Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Art

Let's Talk Art!
 
Outer:
This guy's name is Terrance Osborne and we are standing in his art shop. Walking down the streets of the garden district we saw a paint gallery and I said we would go in because we needed to look at art. I found this art gallery the most interesting because we actually met the artist. He did not have anyone in there to sell his art he actually sold it himself. I asked him about his inspiration to paint and what inspires his art. Terrance took me over to his front door and asked me if I smelled lavender when I walked in. Without even thinking about it I did it was a relaxing smell. He then walked a little further to this huge red rug in the middle o the gallery that was soft and fluffy and made you want to lay on it and make snow angels. He told me that it is all about your sense's and when people came in he wanted every sense you had to be triggered besides taste of course lol. You smell lavender when you walk in, then you walk on the softest carpet in the world, and last but of course far from least you get to see all of his beautiful work. His art is so colorful and bright and every painting has meaning.

Inner:
This picture as we see is of a beautiful woman of color. This specific picture I feel has a lot of meaning behind it. Terrance mentioned that this is a combination of his wife's eyes and his daughters face. This painting is actually the painting he has on his business cards. This painting speaks a lot to me. It shows a strong woman who grew up in New Orleans, she's smart and has her head screwed on right. It shows how powerful her mind can be and how she is ready to take on the world ahead of her.
This painting of the coffee music colors and people dancing is truly how I see New Orleans. Since the day I arrived I have been drinking coffee, listening to music, taking the street car, dancing and just in love with the city in general. This is a picture that I can relate to and brings great memories back to me. If you notice the St. Louis Cathedral is even in the back ground a place we have been to every single day we were in the city. This painting brings a smile to my face and I would not mind having it in my house and seeing it on a daily basis. I am definitely planning on going back with my family so we can all experience such a wonderful city together. 
Outer:
Now this was really fun and unique to me. He did not only paint it but he also carved it out of wood. The houses that are displayed actually protrude out of the painting. His detail and creativity is amazing. This is not the only 4D paint he has. I missed a picture of it, but he has a picture that has a working window. So it is like you are looking out a window from the inside but when the curtain is down you are just in a living room. It is really creative and the best part is it blends in and you would not think that the window actually worked.
Inner:
Now this picture here is something that reminds me of my family. I loooove seafood so much but not only do I, my family does just as much as I do.We have so many seafood boils that you would think we've lived close to an ocean. Seafood is always a big feast when we have it, almost always it is a family affair. BUT this picture reminds me of the very first time I've ever had crawl fish. I was in Texas with my dad and they were so weird and scary looking. I mean I like seafood but I like the kind that has the body off already. Anyway my dad had these and we had to buy them alive because you can not cook crawl fish if they are dead it can make you sick. So going through my mind the whole time is omg I really want some, but omg I am not touching those scary things! When they were done I was so excited and could not wait for my dad to get some ready for me until he killed that dream. He said if I wanted them I'd have to learn to eat them on my own. So I got over my fear and opened my first crawl fish. That had to be about 10 yrs ago, but every since crawl fish has been my favorite food! I wish I lived closer to the ocean so that I could eat it all the time. This picture brings back so many fun times with family, food, and fun.

Music

Let's Talk Music

Street Music in New Orleans

Outer:
Music is incorporated in a lot things today such as movies, sports events, and even restaurants. Music brings everyone together and helps us socialize. In New Orleans on almost every corner there is someone there making music. The best part about this music is that it is live! So much talent and passion in the artist in New Orleans. I recorded this band because this is the biggest band I saw while I was there and they seem to have almost every instrument you would hear in most high school bands. The music they were playing sounds to be like a dixieland style. I am not huge on the different genre's of music but this would be my guess it would fit under. I've heard all types o music in the city. I've not only heard people playing instruments but I've heard music from people who create their own instruments.
This is a picture of a couple of young boys create music from smashed soda cans. I had never seen anything like it before. they smashed the cans and put a long thumbtack in the bottom to stick into their shoe and create a tap shoe. These kids are so talented and they make their own way to create music. I enjoyed watching them make music in such a unique way.

Inner:
I have realized everywhere I have gone in New Orleans I have not been able to stand still. I have constantly unconsciously been moving to music on the street, in stores, and in restaurants you name it there is good music playing. I feel that music is comforting and it helps loosen the mood and relax people. I believe this is why New Orleans is a great place and people love to visit and natives never want to leave. It gives you a feeling of comfort and helps enjoy the people around you. I love music but don't listen to it quite often, but I have been inspired to look up different types of jazz I have learned about to play while I am studying. It is nice to listen to the music while walking down the street, and just enjoy it without words, although words are not necessarily bad to have.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

My Favorite place.

Outter:




The place that meant the most to me was the French Quarters. The French Quarters was something that was talked about a lot before going to New Orleans and the first place we visited when we got there. This was such a beautiful and amazing place to visit. When we walked to one of the four corners going into the French Quarters you see the huge cathedral buildings all around, and a beautiful courtyard in the middle which contained a statue of a man on a horse saluting his hat. The courtyard was gated and brought a lot of life to the French Quarters, as well as a place for people to place their art and perform. During the day there are so many people in the French Quarters socializing and having a good time. You can go there to walk, hear good music, watch a good show, and see the beautiful paintings and items people create. At this location you can experience so much with all of the history around. The French Quarters helped me navigate through New Orleans because they do not use North, East, South, or West they use the river to guide which way they are going. Now I know that may not be difficult to do, but for some reason I just could not get it while I was there lol. Way to confusing to me especially when I do not really know the city. ANYWAY the French Quarters was a way to navigate how to get to the hotel, French market, and street cars to name a few. Without the French Quarters it would be really hard and confusing to figure out where I am and what way I should be going. Friday night during our ghost tour we were in the French Quarters listening to our tour guide Ina tell us about the hunted city, when we turn around and see a guy proposing. How wonderful to be in such a historic beautiful place and propose at dusk with the perfect lighting in the sky for pictures. I’m sure that is not the first or the last proposal that will happen in such a beautiful place. I will miss this place a bunch because I just liked being able to walk there everyday and watch all of the different things going on. I am definitely going to make a trip back. I might come back in July but if not this year next year for sure. I have been telling people they need to visit this place since I have been here. I tell people that I had a great experience with the different foods, cultures, and fine arts this city provides. It seems like almost everyone in town has some type of talent and I love it.

