Outer Journey, Post 7, 01/07/2018

Going to the Presbytere Museum in Jackson Square today was nice.  The first exhibit that we toured there was a Hurricane Katrina memorial exhibit.   Walking into the entrance of the museum I instantly knew it was going to be an emotional experience.  The first thing I seen when while walking in were glass bottles and hands symbolizing those who died, or was stranded on their roof top for a week, before the government finally thought it would be a good idea to sent in help.  Which is just strait up ridiculous, and making me a little ashamed to be an American. 

Going further into the exhibit they had Fats Domino’s Piano.  Fats Domino’s was a local musician^th ward, which was an area that was left in complete devastation after the breach in the water walls.  After the storm Fat Domino wasn’t also located till about three days after the storms had passed.  But to much of everyone’s surprise he has survived the storms and the floods!

who lived in the 9

Going further into the exhibit you were overwhelmed by the many news reports playing in the back ground.  As you listened to the coverage about the storm before it hit mainland, I thought to myself what would I do in that situation.  Why didn’t the government act sooner know?  It is depressing to know that they had the knowledge of the beast of a storm coming, why didn’t they evacuate the city sooner, why didn’t they do more?  

To help those that were stranded and effected by the storm, American citizens started to join rescue efforts to help those in need.  They were coming in flocks, bring boats of all sized to go out and assist those in need.  There were hundreds of individuals from the Acadiana region that came and helped.  Doing this would soon earn them the title of the Cajun Navy.  Other people that were not trained to use a boat assisted in relieves such as caring for the ill, and providing food to the hungry.  It was amazing people that had no personal ties to the city were coming to help.  Yet it took the government so long to do anything.  I personally feel that it was due to the poverty level here.  I think the government deep down didn’t care because, what do these people have, or what do they have to give.  It is depressing because as Americans we don’t have a class system so people are just people despite what they have.   You even had celebrities join in to help.  You had people like Brad Pitt that donated millions of dollars to help rebuild people’s houses.    Harry Connick Jr. also assisted by supplying places for local musicians to live to help maintain a city that is so rich in the music culture. 

One thing that amazed me was that the natives here, still went about their traditions, despite the clean- up they persevered to give the city what it needed, life.  The people that are from here are so strong.  Despite having such a traumatic experience, they persevered and pushed on. Doing this showed the world despite major devastation, you must continue life and not let the past hold you down.  

Inner Journey, Post 7, 01/07/2018

Bottles with Names

 Today for class we went and toured the Hurricane Katrina exhibit at Presbytere Museum by Jackson Square.  As I walked in, I instantly got an immediate feeling that this was going to be an emotional tour.  For in the entrance there was a glass bottles with a piece or paper with a name in each one.  Each bottle represented an individual who lost their life in Katrina.  Along with the glass bottles were also glass hands.  These hands represented the people that were stuck on the roof top for up to seven days before rescue came.  It is crazy to think about that, and heartbreaking.  Entire families trapped with no way out, and no food, or shelter.  It shows that no matter how prepared people and the government think they are, you just never, ever know the true forces of mother natures.  It gives me chills thinking about it.

As I stood there looking up I tried to put myself in their shoes.  Granted I don’t have a child of my own, but I do have my sister.  That little girl is my entire world.  Well she isn’t little any more she is 20, but she will always be my baby girl.  If I was in that situation, she would be my top priority.  I honestly don’t know what I would have done, you are literally left helpless.  It wouldn’t matter how determined you are, mother nature will always win.  Thinking about this brought me to tears. 

As you wondered through the pathway there was a lot of noises, the noises were the news reports from that storm in 2005 showing the world the intense situation that was here in New Orleans.     As I listened to the news casters, and watched the different clips that surrounded me, I thought back to our tour with Melvin.  At the end of his tour, he showed us a lighted map of the city.  It showed the different levels of flooding through out the city.  Thinking about this while watching the video clips, sent chills trough out my body.  It makes me sad, and a little regretful that I wasn’t more up to date with news when it all occurred.  Looking back, I guess as a young 17-year-old at the time, I just didn’t understand the impact that the storm had on these peoples lives. 

