January 7th: Outer Journey

Kendra, Marcy, and I started our free day with a little extra sleep than what we had gotten the past couple days. We slept in an extra hour than usual and took our time with breakfast and getting ourselves ready to leave the hotel. We treated the day More like a Saturday morning than a Monday morning. We left hotel at about 1pm and headed to Jackson Square. We initially planned to go to the Aquarium near by, but since the weather was going to be in the low 70's, we decided we wanted to spend the rest of the day outside. We wanted to start off the day by visiting the 1850 House, a museum with the some of the original furniture from when Micaela Pontalba had build the apartment buildings on either side of Jackson Square. Unfortunately the museum is closed on Monday's so we had to make other plans. Since the museum was closed, we stopped a few doors down at Creole Delicacies, one of our stops on the cuisine tour we took yesterday, We looked at sweets and souvenirs to bring back to out families and talked to the owner a little bit more. When we were done, we headed to the open-air French Market to look around. We didn't find much we liked, so after about 20 minutes we headed back toward Jackson Square for a drink on top of Muriel's gallery. This was my favorite part of the day and such a nice way to end the evening. The weather was beautiful, and the square wasn't packed with people like it was on the weekend. Kendra, Marcy, and I relaxed and talked about the museums that we has been in yesterday. We talked about out favorite exhibits and how different New Orleans is than anything we had ever seen. It was a bittersweet way to end our time in this amazing City. 

View from Muriel's Gallery

Muriel's Courtyard

January 6th: Inner Journey

The thing I loved most about the Mardi Gras exhibit was how different it is. When I walked into the exhibit where all of the grown and scepters were for the past Mardi Gras kings and queens, I had to remind myself that I'm not in a foreign country. I couldn't believe that I was only a few states away from home. When looking through the Mardi Gras exhibit, I couldn't help but think of how the parades are different from the ones that we have back home in Illinois. Back home, we usually have parades for homecoming and our annual festivals, but they are nothing like the parades put together for Mardi Gras. The costumes are a huge difference. I couldn't help but think how uncomfortable and heavy he Mardi Gras costumes are. All of the heavy beading and huge head pieces. It made me think about what I would want my Mardi Gras gown to look like if I were a Mardi Gras queen. I would probably choose something very edgy. Maybe something black with a leather jacket over it to stand out from all of the glitz and glam that I saw in the museum. Something new that I learned about Mardi Gras was the maskers. These maskers were part of the Cajun courirs de Mardi Gras which is popular in many Cajun communities in southern Louisiana. I feel like if the city that I live in back home celebrated Mardi Gras, this is what it would be like. These maskers would ride their horses, dance, and beg for food to make Mardi Gras dinner. It is so fun to learn about the Mardi Gras side of New Orleans.

Courirs de Mardi Gra Masks

Maskers

January 6th: Outer Journey

While visiting the two museums in Jackson Square, my favorite part was the Mardi Gras exhibit. As soon as you walk up the stairs to the exhibit, the first thing you see is a case filled with small trinkets that are thrown out during parades. I've learned over the past couple days that each float has its own theme, so each float throws trinkets that go along with their theme into the crowd. I also enjoyed looking at all of the costumes and crowns that the people in the parade would wear. These dresses and head pieces have to be very expensive because they are completely covered in jewels and feathers. They are so colorful and unlike anything I've ever seen. They are so big and beautiful. We also got to see all of the crowns and scepters from the past queens and kings of Mardi Gras. I loved how each crown was different shaped with different colored jewels. I tried to pick my favorite, but it was impossible. Kendra, Marcy, and I also got to experience what is like to ride on a float in a Mardi Gras parade. The museum had a parade simulator where you could board a float and see what it would look like if it were actually moving through the streets of New Orleans. It was also really fun to look at the old Mardi Gras posters. I'm a sucker for antique posters, so this was right up my alley. The museum was very fun to look through and I thoroughly enjoyed every part. It made me even more excited for the upcoming parades that my class and I would be seeing since it is the first day of the season for Mardi Gras today.

Click HERE for more information on the Presbytere Mardi Gras exhibit.

King of Mardi Gras Outfit

Queen of Mardi Gras Gown

Queens of Mardi Gras Gown

Queens of Mardi Gras Gueen 

Corwns and Sceptors of Past Queens and Kings

Antigue Mardi Gras Posters

January 5th: Inner Journey

One thing that I found most interesting today was the story behind each family restaurant and the why food were served why they were served. For example, red beans and rice was served during chore days. These were the days that families would clean up shop, bath animals, and do laundry. They needed a dish that they could leave unattended for house and not worry about it overcooking. This reminded me of home. Usually on the weekends when we all have different schedules, my dad will cook up a bog pot of chili and we can feast off of that all weekend long so we dint have to worry about making any meals. It's enlightening to learn about the stories and reasons behind each food like this.

