warriors

Today happens to be a short visit at the warriors sanctuary. What a beautiful day it is indeed. The sun shines on my skin and warms me soul as I walk into the building. I enter the same sliding glass doors, as always, to find a bunch of smiling people as they crowd the inside main waiting room. I immediately notice that the popcorn machine has been relocated to a different area in the room. Moreover, I take a gander around the room and notice that the room has been rearranged. Where as before the room was filled with rows of chairs in the center along with chairs outlining the perimeter of the walls, there is now no chairs along side the walls. The chairs have been distributed differently. In fact these chairs are completely different chairs. They look as if they have been upgraded. 

Anyways, I sit down and I begin to look around the room I notice that there are seventeen people in the room. I see three employees, two of which are volunteers wearing red vest. The televisions are on the same two channels Fox News and the History Channel. The monitor displays the number thirty nine. The number thirty nine is red and blinking. I do not remember the numbers ever blinking. 

I focus on one couple who are middle aged Hispanic folk. The woman is coughing and has a kleenex in her hand. The man she is with is sitting next to her contorting her with his arm on his shoulder and looks to be zoning in on her eyes. They both are smiling and the man just kissed the woman. How special to be cared for and to care about someone. They must be a married couple because I look at their wedding finger and see a ring on each of the couples finger. The lady is dressed in denim pants and wearing a blue button up shirt. She does not have a jacket on and the man in also wearing denim pants and a sweatshirt that has the letters A R M Y spelled in the front of a grey sweater. The monitor changed numbers to the number forty. I hear someone call out "forty" and a lady wearing white medical coat steps out of the doorway to help assist whomever has the number forty. A white young man walks towards the Anglo lady wearing the white medical coat. She greets the younger man saying "hello sir, how are you doing" he responds saying he is great and then I hear only the word "routine". They both disappear beyond the doorway and the door shits. I hear a dog bark and look to my left there is the same basset hound dog I have once seen before in the same location. Some elderly Anglo lady is leading the "service dog" to the elevators. I hear a couple kids laughing and saying how big ears are silly looking. 

Forty One is called and flashes on the monitor. An african american lady gets up out of her seat with two children who appear to be no more than ten years of age. The three of them walk towards the doorway wear the lady in a white coat is found. Only this is not the same lady this lady is wearing a white medical jacket and she is also african american. Her hair is braided and medium length her hair resting near the shoulder blades on her back. She is a tall lady and she is wearing tennis shoes, bright orange laces and grey on color. She says something to the two children and the lady as they all walk in the back room somewhere. I look back near the room where the elevators are located and the service dog and owner have disappeared as well. 

Today there is a hispanic lady wearing janitor shirt and black slacks. She seems to be wiping the windows with a rag and using a spray of some kind. She is singing out loud and smiling. I hear sneezing and coughing. I look around the room and notice most everyone is smiling or looks happy. This one older man sitting next to a younger female is coughing really loud and he doesn't sound as if he can breath too well. The lady hands him a cough drop and they start to converse. I am too far to hear the conversation, I can read his lips when he said "thank you". 

I take a walk outside to clear my mind. Also, I feel like I might get sick or have a hard time breathing so I step outside to get some fresh air. Today there is no one in the smoking area. This is a good thing. I am unable to stay for the entire hour. I walk inside to use the restroom and wash my hands. I walk in and notice that it smells really nice inside the restroom. They have some fresh eaukalyptos plant thats in a bouquet resting on the counter top. They also have some sort of bead looking air reshner in a bowl. The colors of everything looks like its fall season. The colors are orange and brown and yellow.  

Final Farewell

As I sit here on the foldout chair for the last time I think about all that I have seen over roughly the last three months. Nobody is in the compound yet so it gives me time to think about the similarities and differences that I have come across. Every week it seems that the population is usually young, apart from one observation all that I have seen is college aged people roughly in the early to mid-20. Also, these people are almost always accompanied by alcohol. It seems to be a refuge to drink and with no patrol underage drinking is basically unavoidable.

There are many rules which I have seen be broken throughout the weeks. Diving when it says no diving, underage drinking, fighting and jumping the fence yet I haven’t seen anyone is any real danger, this place doesn't present any real dangers as long as everyone can swim. I have only seen maybe 1 or 2 children throughout the whole time as these apartment blocks are not usually inhabited by children but mostly by university students.

Where the majority of people go within the compound has also been interesting and consistent. Apart from the first few weeks where it was extremely hot outside not many people go into the main pool. It seems too cold. Not only that but the grass seems greener on the other side, that side being the spa area. Why be in the cold water when you can feel pampered and totally relaxed I the warm water with bubbles. This is why a large majority go straight to the spa and don’t even consider the main unheated pool an option. Moving from the water altogether there have been a surprising amount of people who just come in for the sun. Even though they could lie in the sun almost anywhere outside they have chosen to come down here and do it. It might be because the chairs are more comfortable or that they feel more comfortable showing a bit more skin in this area where it’s likely other people are dressed the same way. I have even sometimes seen people sun-bake the entire hour I was here observing. It seems a little strange to me but it’s clearly something people on a pretty regular basis.

