January 6, 2018

Outer Journey

It was nice to have a day off from school, and what an eventful day that it has been. I was able to sleep in this morning. My bed was warm and cozy, and even though I did not want to get up I did not want to waste my free day by just sleeping. My morning started by meeting up with classmates and then we all went are separate ways. My favorite part of the day was looking at the local artists such as painters and street performers. While walking through the warmer weather with sunglasses on and not having to wear my heavy winter coat I walked up to a street performer preparing to start a show. The audience wasn’t full at first, but as the show continue on the crowd appeared to get larger and larger. The performer that I enjoyed watching juggled large shiny metal blades. It is definitely a talent. The gentleman stated that what takes his five minutes to perform it took him twenty-five years to master. The man was wearing black converse shoes, black pants, black vest, and red shirt. His big act was performed atop of two saw horses. He stood atop of a flat board that rested on top of a wooden cylinder shape. He was able to keep his balance why he was throwing his blades up in the air. He talked to the enthused audience while performing his street act. This gentleman had a girl from the audience come and act like she was going to throw him the blades. This kept the audience on their tows as to whether she was going to be able to throw him the blades for him to juggle. This was all a part of his act to keep the audience drawn in to what he was going to do. In the end the girl from the audience did not end up throwing him the blade. He did perform his act with the audience’s approval shown by applause and donations given to him.

Other things that I did today was getting to speak with a local artist. I will discuss this further in my local artist blog post. I was able to speak with a lot of the locals today, and was given advice on the local happenings that are the things to go and see. I was advised to go and see local dancing that will happen at the college tomorrow. It starts at 12 and it was stated that the dancing wears you out and once you start to get tired it will be the time to go home. The dancing all ends before dark. Another excitement for the day is that today was the first day of Mardi Gras. I was not aware that it started this soon. I look forward to continue watching the festivities while we are here.

Inner Journal

The city spoke to me today while talking to a local who was a bartender. Racism. He spoke of traveling up to and living in Chicago for two years and the racism that was shown towards him. He said that “racism and the N word does not fly down here”. My thoughts are why is this still going on in the United States? Why is this accepted? We should all be treated the same. Job positions should be given out to who is most qualified. This town is so progressive the whole United States I feel by this era should be moving towards also being progressive. What bothers me the most is when I hear of young people saying racial slurs against others because of their race or religion. I am bothered by this because it is being taught in their home. They are being made to feel superior to others because of their skin tones. How can this be stopped? We should want to be around others because of the character they are not because of where their house is located or their social circle. I am happy that I was able to take this travel humanities course. It has shown me that there is a melting pot of acceptance. New Orleans is an example to everyone of what is acceptable and that you can rise to your top level because of your qualifications. I will start to myself make a conscious effort to say something to younger children when I hear them to make comments regarding someone’s race or religion and to explain why that type of behavior is unacceptable. I will also not allow this from adults if I were to hear it. I do not have to be nasty about it, but I do need to think of something that I can say that will actually have a meaning for an older person to understand and take to heart. I want to come up with something that will make someone older to stop and think about and figure out why what they are saying is unacceptable and just plainly wrong. I think that more efforts should be made in schools to stop this behavior also. I remember hearing about a teacher in a younger grade having her students write something nice about a student in their class every week. This is something that all school could start doing to promote acceptance of all fellow classmates. With everything that is going on in the world right now acceptance of everyone is what is needed for harmony.

January 5, 2018

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 Armstrong - West End Blues

Peter Fountain - When The Saints Go Marching In

Harry Connick, Jr. - Careless Love

Louis Prima - I Wan'na Be Like You

Louis Prima - Jump Jive An' Wall

Louis Prima - Just A Gigolo I Ain't Got Nobody

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. 

