Art on Royal

While walking down Royal St. we stumbled upon Sutton Galleries. In the front window a beautiful painting of a tree painted by Isabelle Dupuy. Isabelle was born in France. She is inspired by her favorite artists Claude Monet and Van Gogh.  Her artwork is of nature and landscapes. They are full of beautiful color and textures. Each photo in the gallery attracts the eye because they are so beautifully colored. When you step closer to the paintings you realize how textured they are. She builds the paint up so much that it gives it a 3D appearance. I enjoy her paintings because of the bright colors and the paintings are of nature.  They are simple yet so unique and magnificent.  Her paintings have a very bright and cheerful feel to them. They seem very feminine to me because of the beauty they contain. Especially the ones of flowers. I think I was most drawn to the gallery at first because the first painting I saw was of a tree in the fall time. It had all the rich warm colors of fall and it was intriguing because of the obvious texture it had. This painting makes me think of freedom and peacefulness because of the beautiful open fields and woods in the paintings. It reminds me of the history of New Orleans and the slaves and the freedom and peace they yearned for.

Music & Medicine

Almost every street has some type of performance happening. I couldn’t tell you what types I have heard specifically because I don’t know how the artists define themselves that I have seen on the street. Many of the performer’s have had guitars, some type of drums, violins etc. I have also seen a pair of people performing. One on the guitar while the other sings. I have heard a variety of songs, some I believe to be the performers original songs. We also went to Frenchmen St. and were able to hear some jazz and blues while we were there. Music is important to New Orleans because it brings people together and it helps them connect with their ancestors. Music connects the younger generations with the older generations. The mixing of many different ethnicities’ and their music has combined to make things like jazz. The music from New Orleans has affected music in general such as rock n roll and others. I think it is beautiful the way these individuals from New Orleans can come out to the streets and perform their music completely free of judgment and get respect for their talent. Things like this don’t happen in any other places that I know of especially Peoria, IL.

            Treme was the first place free slaves were able to buy and own property. This was during a time when this was not happening in other parts of America. Treme has celebrations like second-line parades and jazz funerals. I thought it was interesting out tour guide grew up in Treme because he was sharing a part of his history and where he came from.

            The Pharmacy museum was pretty cool and Own was very knowledgeable on his information regarding 19^th century medicine.  Not only was his very informed but he was also very charismatic. I was a shockingly surprised by many of the things he told us. Like the women in the 19^th century and all the narcotics used to “treat” them of their womanly woes.  I learned a lot about the city, especially the fact they believed in the air containing something that caused the people to get sick and that they must clean the air to rid of it.  They really had no clue what they were doing when it came to medicine so it seems. They used lead, heroine, and other things like cocaine in their medicines, which is a terrible idea.

Death, Food and Music

I learned some interesting things today in the two tours we participated in. The first tour of St. Louis cemetery #1/the French Quarter was interesting in the fact that I was able to see their cemeteries and how unique they are. Obviously Peoria does not have cemeteries like that because we don’t have to worry about water causing the bodies to float up and out. What I have learned the most about the city thus far is how much history it truly has. Sure every city has history but this city seems to really focus their present and future upon that history. They speak for their ancestors.  I was also able to learn more about the city through the cuisine tour we took. We learned all about creole foods and a little bit about the background of Cajun foods as well.

The city spoke to me through the tours we took and the food I was able to try. Even though I did not like all the foods I still respect the history of those foods and how they came to be. I am from the Midwest and eat certain things that maybe some people from here would find to be disgusting but that’s just because we come from different cultures. Out of all the foods we tried my favorites were the beef brisket with horseradish sauce, gelato and the muffaletta. At the end of our 12 hour day, we walked around Frenchmen St. to listen to some music for a short time but then all of us and our feet were at our breaking point and it was time to head back to the hotel.

 I was so surprised by all the dresses Germaine Wells the Mardi Gras queen had. They were so elaborate. I was also surprised to here how many people come to New Orleans and end up moving here after visiting just a couple times because they fall in love with it. I can understand because it is definitely a unique environment.

My preconceptions for the city were definitely spot on. It is exactly how I thought it would be, maybe more. It seems like it never quits there is always somewhere or something to be doing. The vast variety of people in the city is amazing also. The cemeteries and the French quarter are absolutely stunning just like I thought it would be. I would love to how a house with as much personality as the buildings in the French Quarter. 

Now to relax and hope that my feet will recover for tomorrow after all the walking that happened today. Never have I been out in a city and walked around for 12 hours straight. My feet hate me and I just hope I am capable of walking tomorrow for another long day planned. Fingers crossed!