One of the displays that really got to me was of a young boys suite.  This once again hit me.  Even

A picture of the suite 

though it was just one single suite, that belonged to one little boy.  It was crazy to think about how many other children were affected by this storm.  To have your entire life ripped away from you, and not being able to understand.  You almost must wonder how this life experience for them completely changed the only life they had ever known, and how it impacted their future.   The family that the suite came from luckily all survived and were moved to safety.  The family found out the fate of their house on national news coverage.  They were watching the news and that is how they received confirmation that everything they owned was gone.  I couldn’t imagine that.  I feel in this situation; no news would be good news.   I feel this way because if you don’t know you still have hope for a miracle. 

Post 6, Inner Journey, 01/06/2018

Relax

Yesterday was such an amazing day.  We got the chance to wonder the city with no schedule, and got to do as we pleased.  As much as I like to talk and love attention, I also love my alone time.  Yesterday morning I was able to take time for myself to kind of regroup and collect my thoughts.  To do this I went and got a massage.  Do to all the activity we have had, my body was so sore and my thighs felt like they were on fire.  So it was nice to get a chance to sleep in, and get a nice rub down to help me relax.  I mean you all have met me I am kind of a spaz.  However I was a little irritated bc the guy doind the massage did it longer than I had asked for.  This ment I had to pay an extra ten dollars more than I was planning.After I had regrouped I was ready to meet up with people and once again  be sociable.
While in the French Quarter today, I got a chance to see a parade.  I didn’t

Marching in the Parade

only get to see it, I was able to join in on it.  It was so amazing.  I know I don't have any part in the parade, or even know what it was for, I still found it fun.  It was so cool, there was what seemed like a hundreds people gathering around, wondering the parade route.  It made me feel like I was important or famous. while people captured our pictures. It made me feel more important than I actually am.  I mean, I think we all like to think of ourselves as important. 
After touring the parade, I wondered the city again.  This time I happen to get lost and needed to get directions.  One of the scariest feelings to me is being lost in a strange place.  This also creates an issue because I am directionally challenged.  So to figure out where I was, I braved up and asked a gentleman in the street.  It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  The people here are so welcoming and polite that it surprises me.  They also love to help us tourist.  This guy didn’t only give us directions, he gave us an entire tour of the city.  He invited us to hang with him and his friends, so we did.  To do this he got Katie and I a carriage ride to go meet up with his people.  As we passed different locations he pointed out different places that we should try and eat, and what to stay away from.  This information to me was priceless because I am such a picky eater.  I feel that getting a chance to hang with him gave us the true New Orleans experience.  I say this because he lives in this cultur everyday of his life.  One conversation we had was about the school system down here. He also explained to us that most kids go to private schools, even if they dont have money in most cases.  He explained that New Orleans public education is horrible, and the people that go to public usually get themselves cought up in less than fortunate situations  I found this interesting because my Dan had to go to a private school growing up for the same issues.

The view 

While hanging out with our new freinds we decided to make our way throught the french quarter, he showed us an area where we could go sit by the water.  It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen to be honest.  The looked like it should have been full but cut in half.  It casted a reflection onto the water, along with the lights of the bridge.  It was just breath taking.  He then trailed us to the Lavendar District.  This is what they call gay district here.  I freaking loved  it! When I was in my 20’s I lived on Halsted Street in Chicago.  If you know anything about the city, you know about the strip on Halsted, called Boystown.  The lavenders district is like a miniature Halsted Street. It was an amazing place to just kind of sit and people watch.  It was so interesting to do too because there are some interesting characters in this town.