January 4, 2018

Outer Journey

I believe that my most interesting experience today was the Old Ursuline Convent. The gentleman who gave the tour is what made the tour. He wore high waisted kahki slacks with a belt, a plaid shirt and brown dress shoes. I thought that the grounds of the convent were beautiful and kept up well. There was bushes and plants that were trimmed nicely and had a design. The convent was white with a gray roof. The inside of the convent was nice. What really stood out to me on the appearance was how shiny the bricks were on the floor. What I really wanted to do was climb the free-standing stairs and explore the building even more. I wanted to see where the nuns slept and what a personal room would look like. The wood work in this building was beautiful and looked like it had been freshly stained. The whole building was clean and had a new look to it. I wonder if this is what the walls and floors looked like when the nuns lived there. Inside the alter was also beautiful. I thought the blue ceiling above the alter was a wonderful idea. It made me think that there was a purpose for the blue paint and that it opened up to the heavens above. It was very peaceful.

The brown beams in one of the rooms that we toured reminded me of my home. We have beams that look like this in the living room of my home. There were 12 there and the cypress trees had to have been 200 years old when they were cut down because of the size that they were.

Below are a few pictures of statutes of nuns that were significant to the Old Urseline Convent. These statues were located in the garden of the convent.

Our tour guide went into great details of explaining how the convent came to be and the great nuns who ran the establishment. I thoroughly enjoyed his explanations. He explained how they were able to get a new convent from the one that was given to them when they first arrived in the United States. This was the first convent in the United States, and the nuns that came to the convent were the first to arrive in the United States. Apparently, the nuns tried to use the national government to help get what they want too, even if it doesn’t work. The nuns wrote a president because they did not want New Orleans to run a street in front of their property. But they were told that the president would not be able to help in matters such as these because he can not govern every matter in the United States and that they should seek the help of their local government leaders. Overall, this was a pleasant experience for me. I enjoyed that tour and the tour guide. I loved that this convent was preserved and I hope that this will stay maintained and tours will be able to happen for many more years to come.

Inner Journey

The homeless and their dogs are what spoke to me today. I was saddened by that amount of people that were sitting out and playing music. I was in disbelief at the number of dogs that were with these people. Many appeared to be on drugs and I am just assuming but believe that it is the drugs that have led them to the lifestyle that they are living. Or is it the lifestyle that led to the drugs. Either way it hurts my heart. These are someone’s children. Someone’s brother or sister. Someone’s mom or dad. They play their instruments well and I am sure if they were the right circumstances that these individuals would be hard workers. What options are out there for these individuals in New Orleans? What can we give them? I know that I cannot, but I want to take them all in, and feed and clothe them. I want to provide showers. I want to help them get clean. I know that I cannot help them but there has to be a better way of life for them. My other major concern was for those poor puppies. I did not see one that looked happy. You can see in a dog’s face when they are happy and well nourished. A dog will smile really big and wag their tails a lot. My puppy gets so excited he starts wagging his tail so much that it sounds like a big thud when it hits something. When it is time for him to eat he also gets so excited and can barely contain himself when the food is put out for him. He is so lively. I did not see one of these dogs get overly excited by the sight of another person. I am sure that they are out there every night and are just immune to the people who are walking by. Almost all of them were laying down and did not look like they had very much energy. I also do not think that I saw one bowl of water sitting out for these dogs. They get thirst they get hungry. I am sure that they are used as a companion for the individuals who are with them, but do not look like they are given what they need. I know that I am unable to make a difference, but I will try to buy a couple of cans of dog food prior to leaving New Orleans and hand them out to the individuals with these dogs.

January 3, 2018

Outer Journey

I was so happy to hear the conductor’s announcement of the arrival at the New Orleans train terminal. I was starting to think that we would never make it here. My focus on our arrival was to get off of the train as fast as possible. We walked up the side walk and into the station.

Here is a picture of Katie and I when we got off of the train and had officially arrived in New Orleans.

