Waking up this morning was very difficult. Often times I find that if my alarm goes off
and I am feeling groggy, it is not necessarily because I am genuinely tired. I
will know that it is ugly outside, whether it is freezing cold, cloudy, gloomy,
and/or rainy. Well, according to my speculations, I was correct about all of
these. It is unfortunate that I had to bring the cold weather with me from
Illinois to Louisiana, but I guess rain and 40 degrees is better than snow and
below zero temperature.
The moment I woke up and
moved around I could feel a tightness on my knee. I had only hoped that this
would not be an issue for me this trip, but I knew that at some point it would
happen. I have patellar tracking disorder and patellofemoral syndrome.
Basically, my kneecap is permanently out of place and my cartilage is either
not there or is smashed extremely thin. Imagine that someone has a hand on each
side of your head and squeezed; all the pressure that would be felt with that,
that’s what my knee feels like constantly. I am so used to it by now that even
though it does hurt and could restrict my fast-paced walking and ability to use
stairs, I push through and still manage to do everything that I must for the
day.
I shuffled my feet across
the carpet and could hear the electricity building up at my heels. I knew that
if I touched a light switch I would surely be done for the day. Luckily the
lights were on so I had no worries on that end – thanks roommates! I had not
gotten ready for the day and just went down for breakfast with ten minutes to
spare. I had some eggs and whole wheat toast and shuffled back upstairs at a
quicker pace since I had less than a minute to take off yesterday’s makeup, put
on today’s makeup, brush my extremely tangled hair, and put on civilian
clothes. It was time to start the day.
I took the streetcar to
the French Quarter and headed down to the Cabildo. This museum was full of
history of Louisiana, including slavery. This is one topic that I enjoy
learning about as it is so crucial to the history of a vast population, but it
is very important to the evolution of New Orleans. I could never imagine having
to go through what those slaves went through. It looks like torture, as they
were tortured themselves. I learned a lot of new information regarding slavery
though. I never knew that slaves could save up the money that they earned to be
able to buy themselves out of it. I always thought that once they were bought
that that was it; they were just toys that when the owners were bored they
could be handed down to the next person. They were allowed to have some freedom
because they were all baptized Catholic. This is another thing I did not know.
Everyone in New Orleans was Catholic, and any slave that came to the area had
to be baptized. Because of this, they had Sundays and religious holidays off.
The slaves, however, could choose to work those days for other things and earn
money. With this they were able to buy out and become “free people of color.”
Something I found
interesting in the museum was a post-mortem dissection trunk. A surgeon enjoyed
learning about the human body through post-mortem autopsy. In the museum was
the trunk in which he kept all of his supplies.
After the museum, my
group and I headed to Café du Monde for hot chocolate and beignets. The
beignets were so much bigger than I thought they would be! There was so much
powdered sugar you could barely see the fried goodness underneath. It was not
to hold, but when I took a bite I could feel the warmth of pastry from the
inside. It had a slightly crisp outside, but the inside was soft and fluffy. I
felt like I went to a whole other world when I took a bite. I got powdered
sugar everywhere! I took a bite and one point and got some on my nose. I was self-conscious
for hours that I had some on my nose still. The chocolate was so hot that I couldn’t
drink it for a long while. It was freezing and rainy outside, so the hot
chocolate was the perfect way to help me keep warm in that weather. It was such
a smooth drink and I could feel it move through my system and warm my whole
body. I wish I could have those beignets every single day for the rest of my life.
To end the day in the
perfect way was what I was most excited for in this trip: the pharmacy museum.
I was mesmerized by every little thing in that museum. I took in every single bit
of information that I could. Though I was interested in all of the offerings in
the museum, one room took my eyes and my entire soul: the midwifery room. I
want to be a midwife one day, so being able to see the history of my dream
career kept me in awe. It was so hard for me to leave that room. I wanted to
read every single word and see every single piece, then go back and see them
all again. I was amazed at how midwifery was the preferred way for mothers to
have their babies back in the day and to be able to see it make a comeback
today. There have been so many significant advancements in medicine, especially
childbirth. All of the rusted tools and worn down wood of the old gynecology
tables kept my attention for more than 30 minutes. It makes me so grateful for
the medicine that we can perform today, and I am so honored to be a part of
such a worthy field.
No comments:
Post a Comment