Outer Journey, Post 6, 01/06/2018

Today was our free day.  It was extremely nice to get a chance to sleep in.  I was able to catch up on some much needed sleep.  Sleeping in to me though is sleeping till 8:30 AM.  Once I Woke up, I decided to go the outlet mall to do a little shopping.  At the mall I went store to store looking for the perfect impulse buy.  I unfortunately never found it.  I did however got an awesome deal on a pair of shoes for clinical this up coming semester. 

The Girls 

I then decided to meet up with Char and Ali, and some of the other girls. They were up Decatur at a burger place.  When I got there, it seemed cool, but to my surprise, it wasn’t.  It had the worst service I have ever experienced at a restaurant.  The server never took my order.  So after we wasted what seemed like two hours at this place we decided to venture out into the town.  That was really fun.  I was able to buy some street art that was pretty, and the artists name was Adel with no E, . 

The Parade 

Then suddenly, we herd a cop and looked to see what was happening, and it was a parade.  The start of it.  It consisted of a marching band.  We were able to follow them from Jackson square to Bourbon St.   After that we decided to come back to the hotel and relax a bit. 

I then decided to meet up with Hanna and Katie.  Those girls are so fun!  We wondered around the city for a while, and Hanna got tired so she got an Uber home.  Leaving only Katie and myself out.  While we were hanging out we were talking about family and we learned we shared a cousin who lives in southern Il.  While we were talking, we wondered to a part of the french quarter that didnt look familure, and we concidered ourselves lost.  This is when my time here went from being good, to being awesome.

Beautiful 

We asked some random man for directions, and he gave them to us, but we preceded to talk to him.  His name was Dan, and happened to be a New Orleans native.  He was a tall, dark haired man with a strong New Orleans accent who happened to a marine biologist. He studied studied the fish in Mississippi. He preceded to show us around and introduced us to his friends and they all took us under their wing.  It was amazing!  We then decided to wonder a bit more.  This time we had our own personal tour guide.   He showed us the crazy bend in the river where the boats almost must stop in order to take the turn.  It was so cool, ships flowed by one after another and they were crazy huge.  It was most definetly a sight to see.  It was amazing, with the big moon out yesterday, but it looked like it was cut in half with a vertical line, and it shined over the bridge presenting an image that I have never seen anything like.  This will be one of those things that I will remember forever!  

Inner Journey, Post 5, 01/05/2018

Today was an awesome day! I finally got some sleep, so I wasn’t such a crab apple today while experiencing the city. There were so many interesting things that we seen on todays tours.  I honestly don’t think that I could pick out just one favorite part because I just loved them all.  While walking with Melvin I was extremely impressed with his knowledge of the city.  I really wish that I lived in a location that I felt a want to know more about.  As he strolled us through the streets of the French quarter, I felt like I was in a whole different century.  The architecture here is just so interesting.  I found myself just staring at the building wondering what it would be like to live there.  I want to know every single story of every building. I also really enjoyed learning about the cemetary, and how they encorporated the design of the French Quarter into the the desing of the cemetary.  I also enjoyed this because my partners mom is a mortition and chatholic so it kind of made me happy to take pictures, and share the knowledge I had learned from that.  

My favorite part about yesterday was the ghost tour.  While I don’t personally believe that ghost are House on Hackman’s Hill.   When we were at the restraint that had the private dinning room for the ghost, it completely reminded me of that. I also loved the fact that our tour guide was French.  Her accent I feel added to the ambiance and made it a little scarier.  Her approach to stories were amazing, she wasn’t overly trying to scare us, and she kept it humorous and I always like a good laugh.

real, I love scary stories.  So yesterday getting to go on the tour made me think of my child hood.  I was a strange child who LOVED ghost stories.  When I was in third grade, my teacher read us a book,

My favorite part of the ghost tour yesterday though, was the one about Madame La Laurie.  I am so fond of this story because of the television show, American Horror.  Season three was called the “Coven”.  This season also just happened to have one of my favorite actress, Kathy Bates.  In the show, Kathy Bates plays Madame LA Laurie.  So it was 2 of my favorite things put together, a ghost story, and Kathy Bates.  So, getting the chance to see the house is literally a check on my bucket list.   This excites me because I honestly didn’t think I would get a chance to see it till I was done with school, and could afford to travel here. 