I have been sitting here for 45 minutes now and nobody has showed up. It only seems fitting that during my last ethnography report nobody has showed up. I don’t think it helps that it is during the thanksgiving week break so a lot of people are back home with their families outside of cruces. I just sit here looking at the calm water. It’s a nice sunny day, not too hot and not too cold but all this was not enough to sell the idea of the pool today. Today, the water stands alone with just me beside it. I have been here observing for 12 weeks and I have enjoyed the experience as it was something totally different to what I have ever done before. I say farewell to this place and all the best with its future guests.

If It Ain't About The Money

 On holidays at my work we have a big brunch. Brunches are buffets that are themed for the holiday that the brunch is on. The kitchen staff is in charge of making sure that the brunch will have food for the customers to eat. The brunch is an all you can eat buffet. Many people from all over the state and surrounding regions come to indulge in the local festivities that the town has to offer as well as the brunch we offer.
  Holiday brunches are the day of the holiday. When we start brunch, each employee will welcome in the customer and bring them to there reserved table. Most tables are reserved during any holiday brunch. On our thanksgiving brunch my job was to make settings. Settings are the linen napkin folded and put into a glass cup along with the necessary silverware. We make settings so it is easier to transport all the necessary table items to a table. All I had to do was make settings while the senior staff was on the floor with the customers. I still had to bring about five people to their table. I spoke with the woman who seemed to be "the Mother" of the party. She told me how grateful her family was that we do this on the holidays. There were a lot of people who told us how they were so appreciating that we work on the holidays to put on a brunch. Working on the holidays means that I will be missing out on some festivities and will probably show up late to the party. People get really happy when you make sacrifices for their convenience. They treated the employees like they were doing them a huge favor when we only do it for the money. The employees know this so they will use the gratitude of the customers to make large tips. The employees would say stuff like "I wish I was with my family" or things related to not being able to celebrate The holidays. Most employees have the choice to work the holiday brunch, they just know it's big money.

Salvation is Created

It’s the last rehearsal of the semester but no one seems to realize this as the rehearsal zooms by at its usual pace. Mrs. Director seems for laid back and this has a positive effect on the band. As the ensemble rehearses their almost forgotten first show depicting famous song of a popular eighties band the sky gets darker and with the darkness comes an almost fading sound coming from the instruments that once boomed with musicality. The group is tired and are ready for the season to end but at the same time is dreading the loss of people who will not be returning the following fall semester. I think this is why we will see the final spark of passion come into play.

The band seems to be breaking off into their respective sections to rehearse a tune that I had never heard before. It is a slow, kind of sad song that is also very eerie but at the same time is painstakingly beautiful. The groups are not playing their instruments for this song at first, no, an instrument or two play a couple of notes and the members sing the note that they just heard. With their leaders conducting the, the sections sing a chorale type of song complete with different harmonies depending on the depth of their voices. If you look around you will notice that these people hold a sort of reverence and high respect for this song as all who were wearing hats took them off. I also notice that they are links together with hands behind each other’s backs swaying to the tempo of the song. (It really is quite beautiful to witness this) When the song is over they pick up their instruments and play what they just sang with dynamics that would rival a church choir. As the last note is played they slowing lower their instruments and turn to one another, this is where I finally notice that this song brought many of them to tears. A chime of “I love yous” rang throughout the group as hugs were exchanges. I can tell that I have just witness an extremely intimate moment between a family.

I have determined that the reason these people do what they do, why they return—rain or shine—why they seem to love what they do, is because of their love for each other. This group of students is unlike any other group on campus because of this. This is not for their progression of their careers, this is not entirely for themselves, they come to rehearsal and play at every football game—to a team that does not seem to notice they are there—because they love and cherish the family-like structure that they have built in an amazingly short period of time. This bond seems to be unbreakable and undeniably weird to people looking in from the outside such as myself. It took me a while to realize this but the way they band together into close-knit groups is admirable.

