Music/Cemetary/Pharmacy

Our day started off learning about the history of music and how much it has influenced not only the city, but the whole history of music in this country. Even though I am not a music person, learning about this history was amazing. I was fascinated at all the different places our tour guide took us. Each place marked the spot of where upcoming musicians mastered their art and began to share it with the world. What I took away from today was how much traditions and family generations are embedded into this city. The furthest I have traced my family tree is back three generations. Milton pointed out that the street performers that we see around the city are most likely direct decedents from those who started Jazz in the 1800’s. Walking through the streets of New Orleans listening to Jazz music is like navigating a Jazz station on Pandora. Everywhere you turn there is a street performer pouring his heart and soul into his music.

The Blue Note

Even in the cemetery, the evidence of family history was evident. In some mausoleums, there were hundreds of family members buried together. It was just so different from the cemeteries we are used to. Even the fact that the cite was taken care of by family was awesome. In our home, families go to grave sites and leave flowers or plants for the people they love. I think it’s so special for the New Orleans people to be able to come to one cite and basically see a family tree and have the perfect opportunity to swap stories about their family to be passed on.  

St. Louis Cemetery #1

Our tour guide, Milton

My favorite part of the tour today was the pharmacy museum. When you walk into the building, you are met by a mixture of herbs, spices, and dust. This building was built in 1823. One thing I didn’t know was that New Orleans is the first place in the country to require medical training. Once inside the building, either side is lined with cabinets from floor to ceiling. The spiral detail in the wood and the fact that they fit in the space so perfectly gives the illusion that they have not moved since they day they were put in. From the ceiling, there were lights hanging that gave off a glow of light similar to an original oil lamp. The cabinets had glass casings filled with glass bottles. These bottles were labeled and cloudy with reside left behind from the medicine that used to be in them. As we continued to walk around, I noticed the stone floor. The tiles were large square pieces that were textured. In some placed, they were uneven and easy to trip over.

Medicine from the 1800's

Pharmacy tour

Inner:

            The city spoke to me today in the cemetery. First, just being there and seeing that the bodies were buried in a way that I was not used to was hard at first to wrap my mind around. It was a culture shock because it was the first time that I have ever seen anything like this. I was inspired by the way in which they went about burring their loved ones. Thankfully there have only been a few close members of my family that have passed away. However, there was (and still is) a mourning period going on. In New Orleans, they have a mourning period for a block, and then it’s a celebration of life. I have just started hearing about a celebration of life for people around our home, but I still think it’s more of a mourning period going on. This is one thing I would like to take home with me. Although death is sad, it should not define who the person was. Taking this away from this experience would make death easier to deal with, and honestly I feel that celebrating life is more appropriate then celebrating death. 

Italian tomb  

            Also in the cemetery I was pleasantly surprised to learn a bit more about my heritage. Since I have been here I have learned more about Sicilians than I ever have before. I have learned that they made up a very poor part of the population. Today I learned that they could still be buried in this very old and expensive cemetery if they became members of the Benevolence society. Being a member of this would guarantee you a tomb. The Italians had a mausoleum in this cemetery. The guide said there were probably thousands of people buried in it. I couldn’t help but wonder if there were people I was related to in there. From this experience I will take away a deeper thirst to find out more about my family history.

            The final think I took away from the cemetery is how much family ties are rooted in this city. It’s hard for me to grasp a true sense of family history because I only know my grandparents. The only thing I know beyond that is my grandfather’s parents were from Sicily. When Milton was talking about learning about his grandparents, I was wondering what that would have been like. He knows so much family history for the simple reason that the people here have a story to tell because they are proud of their city and traditions. Even though the tour was cold, and I am not much of a music person, I still had a great time. From this tour I took away how music is truly a part of history. Even in the cemetery we learned about music and how it was born. I did not walk into that cemetery thinking I would continue to learn about music.