During the tour as we went place to place I could feel my excitement building.  When we got there, it was even more grand than I expected.  I do have to admit though, despite me not being a believer in ghost, that house still freaked me out from all the horrible happenings.  When I gazed at the boarded-up window that was at one-time Madame La Laurie toucher chamber I got chills down my back and goose bumps all over my body.  I can’t lie it really freaked me out.  The only thing I wish, is that we got a chance to go inside.  I wish the current owners would turn it into a museum of some sorts or turn it in to a haunted bed and breakfast.   

Outer Journey, Post 5, 01/05/2018

Today was yet another awesome day in New Orleans.  We started the day meeting at Jackson Square in front of the Monument.  I was excited because I finally figured out where the train station was to get there so I didn’t have to pay for another Uber.  Upon arriving at the square we waited for your tour guide.  His name was Melvin.  He was Hilarious. To start out his tour, he taught us how to speak the language of New Orleans. He explained that you don’t put spaces in between your words, so how are you doing babe, would be said howyadoingbabe.  To keep the conversation going, you can then ask, howsyourmomma.   

Once Melvin arrived he was ready to go!  He started off explaining the history of music, and how the cultural melting pot of New Orleans shaped the future of music.  He was such an awesome man who seem to know everything about the city.  As we wondered through the streets of the French Quarter, Melvin would explain to us the significance of certain establishments and how they played a part in music history.   He showed us different locations such as where Harry Connick Jr. and  Louis Prima who played King Loui in the original jungle book.  I also found it interesting that gospel music came from New Orleans.  Mahalia Jackson was a singer who sang spirituals and earned herself the title of queen of gospel. 

After that we exited the French quarter to check the cemetery.  We went to the oldest cemetery in the

city.  On the way there, Melvin explained to us New Orleans burial traditions. He said it isn’t a time to be sad.  It is a time to celebrate.  The people who are part of the service follow the casket and make there own parade.  The parade will also consist of its own marching band.  The music would start slow, for you to reflect on the deceased, and then the tempo increases to cheer up the mood.  They march till they reach their destination.  The first destination before the cemetery is the deceased individual’s favorite hangout which is usually a pub of some sorts.  This way the loved ones can say goodbye with a toast. 

Once we reached the cemetery it was really interesting.  The burial process is so different down here because they do not burry people in the ground because the city of New Orleans is under sea level in most places, and the caskets will rise out of the graves.  What they do here is they put the corps into an entern while it decomposes and then the body is removed and put into the tomb.  If there is already a body in the holding spot, they will temporarily place the body into a wall vault until time to move again.  Plots are usually for families and not just one individual.   I think this is cool because you are eternally with your family. 

We then checked out the pharmacy museum.  This was REALLY exciting to me, which is probably a good thing since I am a nursing student.  While here we got to see an array of different medical utensils and meds.  Thank god I was born when I was because that stuff was scary.  From what I got from the tour, women had it the worst.  Doctors in the old days new nothing about the female anatomy.  They even thought at one time that the mind and uterus was connect, and if a woman would have a mental issue they thought that their uterus was roaming the body causing issues.  