Arriving in New Orleans

Upon arriving into Louisiana and getting closer to our destination. I began to notice water all around. At this point I was getting pretty excited because we were almost to New Orleans.  Next thing I knew we were rolling by the Super Dome. After that we pulled into New Orleans train station and slowly began our departure off the train. Once we gathered our belongings we made our way into the actual train station which was pretty good size. The opposite wall had beautiful artwork. Myself and four other girls decided we would split a taxi to the hotel because our bags were to heavy and we were not in the mood to walk to the hotel from the bus station. We were glad we did once we got there so quickly and were able to get our showers started so we would be ready to meet the group at 4:45. The hotel is pretty nice, it has a large breakfast lounge area. It is somewhat confusing when you first get on the floor because there are so many different directions but really its just a big square. It seems to be pretty clean and it is well decorated. The interior is very pretty and well put together. The street car was very foreign to me because I have never used public transportation. It was nice because it got us to our destination really quickly and was easy to get on and off. The French Quarter was absolutely beautiful. I love the way all the buildings are designed. I have never seen anything like it in all my life. I am a person who loves old houses for their uniqueness and personality. Therefore, the buildings in the French Quarter are right up my alley. I love the character they have.  We went to Original Pierre Maspero’s for dinner. It was once again a beautiful building that was beautiful inside as well. The waitress was great and had a very tenacious personality. She did her job well and made sure to take care of all of us. I have an adult beverage called a Pink Lady. It was vodka, strawberry and lemonade and it was delicious. Hallie and I split dinner because neither one of us was extremely hungry. We ordered the hamburger that came with fries. The burger was delicious and so were the fries. I then had a bite of Jess’s cheesecake that was also delicious.  All the food and drinks tasted so good. The last thing we did in the day was the ghost tour. It was not what I was expecting at all and was surprised by it. I enjoyed it but also took it with a grain of salt because when I heard one of the other tour guides that went by us talking about the same building we were at, they were hearing a completely different tale. None the less I truly enjoyed the ghost tour and learned about some interesting ghost tales and was excited to see Madame LaLaurie house because I am a big fan of American Horror Story.

Depature

I have been on a Peoria Charter bus two other times in my life. Each time to Six Flags in St. Louis.  Those buses were comfortable even with a three hour trip to St. Louis with no problems. Nothing could have prepared me for the bus we took from the Peoria terminal to Champaign. Not only did the driver of the bus act like she was surprised there were so many of us getting on the bus. Not only that, the bus did not have any heat and the air was blowing. My fingers were numb about 10 minutes into the ride. I mentioned most of this in my previous blog from last night. The train was a much different experience. We had time to sit at the train station and eat some pizza before it arrived. Then once it was arriving we gathered up our belongings and went to the platform to meet it. We were able to easily board the train and they had almost a full car empty for us with a section reserved just for us. Sleeping on the train was a whole other experience. I did not sleep good because I couldn’t find a comfortable position and every time it would start to bounce or shake to much it would startle me awake. Eating on the train was not bad because we broke quite a bit of snacks to nibble on. Items being sold on the train were a little bit pricey but they tasted ok. The people on the train weren’t anything terrible to deal with. No one really bothered me or said much otherwise. Everyone pretty much kept to themselves. All in all the bus was definitely the worst of the two experiences while the train was the best.

Frozen

            Upon preparing to leave the college to embark on our journey to catch our Peoria Charter bus we worked to load everyone’s suitcases and bags into the school buses. We took the 5-minute ride over to the bus station. While waiting for what seemed like 3 hours we witnessed a potentially intoxicated man go down outside the terminal and the ambulance arrive to assist. What seemed like 5 hours later the Peoria Charter bus arrived and the driver seemed surprised at the amount of students that were patiently waiting to aboard her bus. After Jess played Tetris with out luggage trying to make it all fit in the undercarriage we stepped upon the coldest bun known to mankind. This bus ride was probably the coldest bus ride I have ever experienced as well as a little frightening because the drivers windshield began to freeze over. Therefore, she could not see and was swerving all over the interstate until she was forced to pull over on the side of the road. After that one of our fellow students went to the front to help wipe the windshield down every time it was frosted over. Finally around 9ish we arrived at the Amtrak terminal and were welcomed with heat and real bathrooms. I survived potential hypothermia and a near death experience.

Preparation

Preparing for this trip has been mostly pushed off until this week. I prepared for the class by purchasing the appropriate books that were on the book list. I have also been posting the weekly blogs thus far. I began doing research for our topic after I finished my last final on Tuesday.  I have learned some interesting information regarding the musical culture in New Orleans while doing research and look forward to putting together our blog. I feel unprepared for the train trip since I have never been on a train before and I am unsure of what all I will need. I do have a neck pillow that I planned on using but am contemplating or whether or not I should just bring a regular pillow. I have suitcases at home that I plan on using that fit the size requirements. I also have the luggage tags and locks. I also have plans for buying some snacks for the train since we will be on there for such a long period of time. One of the snacks I plan on getting are the Fiji apple and blueberry clusters that CVS sells. They are really tasty. I have made arrangements for while I am gone since I do have a seven year old who obviously will need to be taken care of. In between his dad, my parents and my sister, they will all work together to make sure he gets on and off the bus for school everyday and has his antibiotics because he was just diagnosed with strep throat yesterday. I will only be missing one day of work since I only work PRN every Saturday. I already had this taken care of way in advance as soon as I found out I was going on this trip. Some purchases I have made for this trip thus far are clothing; a new pair of sunglasses and a cute cross body bag I can carry while we are out in the city.  As far as packing goes, I have yet to do that. I am waiting until Sunday night to pack for the trip that way I will have done my laundry and have all the clothing items I would like to bring with me. I will most likely make a list of the things I want to bring on the trip so that I will not forget anything important (fingers crossed).  I plan on bringing a lot of comfortable clothes, a couple pairs of shoes, and of course the necessities (toiletries, makeup, & medicine). I am sure I will forget something important because I am so scattered brained half the time.