Preparing for Departure

I feel as though I have been preparing for this course since I first attended an informational meeting. First item on the list to gather was funds; considering that I am a college student, those are typically always short. THANKFULLY I received a generous donation from my stepmother who loves to travel and encourages me to see the world before I have children who keep me trapped to one state for long years at a time. After skipping down the hall to the 616 window and turning in my travel cost check, Mackenzie Kitterman and I were off to Hobby Lobby to create our “piggy banks” for souvenir money while in New Orleans. Once all the puff paint and glitter was dry, we began pinching pennies and saving them in our newly created banking system. Unfortunately though, we have not always been faithful to our savings jars and did not supply them with as much money as we intended (living next to Grand Prairie mall is a dangerous environment). Thankfully we both received enough Christmas money to feel comfortable splurging at dinner or on an item that we just HAVE to have while shopping in New Orleans. Moving on down the list, we have started to pack our suitcases. Speaking of lists, Mackenzie has probably written her packing list four different times and I have yet to start. My procrastination has picked an awful time to reappear back into my life. Making my packing list is first on my list of things to do (ironic, I know). In the meantime, I have started researching material for our travel guide project. Selecting Hurricane Katrina as our topic is pretty much the most stereotypical topic for anyone traveling to New Orleans, but I could honestly care less because I think it is the most interesting. To be able to witness and discover the countless ways the people of New Orleans have recovered from such a horrible tragedy is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I consider myself extremely lucky. As far as the adjustments I will have to make in my “everyday life,” my boss was none too happy when I told her about all the time I would need to be taking off work. Little does she know that I could not be happier with more time apart from Hy-Vee (I wish I was sorry, but I’m just not!) The only other thing I have to worry about is remembering to call the bank to tell them that I’m traveling to New Orleans so that they do not cut off my spending access due to fraud protection. However the big bad wolf in this trip to New Orleans is silver, long, and rhythms with rain. Growing up, my mother and I were always traveling so I have sort of trained my body to be able to sleep anywhere (an intended pun). However, I have a really bad feeling that I will get so bored being in the same confined space for almost twenty-four hours that I will develop cabin fever and start to act out like Jack Nicholson’s character of The Shining. I plan to bring plenty of distractions and give all of the people around me four warning of my possible out lashings. 

To be completely honest, I have developed high hopes and expectations for this trip. Not only based on the learning opportunities, meeting new people, developing new friendships and experiencing a new culture, I expect to grow personally during this trip to New Orleans. 2016 has been full of life lessons that I really did not intend or expect to learn this early in life. Nonetheless, I intend to take these lessons and apply them into my life and focus on my happiness and success. I am looking forward to being in a totally new environment with new people and unexplored culture. Even though I have traveled to New Orleans before, this trip will allow me to participate in cultural experiences that I was too young to participate in before (Bourbon Street Baby!) But seriously, I do not believe that I was old enough to appreciate the unique culture within New Orleans and I am beyond excited to indulge in all aspects of New Orleans culture, except one. I am the biggest baby when it comes to spicy food. I mean it, if it is not covered in ranch dressing or sour cream, there is a large chance that I will not eat it. However, with that mentality in New Orleans I might as well starve to death. So I have decided that it might be time to put on my “big girl pants” and suck it up and eat some spicy food. When I am afraid and surrounded by food oozing with spicy, sauce, and unidentifiable seafood items, I will try and think back to this past Midwestern Christmas meals filled with baked ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and of course copious amounts of pie. Despite my irrational fear of spicy food, I am most looking forward to learning material and gaining experiences unlike I have before. When thinking of New Orleans, my mind is filled with images of bright colors and flor de lis engraved into every tangible object within a fifty-mile radius. From my past visit, I can still hear the booming sounds of trumpets, whether it comes from a live performer on the street or over the sound system within a restaurant. I can feel the thickness of the humidity. When I last visited in August 2010, the heat was practically inescapable. Lucky for me I was attending my uncle’s outdoor wedding that same day and suffered from an embarrassing beauty malfunction. After I had taken a shower that morning and blow-dried my hair, the humidity enclosed itself within the pores of my hair, causing my hair to literally blow up like a balloon. I can still hear my mother telling me, “Honey it is going to be fine, your hair will fall! Don’t worry”. After six long years of re-living that day through wedding pictures, my aunt and uncle love to bring out the photo album at holiday to remind everyone that my hair never “fell”. You better believe that during this visit to New Orleans I am coming prepared with the best anti-frizz products Ulta Beauty can offer. I am looking forward to the experiences that lie ahead with the travel course and asking some of the natives how their beauty products handle the heat of New Orleans.

