallon bucket and a stick. I can imagine that we will get to experience this atmosphere again. At one point, the Foo Fighters were actually there putting on a last minute show in the middle of Bourbon Street, and the only announcement made was a quick Twitter update. We were lucky enough to land in the right place at the right time. I watched a documentary called ‘Sonic Highways’ about Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, and how they traveled to all these different locations to experience the music and ended up recording an album there, that was influenced by what they had experienced. Dave said, in more explicit terms than I will use, that even though he’d been, he didn’t know anything about New Orleans until he learned all he did about the music history, which goes to show how much of an impact it really has on the city.

I can say that I have a pretty general assumption of what this trip will be like considering that I have been there before, but I know I will learn more than I am even expecting to. Sometimes vacations seem rushed and people end up in the most tourist packed areas, to where a lot of the most interesting aspects of a city are missed. I am very interested in absorbing as much information as I can and really getting to experience the lifestyle of the city this time around. I cannot wait for another beignet from Café Du Monde!

Urban Expectations (Outer Journey)

Whenever I think of a city, I think of the insanely busy places I’ve been, such as Chicago, New York City, and Atlanta. I think of skyscrapers and tons of vehicles, long pauses in traffic while waiting for pedestrians, and costly cuisine ($30 margaritas). There is a potential to get trampled in Times Square! There is almost too much to try to take in while visiting places like this. I remember being amazed that people have children and pets in New York City, because it is such an adventure (or ordeal), to get out and get to work, school, or the grocery store. Of course, the people living there are used to it, but for me, it was somewhat exhausting. I enjoyed getting further out, into some of the other boroughs, and being able to slow down to really get a feel for the lifestyles and cultures of people living there.

 I remember driving on a five lane highway in Atlanta and having anxiety over how fast the cars were moving, how close they would get to my vehicle, and how difficult it was to determine when my exit was coming up since there were so many, going in so many different directions. I decided a long time ago that I could never live in a city like that, but it is enjoyable to visit and quickly realize how many new experiences are available in areas like that, compared to my very rural setting where people struggle to find things to do on a regular basis.

I have been to New Orleans, but I am so anxious to really learn about the history and culture that makes up the city. I felt that New Orleans was much calmer than some of the other busier cities I had visited. I absolutely love the real estate and architecture, especially all of the balconies in the French Quarter, that hold the most gorgeous floral arrangements that give the area such a romantic feel. I cannot wait to visit Jackson Square again and take note of the artwork and music. We had some great food in New Orleans, but I am really looking forward to the food tour to really experience some NOLA staple dishes. I am also really looking forward to the Ghost Tour we have planned. I think that the Voodoo presence in New Orleans is extremely interesting but I am only familiar with a small amount of information from movies and television shows that depicted witches in New Orleans hundreds of years ago.

My last trip was in the summer time, so I am interested to see what New Orleans might be like in the winter. It was stifling hot in June of 2014, but we still managed to walk almost ten miles per day. I am looking forward to walking through the city with less of a chance of heat exhaustion! I am imagining that the street artists and musicians will still be set up throughout the city, even if there is a chill in the air, so we will still get to experience all of the multicultural aspects of New Orleans.