Outer Journey
Hello baaaaaaby, the three-hour tour was Guided by
Milton Carr Jr. who works for the City of New Orleans. He was wearing a heavy
yellow reflective jacket that was only zipped in the middle. The top and the
bottom of his jacket was unzipped. Leaving the bottom part unzipped to allow
his belly to hang slightly above his jeans. Milton had a smaller black Bluetooth
speaker hanging from a blue lanyard that was hooked to a red carabiner. As he
held it in one hand the other hand had an MP3 player that controlled the
Bluetooth speaker. As we watched him try and gain control of the music he was
starting to play for his very interested crowd of students, he showed his age while
he struggled with technology. After a few minutes of fumbling his phone, MP3
player and blue tooth speaker, music filled the air. Listening to the music in
the air the crowd started to grove a little with the fist known jazz music by
Louis Armstrong. This being a turning point in musically history. Milton was
very experienced in what he does and has tons of experience in the music
culture. The knowledgeable ways Milton spoke of the music and musicians was
fascination how it would just spill right off his tongue like he was there in
that time. Milton had a way of bringing history to life and I wish that he
could have given our group of Nursing Students tours on everything we had
planned to experience. He was so informational and you could tell that he truly
cared about the information that he provided to his audience about his home
town of New Orleans. He talked about how New Orleans became the first home of
thousands of millionaires who profited off of suppling the country with
supplies. Making it the largest trading port to be known of at the time. Indigo
and sugar were two of the crops that the city was thriving off of. It was being
exported out of New Orleans to everyone. This particularly product was the
responsibilities of the salves that were owned. Milton mentioned that some of
the first people who were brought to New Orleans were the inmates from Europe.
Apparently, they emptied their jail cells in Europe to help populate New
Orleans with a more European culture. This was a major player in creating a
melting pot of diversity because they came here and created relations with the
decedents who were already residing in New Orleans. Voodoo was medicine that
was practiced by witch doctors of African descent. As Milton spoke about Voodoo
and the importance it raises on the history of New Orleans, we were able to see
one of the most famous Voodoo providers in the cemetery. She was known for
treating people of New Orleans in a different way and people would often come
to her grave site to mark it to make a wish for their life. While in some peoples mind her spirit still
can help heal but in reality, they are just vandalizing her final resting place
with graffiti. The tour was very well planned and I learned a lot of
information from Milton.
Some of the music that was discussed and we listened to was:
Louis Prima - Just A Gigolo I Ain't Got Nobody
Inner Journey
Inner Journey
Milton, Milton, Milton… Is all I heard on the train
ride down and how much previous students enjoyed his tours. Before he came up
to the group I already planned on enjoying his tour just from prejudging the
thoughts of Professor Karn and her comments of how amazing he truly is. Milton
came up to the crowd and all the expectation that I had already had in my head
came true. He gripped the crowd’s attention very quickly with history. Making
history very easy to be interested in the tour began in Jackson square. He
toured us around some of the established jazz places and then the St. Louis
number 1 cemetery. His descriptions of the cemetery kept my attention. It is
this cemetery that has many of the stories that started this town. I feel that
there was a lot told by Milton, but that there is a lot more to be told. I don’t
think that this city has stopped with progression. The secrets that lie in the
walls of New Orleans is very touching and poetic to my heart. I feel like I can
embrace that tradition and history like I am one of the original New Orleans
natives. The feeling that the city and vibe that they let off with welcoming
arms makes New Orleans an amazing travel destination. The streets of the city
are still curiosity for me because you never know what is lurking behind each
corner. Before I came here I did not expect New Orleans to be so populated.
Every street I tend to look around there a different culture, a different
spirit, a different race that lives and practices their beliefs and thoughts. I
do not know if I was culture shocked or if I expected this, but it is most
certainly an eye opener, and I value the work of the people of New Orleans to
created such a diverse progressive community. Every person that I have
encountered has been outspoken on their beliefs that everyone, and I mean
everyone is welcome in this town. With all of the hate in the world today. It
is a positive thought that one city still believes all is equal.