Inner Journey - Pre-Trip

When visiting an urban city, I always feel small. Standing five feet and eleven inches tall has limited my experience with this feeling. However, entering an urban city makes me feel as though I only stand three feet tall. The buildings, the large amounts of people, and the fast paced atmosphere of an urban city all contribute to these feelings I commonly experience. Looking up at the stars, riding roller coasters, and having arguments with my mother also provide me with the same feeling, but visiting an urban city seems to over exaggerate this feeling. These feelings attribute to my descriptions of my outer journey while traveling. I base these descriptions on the geographical location of my traveling; being in Chicago is extremely different than traveling in Boston. Nonetheless, both cities are filled with tall buildings, large statues, and cars that can hold more than ten people at one time. I have recently discovered that I attribute these feelings to not only the large surrounds within an urban culture, but also my inner feelings while experiencing a foreign culture. I often feel intimidated within an urban culture based on the fact that I do not believe that I could fit in within this type of culture. I need to develop a higher level of self-confidence that allows me to morph into any situation and culture to which I am exposed to, without fraying my arms in despair. I believe this trip will allow me the opportunity to finally grow up and understand that I am confident enough within myself to actually go out on a limb within a new city and try new experiences without being afraid to fail, along with eliminating my poor assumption making skills when entering a new culture. I commonly make poor assumptions about people who live within urban cities. As horrible as it may sound, I assume that all those who live within an urban city are grouchy, rich, and hate tourists. I base these assumptions of movies such as The Devil Wears Prada, (Who isn’t afraid of Meryl Strep at some point in that film?), television shows such as Sex in the City, and magazines that portray city life to constantly be an extravaganza of fun activities. However, may times during my interactions with people who live within the city I’m traveling within, I am proven wrong by being shown great hospitality along with great restaurant recommendations and manners. I need to hurry up and get rid of my assumption that “all city people,” are mean and unhelpful before I seriously offend someone or am given wrong directions on purpose.  Traveling to New Orleans is the perfect opportunity to be able to grow within myself by developing skills I will need to be successful throughout the rest of my life. It is time to take a step back from making wrong (and hurtful) assumptions about people and start to develop skills in order to learn more about cultures that differ from my own, not only to make myself into a culturally competent nurse, but to be able to give all other cultures the respect that they deserve.

Outer Journey - Pre-Trip

Being from a small town of 600, picturing a big urban city requires me to stretch my mind to a culturally setting that I am not used to. A transition from my common culture means four lane roads, stoplights, and businesses on every street corner, rather than the two bars, one church and seven stop signs in the community that I call,  “home.” When thinking about the physical characteristics of traveling to different cities around the country, I’m lucky enough to have a lot of references I can look back on mentally. Cities are filled with busy streets filled with people who live there, tourists, and of course plenty of birds lining the streets and sidewalks (who do not appear to be more afraid of me as I am of them). Tall buildings with clean windows and different colored roofs line the streets and create a map of the city for people to wander through and explore. When thinking of an urban city, I can hear noises including car horns, the sound of people walking on different surfaces, and rain falling on an umbrella (because I can never seem to visit a large city and experience dry weather). I can feel the texture of the buttons on the street signs, signaling pedestrians to walk across at their designated times. I am not entirely sure how, but I seem to always run directly into someone walking in the opposite direction from me within an urban setting; As I stumble away, I can recall the texture of their coats and the heat that developed under my skin on my face from the sudden embarrassment. Fortunately, I have been able to experience the urban culture of New Orleans previously in life. I was only fifteen at the time and did not understand or appreciate the experiences I obtained during my time in this urban city. Thinking back on memories of this city, it shares only one common characteristic with other urban cities I have visited, the birds. I can remember hundreds of birds filling the streets and sidewalks all over the city, never once flying away from any sort of danger but rather, participating in a, “a brisk walk.” The parts of the city that I visited were not filled with large buildings, but with buildings oozing with culture and customs of this old city. Some buildings were covered in vines that climbed all the way to the top, swallowing the building. Others were structured with multicolored bricks and nontraditionally colored rooftops. The streets are lined with bricks, businesses, and entertainers at every corner (some who are only there to try and scare people passing by).  However, experiencing such a dynamic city without an understanding of my surroundings, allows the opportunity to gain information about a city I had once visited, but in a new light. I am hoping that New Orleans will be an urban city unlike any others I have experienced filled with traditions and customs unlike my own, providing me with unlimited learning opportunities.