Outer Journey, Post 4, 01/04/2018

Lower and Upper Pont Alba Apartment 

Oh, my lord, I think I have found where I belong!  Everything about this town just SCREAMS my Lower and Upper Pont alba Apartments.  These apartments are long brick buildings that line the sides of Jackson square.  I thought it was kind of funny to learn the story about why the statue of Jackson is point were the original owner lived.  Her name was Baroness de Pontalba .  To me the apartment buildings kind of make me think of an old art class, and how you need to create the focus line to draw your viewers attention.  In this case it would have been the St. Louis cathedral.  I have always wanted to live in a building like that.  I think it would be neat to open all the patio doors and just let all the fresh air in.  I would Love to be able to relax in a room and listen to all the sounds and soak them in.  This has gone from being a simple want to becoming a life goal.  Unfortunately for that to happen, I will need to win the lotto, or marry very well.

name!  There are a few different things that really stuck out to me today.   Starting with the Architecture of the establishments.  Louisiana’s ownership has been kind of passed back in forth which led to a beautiful mixture of old Spanish and French styles.  The building that line Jackson Square are the

Then when we got to go to take a tour of the St. Louis cathedral it was breath taking. There was art

St. Louis Cathedral 

work that lined the walls and ceilings which seemed to be 20 feet tall to me.  I did learn today during this time that you can’t put nail holes in buildings that have historical value.   Which is understanding but I think it would make life difficult.  Another thing that I found interesting about the building was that it has no indoor plumbing.  And the government not allow them to add it.  The only water is that out of a hose in the back garden. 

We then went to the Ursuline convent.  This was absolutely breath taking.  This building had 300 year old wooden beams supporting the ceiling.  Luckily, they are extremely strong.  The tour guide however informed us that one of them had to be replaced do to one falling last year.

After this we got to venture around the town on a cuisine tour.  These old restaurants have been around for decades and the buildings show it.  They are absolutely breathtaking.  Annaud’s was probably my favorite building of all.  It seemed so mall when you walked in, but then you just started walking, and it felt like the building was never going to end.  The tour guide informed us to keep a look at the floor tiles in one room.  This was to realize that the pattern of the tiles was off. The purpose of this was to show that only god is perfect.  In my opinion is to be true, but that is beside the point?  

Inner Journey, Post 4, 01/04/2018

WOW, this city is phenomenal!  Everything about it, just screams out to me.  I don’t think I have ever been some place that I felt so free.  In my head I was comparing it to when I lived in the Chicago, and would walk the city streets.  I felt like I was 21 again.  It really made my heart happy.  

Apron arriving at Jackson Square, to meet up for the tour, there wasn’t anyone else there yet.  This made me a little nervous.  I didn’t know if I was at the right spot for sure or not.  Then I started getting a little panicky because I thought then I may get in trouble if I miss something.  Then luckily, I seen Colleen.  I could rest assure and put my fears to rest.  

Once starting the tour at the St. Louis cathedral, I was excited to learn about the catholic

faith.  The history of this place and the architecture was beautiful.  It was covered with amazing and beautiful art work that covers the ceiling and the walls.  I personally even would consider the floor tiles art.  It was amazing there were little shell looking patterns that were actual fossils imbedded into the stone.

 I was raised in a church that at one time was a nondenominational Christian church, so I don’t know much about other religions.  I loved the fact that the tour guide was so knowledgeable about the city. She was able to explain the cathedral very well.  You could really see that she has a huge love for her church, and her city.  This almost makes me envy her, because I personally hate Peoria, and would love to have that same kind of passion about a place I call home.  While being in the cathedral though, I can’t lie it kind of gave me the creeps.  It was very beautiful, but I think I have watched way too many cheesy B movies. 

After the we went to the cathedral, we went to the Ursuline Covent.  This was important to me because Dan, my partner (life partner, not group partner), was raised catholic and went to an all-boys catholic school, named St. Rita, in her honor.  So, while on this tour I was excited to see a statue of her at. It also made me happy because it gave me a reason to bother Dan while he was at work.  Then getting a chance to Learn about the catholic faith and the reasons for the relics, I feel gave me a better understanding about Dan’s faith (Catholicism).  Learning that the statues were put in place to assist those who couldn’t read to be able to locate the correct saint to pray to was interesting and clarified a few things for me.  I also loved the way the tour guide kept stressing that they as Catholics aren’t worshiping the statues, but praying to them to help get their messages to god faster.  Granted I personally don’t believe in this, I was raised that you have a direct line to god, and he listens to all, but I still found it all very interesting.  