 Our goal was for Katie to obtain an Uber and I would get our two checked suitcases. The train station had many colorful murals on the walls. After I got our suitcases I went outside and Katie was waiting with the Uber driver. The car ride was easy and stress free. It was my first time for using an Uber driver. The gentleman was older, but extremely nice. He loaded our luggage, and reloaded it because the luggage did not fit in his care very well. Katie and I were the first to arrive at the hotel and that was quite a relief. It was so nice to finally arrive at our hotel in New Orleans. I was surprised about how nice our hotel was. I walked in and it was very neat and clean. The men at the counter were extremely nice. When we got to our room it looked nice. Me and my roommates basically threw all of our luggage on our beds and went into overdrive on freshening up prior to dinner. I believe we only had about 20 minutes before we had to meet everyone back down in the lobby. Tonight’s dinner was wonderful. I had some shrimp and some crab cakes. They are the best crab cakes that I have ever had. I ate dinner with Katie, Holly, Deb, and Jennifer. I was night getting to sit down and talk with these individuals. They asked questions about being a nurse and I was able to ask them questions about nursing school, and what kind of nursing they wanted to do when they finished nursing school. It was a great dinner! 

Below is crab cakes that I ate for dinner. They were so yummy!

While we were in the French Quarter there was a lady in the alley that was screaming. That was the most memorable part. The St. Louis Cathedral was beautiful while lit up at night. It is well maintained. It did not look as old as it is. 

The beignets restaurant reminded me of a carnival. The stripes on the walls reminded me of a canopy. The beignets reminded me of a funnel cake at a carnival or fair. I was not all that impressed with the beignets, but the atmosphere of the restaurant was neat. We got another Uber ride back to our hotel after dinner. The car was a blue Jetta and it smelled on the inside. We asked the driver where we should go and what we should do on our day off. He told us to go to the World War II museum. I am looking for something more different to do then to visit a museum on our day off. I want to experience a voodoo shop. That is something that I cannot do at home and I think that culture is very interesting.

Inner Journey

I learned from the beignets store is that organization is the key. The store has a lot of patrons going through there at any time and the employees must get along and work together to keep such a large amount of people going through. I witnessed a couple of the employees outside when we showed up at the restaurant. Once they saw our large group they walked inside and went right back to work so that they could prepare and hand out the beignets that are purchased by the customers. I feel the same applies at work. At my current position there are so many patients going through that our productivity is at 125%. We do not have enough employees to keep up with the volume. We too must maintain the professionalism that was witnessed tonight in getting the job done. We as nurses must work together to get the job done. There should be no excuses of it is not my job. I’ve already taken my share of patients. Everyone must work together with a positive attitude and do what is necessary.

Another thing that I was thinking about tonight is that there is more than one way of doing something. It is not always about how you got to the finish line it is just that you made it there. There were many individuals who wanted to leave early tonight and head back to the hotel. There were a large group of students who were going to walk together, but then some decided that in fact they did not want to walk back to the hotel. They had decided that they were going to use the trolley cars. Some wanted to use Uber. In the end there were students who used Uber, some who used the trolley cars, and some who walked. The end goal was to get everyone back to the hotel and not everyone may have showed up at the same time, but everyone did make it back.

I really enjoyed myself at dinner and was able to sit down and talk with some of the other students. I was extremely fearful of this up to that point. I was afraid that I would not know what to say. I have learned that I need to stop worrying about situations such as these and to just relax and enjoy myself. I need to just go ahead and ask questions and don’t worry about what it is that someone else is thinking of me. I must be comfortable with myself. Nothing is going to happen to me and the conversations that I have are meaningful and just might help someone else out. For the rest of this trip I am going to speak with someone in our group that I have not spoken with every day. I feel that this will help me to not be so shy and to be able to encounter others without being nervous the whole time that I am talking to them.   

