Having only traveled outside of Illinois a handful of times
to places like St. Louis, MO, Clearwater, FL, Atlantic City, NJ and Baltimore,
MD I haven’t really ever experienced big urban cities. The only place I saw
while in St. Louis was Six Flags. In Florida, I saw the condo and the beach. In
Atlantic City I saw the pier and the resort. In Maryland, I saw my sister’s
house and the beach. Never have I really been able to explore these foreign
cities thoroughly. Living close to Chicago, I have been there a couple times to
enjoy some shopping, I was able to walk around downtown Chicago and take in all
the forever tall buildings, I imagine most big cities to be like this. I think
of tons of people walking around in a hurry to get somewhere and crowded
streets full of cars. From the people I have seen in the cities I have been, I
picture most of them to be career individuals walking around to get to work or
tourists like myself since most of the time it is summer when I have been to
these places. Of course, living in Peoria, IL my entire life I have always
thought other states and their cities too be more exciting than my own.
Therefore, I imagine these places to be full of life, entertainment and
excitement. I feel like other cities constantly have something fun to do. I
almost feel like I cannot even think about what New Orleans might be like
because it is so different than my own home. I can only get a slight idea from
what I have heard or seen in pictures or shows. I feel like there is music constantly
playing all the time in the city, and I think of alligators for whatever
reason, probably because I have watched the show Swamp People to many times.
Another thing that pops into my head when I hear New Orleans is voodoo. I guess
I contribute Voodoo with New Orleans because all the movies I have ever watched
that discussed Louisiana had some type of Voodoo scene. Movies like the
Skeleton Key, The Princess and the Frog etc. I also think of food like Jambalaya,
Gumbo and beignets probably mostly from what I saw in The Princess and the
Frog. In the end, I feel like New Orleans is going to be an exciting new city
to visit and there is a lot I will learn from my trip there!
