Never eat soggy waffles

            Today was our free(zing) day here in the city. Jessica, Anne, and I spent most of the day doing our two favorite things: eating and shopping. We slept in a little to catch up on sleep then headed to the outlet mall to spend all of the monies we brought. After we became three broke girls we headed down to Jackson Square to explore some art galleries around the city in order to complete a future assignment for class. Something amazing happened on the way though; we ran into a group of men performing on the street. We decided to sit down and watch time because their energy and comedy caught our attention.  Little did we know we would be sitting outside in the freezing cold weather for an hour watching and laughing with these middle-aged, black men. There were four guys in a group that had been performing on the street in the city for over thirty years; how amazing is that? The bond you could clearly see between the friends was so inspiring and made me miss my friends from home. I learned today that if you truly do something you love, you wont work a day in your life.  The men were having the time of their lives entertaining a crowd of people. Their jokes were hilarious; I literally laughed at everything they said. The city spoke to me today by watching this group of friends doing what they love, mostly, for the fun of it. The city of New Orleans does not pay street performers; they simply perform and entertain at their free will all for donations from observers. The group today was out in the wind and thirty degree weather because that is what they needed to do to live and survive. The perseverance of the local performers and artists is truly inspiring. No one works as hard as them and it really spoke to me and I think I will be making some life choices to better my life and myself once we return home. It had an impact on my life because I find myself struggling sometimes to be positive and believe in things, but something that this beautiful city has made me realize is that if you have a passion for something or want to achieve a goal, you can do anything you set your mind to. 

Here is one of the performers balancing
on a post in the park
across from Jackson Square where
they performed. 

New Orleans is a melting pot for so many different kinds of people; I have not seen any kind of judgment in this city at all since I’ve been here. There are so many cultures, religions, races, ethnicities, and even pirates in this city and that is what makes it so accepting and fun. There is a certain atmosphere here that just makes you happy. The locals are so nice and always ask us questions about where we are from or what we are out to do today, I’ve never felt like I have belonged so much in a foreign place like I do here.

            Something I’m really proud of today was that the three stooges (Me, Jessica, and Anne) were able to navigate our way through the city without any help. I grew up in a small town with a lot of cornfields so I am abnormally good at directions; I know my never eat soggy waffles by heart. After spending a lot of the day shopping, watching the street performers, and seeing art. We really set out to explore what the city has to offer. First on the list was to find something to warm us up. We complained a lot today about how cold it was today, but we kept checking the weather at home and seeing the below zero numbers in central Illinois made us feel a lot better. After finding some warm and yummy drinks we met up with another classmate, Andrew, and all four of us just walked down Royal Street and stopped in cute, interesting shops. We also saw a parade with a band that caught our attention, but on the other hand we saw a couple walking down the street with the woman holding a dog leash with the collar around the man’s neck, which just proves the point of how many different kinds of people take adventures in New Orleans. The city is known for doing weddings big and if a couple gets married in New Orleans, the bride and groom and entire wedding party get to walk through the streets while a band of jazz instruments follows them and play fun music, it also comes with a police escort. I think that is such a cool way to get married and start your life together and also an interesting way to bring people to the city. We took the city by storm today as we ran through the streets finding more things we loved and learning more about the city. 

Andrew, Jessica, myself, and Anne exploring Royal Street

For dinner, we chose the iconic Pat O’Brien’s, which is the restaurant that is known for making the first ever hurricane, which is now a famous drink from New Orleans. The garden was huge and it had really pretty fountains with palm trees. Every place I get the opportunity to go to make me fall in love with New Orleans because of the beautiful sights and the good smells coming from Café Du Monde. I’ll never forget this experience and can’t thank our instructor for setting up amazing tours and letting us explore the city on our own. One thought I had the other night was how we are able to experience things that regular tourists don’t get to see because of it being a school travel course. I feel blessed and honored to be a part of this opportunity and know that it is playing a part of me growing up. I never imagined that a city could speak to me the way New Orleans has; the impact of learning through travel is honestly changing my life and is inspiring me to live every day in the moment and travel as much as I can.