January 2, 2018

Outer Journey

I was excited to ride with Katie to the train station! We work together, but are unable to have conversations where I get to know her personally. We are generally so busy at work it leaves little time for personal conversations. Another factor is that she works in surgery and I work in recovery. I drove my red Ford Explorer. It currently looks like a huge salt ball. I am already over the snow for the year. We stopped at Wing Stop for dinner. This was my first time eating here. The food was alright. They give too many french fries with their wing baskets. Most of my fries were thrown away. What a waste. Katie and I had a heck of a time finding a parking spot. We were looking for spots that did not require a permit. At first, I was panicked. I did not want to deal with my car being towed. We were informed through our class text that we in fact could park in the red permit required parking spots. Relief! The cold air took my breath away when it hit my face.

I was so hot waiting at the train station. It was so hot that I could barely stand it. I feel my cheeks getting red from the heat. Our group is extremely loud. I see people looking and have heard some comments from others who were waiting for the train also.

We were just informed that our train is going to be LATE. As I am sitting here typing this another update from the clerk and the train is going to an additional 40 to 45 minutes. Sleep? Overrated. It is 00:24 another update. The train will be here at 00:40 – 00:45. Per the clerk this information was received from a “real person”. Starting to believe that cheap travel equals cheap service. I am tired, dizzy, and need sleep.

We were finally able to board the train at 01:33. The cold air that we had to walk through to get on the train felt great. I was so hot in the train station that I did not even need to wear my coat in the cold weather. We stepped up into the train using yellow steps. Then we had to proceed to the upper level. I was a little off balance walking up a few winding stairs while carrying majority of my belonging. Everyone appears tired. It didn’t take long for everyone to get their pillows and blankets out so that we could rest. I can’t believe that I was actually able to fall asleep. I had to cover my eyes with my hood. I got my daughter’s pink plaid camping pillow, and my fuzzy blanket out. I did not cover up because I was still hot. When I woke it appeared that sometime through the night I must have cooled down because I was snuggled in my blanket. I don’t remember everything clearly, but I think that sometime through the night we had to stop for more engine issues. Is this true? Did that actually happen? Either way at this point I feel rested.

For breakfast I had a cinnamon roll that came from a man working behind the counter and did not appear to be friendly. The cinnamon roll wrapper screamed processed. Of course, I also had to consume a Diet Pepsi. That is my go to caffeine. I think I am just going to stick to my own snacks. They have already been purchased therefore are cheaper. I am sure they are just as filling also. I noticed the raunchy smell of people while walking through the cars to get to the food car. There is one car in particular that smells as if these individuals have been riding on the train for at least 48 hours. Other then that I have stayed in our car for a majority of the time. I notice some familiar faces of individuals who were in the train station with us while waiting for this train. There is a family who are decked out in Indianapolis Colts garb. This stood out to me because that is my father-in-law’s favorite sports team.

Inner Journey

After this past month’s travels by plane and train, car is my preferred mode of transportation. I don’t like the awkwardness of not being able to walk in a straight line, being in a confined space, and having people in your personal bubble. I would like to do more traveling, but not by means of traveling with the general public. Maybe this means that I need to be calm and just go with it.   I guess it is not killing me and allows for quicker and cheaper ways of seeing the rest of the United States. I feel disconnected from many of the other people who are taking this class. I believe it is because I am not taking any nursing classes with them. I find it hard to strike up a conversation with anyone. I have been this way my whole life. Not knowing what to say. It is odd that when I am working I have no problems talking to my patients. I can have a full conversation. I ask questions while I am assessing them and try to find something that they have said which will allow for me to talk further. I generally try to find something that will allow for my patient and I to find something in common. I perhaps need to find an avenue such as this to speak with strangers outside of my work setting. I am glad that I did step outside of the box and decided to take this travel course. It is allowing me to meet new people and interact with the different cultures that await me in New Orleans. I can’t wait to experience the music and the arts. I want to see which of the music that we listen to will distinctly speak to me. It is music that I really love and couldn’t live life without. It helps you get through difficult times in life and brings back great memories for the happy times. It is an expression that I feel defines me. I want to spend time experiencing my love for music with my children. My son and 14 and daughter is 11. My son is getting to the age where I can start taking him to summer music festivals that are on the tamer side. I also that this New Orleans journey is an excellent experience. If so then I will plan a trip to bring my children down to experience the music, art, and different cultures of the New Orleans people. Patience may be something else I am having to internally experience on this trip. Patience for the train to arrive, patience to get the train to the New Orleans station, and patience to get this travel course started. Look forward to this evening to see what else I learn about myself. 