Inner Journey, Post 3, 01/04/2018

The best way I can explain my feelings at this moment, is exhausted.  I am a person that really values their sleep, and unfortunately that is something that I haven’t got any of lately.  While I was able to get a little sleep while on the train, the quality of sleep was not that good. The lack of sleep makes me a grumpy person unfortunately.  So, the last leg of the trip I just tried to make myself sleep to not spread the soured attitude. 

When the turbulence of the train awakened me, my initial thought was, go back to sleep, but I didn’t.  Instead I sat up and decided to look out the window.  The view of the sun over the water was a sight like I had never seen.  It almost instantly melted away some of the sour feeling I was having about the trip.  All I could was stare at it and smile.  Once we passed the beautiful sight, I snuggled back down with that beautiful image in my head. 

When the train was pulling into the station I was awoken by the conductor explaining the exiting strategy.  This sent a shock of joy through my body.  The feeling of being caged was finally over and the fun could really start.  While walking out of the train though I still felt irritable and dirty.  All I wanted to do was go to the room, shower, and order deliver.  Luckily Coleen made us walk the restaurant, Pierre Maspero’s.   Despite it being a little chili, it was AMAZING.  At this point I have not really seen anything because we got in so late yesterday, but what I have seen, I love.  While at the restaurant I ordered the best chicken sandwich I have ever had. 

When we left the restaurant we did a little wondering as a class, the architecture here is breath taking.  It makes me with the walls could talk to tell the story of their past.  Then while were passing the St. Louis cathedral we heard a woman screaming.  This really kind of scared me, but wanted had a natural urge to want to assist her.  Come to find out after a little more observation she was fine.    After this little adventure, Ali, Char, and I all decided to do a little wondering ourselves and catch an Uber home.  During this adventure, we stumbled across a man who was down on his luck and asking for food.  Once again this is something that pulled at my heart strings.  I don’t give people money, but if they are directly telling me that they are hungry and don’t want money, which this guy did, I feel it is our duty as humans to assist them.  Who am I to deny someone food. 

When we got back to the hotel, I checked my email and realized that we had two more post to hand in by noon today.  This kind of put me in deer in a head light feeling.  ALL I WANTED WAS SLEEP! I however sucked it up and rocked out.  This made me feel like a champ and ahead of the game.  So now instead of waking up in sheer panic, I do not have to worry about homework, and that my friends make me happy! 

Outer Journey, Post 3, 01/04/2018

During the last portion of the trip, I was trying to sleep so I would have the energy and want to go out and eat and walk in the cold wind.  During this time, I got woken up by the turbulence on the train.  The first thing I seen when I woke up was a beautiful sunset setting over a bridge that spanned across a water way further than I could see.  This made me happy, and I snuggled back into my cocoon made of coats and my little throw that I brought along with me and went back to sleep.   A loud noise then awakened me, it was a woman’s voice on the PA system informing us passengers that we were about to pull into the station, and that there was going to be a stop, and then they were going to be backing up.  This brought me overwhelming JOY! As soon as the train had stopped the second time, I think I was the first person from our group to the platform.  I was ready to get off that train.   The moment my foot hit the cement I had an overwhelming since of freedom.  The air hit my face and it wasn’t freezing, and that made me so happy.  I then proceeded to the lobby.  When I entered the lobby, I had more cares about the past 20 hours of my life, that I failed to realize the awesome artwork that lined the walls of the station. 