A Sad Farewell

Inner:
It is finally time to leave and it still feels like I just signed up for this class and it is not time to go yet. I guess it is safe to say that time fly's when you are having fun. I really can not believe how much I have learned in the past week and got to experience. This is what I would consider a fun way to learn by experience. My favorite part of the class was everything Colleen put together for us. We had all types of tours I have talked about in all of my blog post and instead of going and learning a thing here and there, she literally got us tours to experience everything New Orleans had to offer. I would take this class because not only is it a fun experience but also a great time and you actually learn a lot. Colleen is also very knowledgeable of how the city of New Orleans can speak to us which helps when you have questions or not sure what something may mean. I loved having an instructor that was just as pumped to go learn about a city that she already knows and has experience with. This shows how fun and the city is and how it never gets old.

I learned a lot about the people of New Orleans. I do believe you can tell who the native's are aside from the tourist. The natives have an accent that can not be described and a personality that is open and carefree. When you are walking down the street and a random person says hello and ask you about your day, that is definitely a native. In the Midwest there are some people who are open and happy but the majority will look at you like your crazy if you try to make conversation with them. It is like you did something wrong or you are begging for something when in reality you are just being nice and greeting them. The people of New Orleans had a unique way to dress, and by unique I mean they did not care what others thought about their clothes and they wore what they want with pride. I would have to say that I learned a lot about myself during this trip and not all of it has to do with the history of New Orleans which all was basically new to me, but how I have grown as a person. I have never been away from my family as well as my son for an entire week so that is something I thought I would struggle with but I did pretty good if you ask me. Patience was another thing I learned about myself. I am not a patient person and I get annoyed easily at times when things do not go as planned, but I did not get impatient as I normally would and I got annoyed a few times but I just focused on what needed to be done and how somethings are not a huge deal and to just let go and live life.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Katrina Museum and The Town



Outer:
Today we are starting off our day with the wonderful yet devastating Katrina Museum. When you walk into the museum and look up there are glass bottles hanging from the ceiling. These bottle’s have a white piece of paper with a name on it in remembrance of a person that lost their life to this horrible storm. When entering the exhibit on the right there are displays set with TVs talking about the hurricanes that have happened over the years. To think that all these hurricanes have happened, yet people continue to rebuild in a city that could potentially destroy all of their possessions is a big deal. This city has so much meaning and history that it is worth constantly rebuilding. After looking at the hurricanes over the years you enter a room of survivors. There are displaces of clothes that were worn, rescue items, even walls of an apartment.



This part of the museum was my favorite because it had lights that directed you to the display they were talking about. As you listen to the survivors of the Katrina Hurricane it makes you question why and how such an catastrophe happen. Hearing stories about how moms where stuck on a balcony with her children and how rescuers had to hold babies that were too tiny for a harness so hey had to hold tight so they would not drop them. There was a display of a mans clothes which seemed interesting to me, so I went over and read his story. I found out that these were the clothes of a man who sent his family to a safe area and he stayed back waiting for the storm so he could get in his boat and rescue people. He was a retired fisherman and new how to deal with rough conditions on the water.

Katrina Museum With Thoughts




Inner:
Today we visited the Hurricane Katrina Museum. We have walked by before but today we actually went in and explored everything. Walking in was really sad knowing that you are entering a place and learning about thousands of people that were killed in the storm. Hearing the stories about how people were begging for help and how people had to walk through sewage because the streets were flooded with water, feces, and urine. I can not imagine all of the disease and sicknesses that people were developing because of this. My thoughts go far deeper than just the water, my mind travels to the lack of correct food supply had to play a huge role. When you think about healthcare you think of the proper way for healing is rest and good nutrition and when dealing with being stranded and wet for days until being rescued with only one bottle of water to last you is devastating and puts so much stress on your body. One of the Katrina survivors said that her and her daughter where in the attic and began to find a way out on to the attic. They found an ax and began to make a hole through the roof, so they could let people know they were stranded and get rescued. They managed to make a hole and the daughter got out and the mom was not able to fit through the hole and told the daughter to just go and get help she would stay in the house, but the water continued to rise and the daughter refused to leave her mother in the house. The daughter took the ax and made a bigger hole and helped pull her mom onto the rooftop. When they finally made it out they were on the rooftop for about 5 days with absolutely no nothing to eat and only one water bottle to last the both of them. I can not imagine going through something like that. It would break my heart to have to leave my mom to possibly drowned while I go get help. I am sure I would do the same thing as the daughter and not leave my mom behind. Flipping the story to the mom. I could not imagine how she could have felt on the inside. A mother “usually” not always keeps calm and knows how to navigate situations for the better, but in a situation where it is a 50/50 chance whether you live or die. Emotions had to be at an all-time high and solutions were at a bare minimum. You gotta do what you gotta do.