December 30, 2017

Outer Journey 12/30/17

I have been packing for my New Orleans journey, and have been having issues with what type of clothing to pack. I have been watching the weather, and disappointed in the temperatures. I assumed that it would slightly warmer then the temperatures have been. Should I bring my winter coat? Light jacket? I will pack my computer, journal for blogging, kindle, and an extra battery for my phone. I am hoping that there is WiFi that works on the train. Bringing a book on this trip sounds like a wonderful idea also. I hope that I will be able to find some quiet time to read. I plan on bringing minimal snack foods for the train. I plan on eating dinner prior to arriving at the train station in Champaign. No purchases have been made for this trip. I just returned from a trip to Mexico a few weeks ago. Anything that I would need to purchase for this trip was purchased before leaving for Mexico. The research that I have done for this trip include reading about the French Quarter, St. Louis Cathedral, Old Ursuline Convent, and the Cabildo. The reason I looked into these places of interest is that I wanted to have a better understanding of where we will be touring while on this travel course. When I plan trips for my family I search to find the best sights to see and read about where we are going prior to arrival. There are not many arrangements that I have needed to make prior to starting this course. I have taken a week off of work. That involved turning in a request off form to my supervisor. This request was immediately approved because my supervisor is also completing her RN to BSN degree. My husband will take care of our children and maintain our home. I plan on being able to enjoy this time knowing that my children will be well taken care of. Work will be long forgotten once I complete my call schedule for Saturday. I am nervous that I will be missing the birth of my oldest son's child. The baby is due on January 15th. Basically, he could come at any time now. I am bringing a blanket and smaller pillow for the train ride. I have a feeling that train will be cold and hard to sleep in. I want to pack appropriately so that I can easily get to things such as my computer, chargers, and books while riding on the train. My class preparations are to continue working on my groups E Travel Guide and working on my personal blog. My personal blog page has me a little stressed. I have been working so much that finding time to work on this has been extremely difficult. My goal is to have completed by the end of Sunday evening, so that I am able to finish packing and spending time with my children on Monday prior to my departure.

Inner Journey 12/30/17

I do not know what to expect from this travel course. I think that we will be hustling to keep up with our itinerary. It will be fun and entertaining, but there will be lots to cover in a short period of time. I have hopes that the course will be stress free and not too overwhelming. Calm atmosphere with many scenes to catch. As I mentioned in my outer blog I am really hoping that the weather will be nice, but have been monitoring and the temperature is generally in the 40-degree range. I guess there are positives and negatives to those temperatures. Walking in that weather will keep your body at a nice temperature. However, warmer temperatures would prevent carrying of additional clothing and lighter layers could be worn. I hope to learn about the different cultures in New Orleans and the beliefs that the individuals who live there have. I want to have a personal understanding. I decided to take this course because I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. As I am getting older I have decided that now is the time to do the traveling that I have always dreamt of doing. It is going to be a lot of work but huge bonus that a semester class will be completed in just one week. Taking this class can also help me in seeing how time is budgeted and how to do cram many sight seeing events, tours and fun into a small window of time. I am looking forward to learning about the different cultures in New Orleans. I am excited about the ghost tours. I personally don’t believe in ghosts. I believe that they do not exist because I am fearful of seeing one. I can’t wait to go into an authentic voodoo shop. I look forward to meeting new people and sharing stories and experiences. I can’t wait and look forward to getting this adventure started.