I also really enjoyed the turtle soup and how wild animals like turtles, rabbit, and other small animals were popular to eat among people because they were easy to kill and bring back to the family. I also have really loved all of the seafood. Eating the shrimp and fish have reminded me of my childhood. My grandparents owned a fishing resort in Arkansas my entire childhood, so my family and I would spend many school breaks their catching fish and other river creatures. We would take out catch from the day, and my grandpa and dad would cook it up each night and that was our dinner. There are fewer things more comforting to me than eating sea food. I can tell New Orleans is so proud of these dishes because you can't get them anywhere else the way they are made. The seasoning and spices are so different from what I eat back home in Illinois, so it's been such a delight trying these new things.

Learning about popular ingredients
used in Cajun nd Creole foods. 

January 5th: Outer Journey

My favorite part of the day was definitely the cuisine tour. I'm very much a foodie, so I was excited to try a little bit of each of foods that New Orleans was famous for. It was also great to learn about the ingredients in each of the famous dishes as well. We started off by eating a brisket po boy sandwich with horseradish sauce on it from Tujaque's. I'm not a huge fan of horse radish, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I liked it on this sandwich. It was more of a clear, watery horse radish sauce instead of a thicker white horse radish sauce like they serve in Illinois. It was also cool that, at the next stop, the tour guide gave us the recipe for it. At the second stop, Creole Delicacies, we tasted beans and rice. It was probably the least flavorful thing I tasted on the tour, but still really good. We then made our way to Antoine's for shrimp gumbo. I was excited for this because I love sea food, and it definitely did not let me down. It was so good, and I could have stayed and eaten all evening. Next on the list was a praline shop called Leah's Pralines. I have a huge sweet tooth, so I thought pralines would be right up my alley, but they were too sweet for me and the texture wasn't my favorite. Lastly, we stopped at one of the fanciest restaurants in New Orleans called Arnaud's to try turtle soup. This was by far my favorite dish on the cuisine tour. It was so rich and no one could even tell it has turtle in it. The shrimp that they served on the side was dripping in a really spicy sauce, but it was also very good. I could definitely see how the city spoke through its food. It amazing how these families would buy half a block worth of buildings that had private dining rooms. The food is like nothing you can get in Illinois. It's so unique, and I keep having to remind myself that I'm not in a foreign country. 

Arnaud's

Antoine's

January 4th: Inner Jouney

While my class and I were looking at the architecture and history of Jackson square, I couldn't help but think about the history of feminism during the time Michaela was building and perfecting the two apartment buildings on either side of Jackson Square. Even though the tour guide made it seem like she was a spoiled brat who got whatever she wanted, I felt proud to know that a woman was behind it all. I also couldn't help but go crazy over the architecture in Jackson square and surrounding area, especially the wrought iron fences and balconies. My dad is very handy and has made many things out of iron, like trellises and mailbox holders, similar in in design to the balconies of Michaela's apartment buildings. My dad has shown me how much work is put into something like that, and it made me more appreciative of it. I also felt delighted that not much has changed in the Jackson square. I love how Michaela's apartment buildings are still standing. I've always had a weakness for older houses, so seeing the character and small little detail of the building was fun and it was nice to learn that the city of New Orleans appreciates it just as much as I do, keeping the buildings nice.

During the cemetery tour, I couldn't help but think about how different the burial traditions are than they are in New Orleans. I get the people in New Orleans cannot bury underground, but my grandparents would not like the idea of being buried with each other and then adding the bodies of every member of the family after that. I liked thinking about how there were probably just as many bodies in the 500 square foot cemetery as their was in my hometowns 3 acre cemetery. It was fun to learn about these traditions and how much different these traditions are from ours in Illinois.

Here is a fun video of a tour of Jackson Square:

January 4th: Outer Journey

To start the day, my class went on a tour around the city to learn about history, architecture, and death in New Orleans. One part that was really interesting was the history and architecture of Jackson square. I love the story of how Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester prevailed from three gunshot wounds and took her and her dead father's money to build the beautiful square just how she wanted it. The St. Louis Cathedral was one of my favorite parts as well. I love the bright white color and the way it looks with the Andrew Jackson statue standing in the front of it. It is one of the prettiest pairs I've ever seen.

Another one of my favorite parts of the tour was the cemetery. I find it really interesting how the bodies have to be "buried" above water because the sea level is so high in New Orleans. I've never heard of people being buried this way, so I had a great time hearing about it. It was also great seeing how each grave reflected the house that that family would have lived in. Some graves were one story, some were three story, and some even had balconies on them. We also got to see Nicholas Cage's grave for when he passes away. His grave was the most obnoxious grave there, shaped into a pyramid. The story that out tour guide told us about Nicolas Cage's story was interesting because his career started going down the drain once he moved away from New Orleans.

St. Louis Cathedral and Andre Jackson Statue

Tomb in the Cemetary

Tombs with Statue on Top