When we went to go leave the station, Char, Ali, Justin, and I decided to pitch in and get an Uber.   When the Uber arrived we, all ran to load our luggage.  Justin put his luggage in the back of the Toyota Van first and then I went to follow.  Unfortunately, I failed at this task, with no recovery and fell flat on my back side.  It gave everyone a good laugh and bruised my ego.   The Uber driver was very quiet, but nice.  Once we had arrived at the hotel, Coleen, being the awesome teacher, she is, was already here and ready to hand out hotel key.  Once in the room I unpacked my clothes and loaded them into the dresser.  I then washed my hair and headed out.  As a class we met as a group and headed out on our first New Orleans adventure.

 At this point I wish I had a photogenic memory because I want to keep the first impression I had of
the French Quarter embedded into my memory for ever.  We walked about a mile to Pierre Maspero’s.  I fell in love with this place instantly.  There are so many lights, and the building just look like the walls are full of history.  Once at the restaurant, I had the best grilled chicken sandwich I have ever had and wonderful company!

After dinner, Char, Ali, and I all decided to find a store, and catch an Uber back to the hotel.  Once we got here, we all changed into pajamas and started working on our blogs.  That my friends is how we ended out night.   

Outer Journey, Day 2, 01/03/2018

Like the song says, "oh what a night".  As I reflect on the last 24 hours of my life, all I can say is, “I made it”.  Let me start this from the beginning.  I should have taken the events throughout the day as an omen, giving signs to what the day would hold.  My first omen, I had gotten a new iPhone, and thought I knew how to work it, and the alarm.  Come to find out, I don’t.  I some how had a do not disturb on or something like that, and well I slept through my alarm.  Luckily Dan had to wake up for work, so his alarm got me going.   The only down fall to this was I did not have time to shower.  This was the second omen.   I don’t drink coffee or anything with a lot of caffeine.  Do to that, my morning shower is like my jump start to my day, with out it, I am useless. 

At this time, I am ready to head out to the school. This is when I realized I don’t know what I did with my charger for my lap top, third omen.  I have stayed in multiple states in the last 2 and a half weeks, New Orleans makes the fourth state, so in my head I have no clue where anything is. I start to panic thinking I may have left it in Georgia because that was the last place I had used it.  Since I had been home, I had been using the desk top for everything so had no need for a charger.  Luckily Dan always takes care of me and informed me it was in his bag.  THANK GOD, because that would have made this class extremel hard.  Finally, I was ready to go start my day.

Omen number four, as I venture out to start my day, I stepped in a fresh pile of dog doodoo that I was

My drive to school

too busy to pick up before.  What makes this even more depressing, it was on white snow. The contrast in the coloring should have made it super easy to seed.  I just needed to open my eyes. 

Once I got into the car is when omen five, six, and seven occurred.  When I went to start my car, it was so cold, and my car has a push button ignition, and it wasn’t wanting to start.  It literally made that weird noise that cars make when you start them for like a whole minute before it finally started.  Then I realized I had no gas to make it to Peoria, and had to pump gas in negative 14-degree weather.  I consider this an omen because I hate the cold and Dan usually fills my car up for me, so I don’t have to worry about it.  Then once I was about to enter into Peoria, there was a wreck on the bridge, and they had closed off one of the two lanes to clean up.  Due to this I was stuck sitting in traffic for close to 40 minutes, making me late for my first day of class. 

I finally made it to the school.  This is where the seventh omen comes into play.  We had to give little presentations on our blogs to the class.  When I had to speak I completely froze, and preceded to stumble over every word I said.  Which is kind of normal for me, but usually nothing that extreme. Which I find it odd that I cram up when I give presentations, because I am usually loud and love attention.  What can I say, I am a walking contradiction? 

Photo provided by Verizon 

After class, I had so much to do before having to be at the train station at 8:30pm.  This was omen number eight.  I had to run to my mom’s house to help her set up her new phone.  After driving all the way to her house before heading back to Bloomington to finish my own travel preparations, the sim card that Verizon ensured me would be at her house by 10:30 AM was not there.  Luckily, they refunded me my $13 that I paid for over night shipping.  The issue now is, my mom is still without a phone, and I can’t rely on her doing it herself, because she is anything but tech savvy. 

