Farewell NOLA

Jan. 8, 2020

Outer Journey: Old School Medicine

On the last touring day of our trip we went to three places, of course that meant more steps on my tracker. It was another mix of warm sunshine on your skin and a cool breeze coming off the river. For the afternoon, we found ourselves in the Pharmacy museum. Walking in was odd to say the least. The old wooden shelves were lined with glass bottles of different colors containing their original ingredients and labels with mostly unknown names. There were instruments in glass cases that gave me chills just thinking about its actual use versus what I imaged it being used for. At the back of the room was the pharmacist's work space that was hidden to public, leading to the mystery of medicine. This was definitely my favorite place of everything we got to see during the trip. Our guide in the museum gave a lot of history of the building and common practices from the early 1820's when this pharmacy was opened by Louis DuFilho Jr. The evolution of medicine is incredible. Learning that the first syringes used powdered medicine "injected' into a body opening that he told us may have been an abscess on a persons face. That sounds so painful. Syringes then used needles, that were not removable or able to be taken apart and  cleaned so bacteria could easily live anywhere inside. Even though Mr. DuFilho thought he was curing many diseases, he was mostly spreading it or making it worse. Mercury was commonly used to treat malaria and heroin was added to several things from cough syrups to remedies to treat female issues. At the end of the tour we were told how the first pharmacies lead to the start of "diners". The first soda fountains were used to mask the horrible taste of the concoction you were about to consume, and food was being served as well. If I ever come back to New Orleans, this is one of the places I would return to, especially after I complete nursing school and have  more known on the effects of certain things to the human body. But that may also be a worse idea knowing how horrible the treatments actually were for people. 

Inner Journey: That's a Wrap

Having the opportunity to go on this trip to New Orleans was priceless. Traveling with my family is not something that is organized as far as an itinerary. We get up at whatever time in the morning and walk or drive around until we something to do. And with 5 kids involved it would not include anything to do with history, art or religion that is automatically boring to them. I was able to learn so much of the cities past and even though we heard many of the stories over and over, it was always told slightly different than before. Some of those details made it even more interesting than the one before it. But this helped in remembering the significance that it played in making New Orleans what it is today. This city is a true example of how people come together after tragedy to rebuild and make it even better than it was before, from the first fire in 1788 to the back to back hurricanes in 2005 Katrina and Rita. The occupants of the city came together to rebuild no matter what their status, which shows that love for one another and their common grounds keep them strong. One of things I found interesting in the architecture of the early city was that the barges that came down the Mississippi River were dismantled and material was used throughout the buildings and the streets. This was before the steam engine therefore the barge would not be going back up river and could not remain in the ports. The slate sidewalks were still beautiful to walk on and the large pieces of barge board lined the walls and ceilings of many of the historic buildings we toured. Overall, this city is rich with history and beauty and I will definitely try to return.