Sunday Funday was actually super sad

When I woke up and checked the weather forecast about the temperature today, I had some choice words with all the “weather gods”. If I wanted to participate in the freakin’ cold weather that requires winter coats, gloves, and scarves I would have stayed home in the miserably cold state of Illinois! After we bundled up with at least three different layers and headed out into the cold to participate in our three-hour tour that included the St. Louis Graveyard number one. I LOVED OUR TOUR GUIDE MILTON. He has lived in New Orleans all of his life and you could tell that he really didn’t want to live anywhere else. He was so proud and knowledgeable about the history of New Orleans and the different cultures that developed and were brought to America in the 1700’s. He told us about different locations within the French Quarter that were historical and different than the other seventy-four tours we have been on this week which I thought was super interesting! No matter who you talk to in the city of New Orleans, you will always get a different opinion about the history, local cuisine, or even the “must see” locations in the city. Once we move through the French Quarter, we arrived at the graveyard. This location was totally badass in my opinion. Despite the fact that we were walking around in the burial place of thousands of different spirits, it was beyond interesting to know how families take care of different gravesites and how they mourn those who have past one. I identify with this type of burial on different levels. Most importantly, I do not believe that death is something that has to be associated with sadness. I believe that whatever happens after we die has to be a positive experience. I do not believe in hell but I do believe that spirits carry on forever, just as they believe in New Orleans. The most interesting thing about this graveyard was that Nicholas Cage has already purchased a lot and built a tomb for himself in the shape of a giant pyramid. In case anyone has forgotten, Nicholas Cage is not dead yet. Milton told us that the tomb cost $40,000 to build (and then shortly after he went bankrupt because of the bad karma). I love how the culture and religion of New Orleans believes that if you build a tomb before you are dead that is bad karma, because if you think about it, it totally is. You are preparing your place of burial before you are already dead, that is just messed up! Then after we finished the tour, we headed to lunch with a group of students that I was not that familiar with and I am so glad that I did. This trip has developed friendships that I honestly did not expect to happen. I feel so lucky to have developed deeper connections with people I will be spending the next thirty-six months with. It is one thing to walk through the hallways of the same school building and awkwardly smile in the hallway; but this trip has allowed me to connect with other people about the memories we have shared together and the information we learned together and that is something I really cherish about this travel course.

 This is a tomb established in the 1800's.  

This is the tomb that Nicholas Cage has built for himself in preparation of his death. 

The city of New Orleans were speaking loud and clear to me today about their culture and their burial traditions. I believe that death is not something that should be associated with the emotion of sadness. Death is a celebration of life in New Orleans! Yes, I am sad when I lose a loved one (I do indeed have a heart) but I think that the after life is something positive and even has the potential to be better than the real life. On the other hand, I do not like how the graveyards are set up in the city of New Orleans. I cannot imagine having to prove my relation to my family to be able to visit the gravesites of my family members.  I felt slightly uneasy being inside the graveyard and walking around somewhere someone’s family is in their final resting place. I felt as though it should be a sacred ground for family to go and visit their families. I for one would not want someone walking around touring the cemetery where my grandmother is buried and walking all over or leaning on her grave. I think it is great that the city of New Orleans celebrates life with the traditions that they posses, but I do not think graveyards should be a tourist attraction. After the graveyard visit, we finally visited the location that I have been looking forward to all week; the Hurricane Katrina museum. Mackenzie, Jessica and I all did our E-Travel guide on Hurricane Katrina so we have been looking forward to this historical stop on the trip ever since we arrived in New Orleans. The whole time that I was walking through the exhibit, I was trying to put myself in the shoes of those who were drastically affected and I could not come up with anything close to the harsh reality that they were forced to face eleven years ago. I have lived in one of the flattest states in America all of my life and always receive more snow than rain water. In my previous blog posts, I have talked about how much of a spoiled brat I am and I really felt it again today. Even earlier in the day I was complaining about the weather and how cold it was. That is absolutely nothing compared to the hardships dealing with weather the people of New Orleans were dealing with after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The exhibit provided those who were visiting with stories about victims of Katrina who were living in the lower ninth ward. I listened to stories about people who were trapped on the roofs of their homes for four days without anything to eat or drink while other survivors were cramped into the Superdome with 35,000 other people who lost their homes. I cannot begin to imagine how those people were feeling, what they were seeing, hearing or even feeling both internally and externally. After reading even more stories of tragedy dealing with Hurricane Katrina, my heart hurts and extends out to the victims of the hurricane and I was happy to read and learn about some of the successes that those affected have had over the past eleven years with rebuilding their lives.

This map shows the effected areas of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. The reddened areas indicated flooding; 80% of the city of New Orleans was under water and some parts of the city were submerged  below twenty-four feet of water.