After I got all that handled and made it home, I had only about an hour and a half to finish gathering and packing for my trip.  Luckily most of my necessities were already gathered from previous trips.  I only had to worry about making sure I had all my chargers, toiletries, and my sanity.  Then I got to experience the highlight of my day.  I finally got to take a nice hot shower to relax and prepare myself for this adventure.  

Omen number nine, the train station.  I arrived right on time, I was even like eight minutes early.  At

My Baggage

this point in time everything was on track.  As a class we were gathered and ready to go, and then it happened.  The first announcement, informing us that our train was running about an hour behind schedule.  Which okay, it’s a train, in my experience, it is kind of something to expect.  Then it happened, again, and then again.  After waiting in the train station for approximately five hours, it had finally arrived.  The attendant paged to have us all line up and to prepare to load.   As we started making our way out to the train in the freezing cold, we were stopped, and told to go back inside.  They then had us wait for about 30-40 min before they allowed us to board.  Once on bored, I was finally able to sprawl out, well kind of.  I was able to utilize the space I had available.  To my surprise I got about 4 hours of sleep, and that my friends brings us up to now!  

Inner Journey Day 2 01/03/2018

My drive to School 

To start my day off, I woke up in a panic. I had slept through my alarm.  I live my life on a routine, I do the same things every morning, and if my morning schedule is thrown off, my entire day is shot.  It so happened that I was not able to shower.  That right there was enough to ruin my day.  I wasn’t able to wash off the stank from the day before.  I was forced to set out on my day feeling like a pile of garbage, and probably looked that way too.  It also made me nervous that I was going to be the stinky person in class, and no one likes the stinky person. 

On my way into school, I got stuck in a traffic jam due to a car accident.  This made me late for class, which added to my already panic mode of the morning.  The instructor of the class is awesome, but I have never had her as a teacher.  I was nervous because I didn’t really know what to expect of her as a teacher, and was scared of making a negative first impression as a student for being late. 

My RTA Passes 

Once I had made it to school, we were to work on our travel guides.  The travel guides is just a blog that we partnered up and worked on a specific subtopic related to our trip.  My partner (school partner not life partner) and I had decided to do history.  We thought history would be a great idea because to understand the city you need to know its history to really appreciate it.  In retrospect, this topic was the worse choice for me personally.  I can rock science classes like no other, but working on this, I realize why I wasn’t a history major.  It gets me SO confused and a little frustrated.  Which once again is funny because its pretty strait foreword.  While researching I would find information, and then find other information that contradicted the information I had just previously wrote about, all the while both sources should have been considered reliable.  Then there was the whole setting up and designing of the blog.  That was another nightmare all on its own.  While there are multiple you tube video’s explaining how to do certain tasks, I still couldn’t get it to work out like I was wanting.  I also still am trying to figure out the difference between a post and a page. This brings me to the actual presentation.  I fear that all my irritation, and my anxiety kicked in and got the best of me.  I usually can rock it out and do awesome.  That was not the case yesterday.  I personally feel that I gave the WORSTE presentation of my life.   When I got up in front of the class, I completely froze, and was overwhelmed with fear and started sweating profusely.  I instantly got an overwhelming feeling of defeat, and then extremely embarrassed because I feel that I let myself down. 

Ali welcoming me

After class my anxieties continued to build.  Now it wasn’t because I was trying to make it to school on time or presenting. It was an overall feeling of fear of the unknown.  This kind of lead to me having a minor panic attack on the way to the train.   I could almost feel my throat closing from the fear.  Then once at the train station we waited for hours for our train to arrive.  Luckily Ali was there to keep me entertained and ease my anxieties!  

Flash forward to this moment in time, we are about nine hours into our trip with only eight to go.   My anxieties about leaving home have died down, and have been replaced with excitement.  I am ready to see the magical city of New Orleans!