new job

i woke up saturday  around 9 and i had gotten a tex message from my cousin that if i was looking for a job and i told him oyes so i went to go talk to the manager from krispy kreme donuts. i was excited so as soon as i got there it was pretty quite because work was dead, i had talk to the manager and as soon as she approached me you can tell she was very nice because she came walking with a big smile. she talked to me for a while asking me for my schedule and when i was available to work. she told me i got the job i just need to fill out papers and then just do a background check. she showed me around and how to make the donuts and how everything worked it look easy and fun. so i went home then monday came around and i went to start on my first day they told me my daily schedule would be from 4 p.m to 11 p.m i didn't mind that schedule. but as soon as i went in it was pretty busy but i didn't really have to do as much  because it was my first day but i knew i was going to have to catch on quick. i didn't think a lot people people would be here for donuts but i was wrong the people were loud they kept on coming and i was just trying to help in whatever i could. they didn't make stay the full 7 hours just because i had just started. i came in on tuesday again but it wasn't as busy as monday i got the hang of it more and got use to the machine to make donuts as soon as people came they told me to start packing the donuts that the costumers wanted so i did that i messed up twice because i accidentally picked the wrong donuts but the costumers figured it was my first day and understood they where really nice about it. i think this job will be easier and much funner then my old job because my old job was open 24 hours and this one closes at 11 so i won't have to worrying about working in the middle of the night or dealing with drunk and mean costumers like i would in my old job. I'm ready for this job and looking forward to being here for a while. the only thing that i don't like is shaving because i look weird and then my face starts to get irritated but i have to deal with it.well see what kind of people i will have to work with but the environment is was much better from the two days i was there then a year that i was in my old job.

Commander

Monday, November 24, 2014 I arrived at the card shop at around 3:41 p.m. and it was slightly chilly outside. When I walked in Pie and the blonde hair employee were talking about how their art exhibition went not too long ago. Apparently they closed the shop down yesterday for an art exhibit and I wasn’t aware that they have done this. I wonder if any of the players showed up, according to the pictures on their website, I didn’t recognize any faces except for pie but he works there.

Things were back to normal however when I reached the back room, the tables still aligned the same way and the same yugioh player faces and then some magic players who are away from all the Yugioh players. There was four magic players that were playing a format called commander, and they hardly show up to the card shop, just on Tuesdays. They were all slightly chubby except one that was skinny with a blonde curly afro. They weren't middle age like the rest of the magic community, they all seemed to be around eighteen or nineteen.

The Yugioh community were about the same as they are always, with the El Paso community extremely loud and cursing, and the everyone else talking above each other except a few that were extremely quiet. Nearnayum wasn't here again and he is always here usually, maybe he is out of town because it is Thanks Giving Break. It makes me wonder if the players were going anywhere for thanksgiving break.

Aggies Eating

It looks like winter skipped right over fall, the weather is so cold for this time of year it's not normal. As I'm walking to my field site I notice everyone walking inside it dressed in more of what it seems to be winter clothing rather than fall clothes. I walk into the food court, I decide to take a seat here instead of my normal field site. It's pretty similar though. This place isn't as packed though, more people are scattered here than in groups eating. There are people either doing homework, talking with friends, getting in line to get some coffee, stopping in the middle of the walk way to talk with friends or they are just here in the food section like me waiting to be checked out. There is about five people in front of me and about four aggies behind me. The two guys in front of me are already discussing the parties for the weekend, one is dressed in a suit, and the other in a hoodie with a New Mexico State beanie, and jeans with Jordans. The guy in the suit seems more mature and is telling his friend that he doesn't think he can go party this weekend before he goes home for break because, he has this assignment he wants to get done before break so he won't have nothing to worry about. His buddy is trying really hard to convince him to just go party and do the homework that sunday before school starts up again. I actually thought the guy was going to give in instead he blew off the parties. Behind me are two older ladies, they are talking about how they came here to study and how great of a college it is, for kids to get their education done here. I turn to look back and they are both dressed nicely. I continue to look straight waiting until it's my turn to pay for my food, behind me I still over hear them talking, one of the girls says they are trying to start a new program here one they had when they were students here. Before I know it, it's finally my turn to pay. Once I'm done with that I sit at a table with another student, she is going math homework. I look around to see what everyone else is doing and they are doing what they were going when I fist entered the building chatting with friends, eating, studying, or getting coffee.

                                              Day At Daycare

Today as I sit at a small table in the back of the room, I quietly observe all of the little children scattered around the room. These children are groups from different classrooms all in one room. Some are playing together and some playing alone.

Watching these kids I can tell their imagination is very wild. I see some of the kids pretending they are in spaceships with the objects that they are playing with. Three children were crawling around the room following the teacher, acting as if they were dogs. There are a few kids that are sitting quietly at a table near me, playing with arts and crafts type of things.

Smaller size girl galls on the floor from her chair, the small boy of which she is playing with starts to laugh. It helped the girl to laugh instead of crying like she originally loos like she was going to do. A girl is walking around snapping pictures, while the other kids pretend to pose as if they were at a photo-shoot.

The teacher starts to spread out a huge blanket, big enough for the whole class to sit on onto the floor. The teacher turns of the lights, and another teacher burns a candle. All the children immediately reacts to this, they all start to come sit on the blanket of which the teacher had recently spread out on the floor. The kids are calming down from their fun of free time. Then when everyone was sitting down, the children memory of everyone’s names. Then, they begin to take deep breathes in and out. The teacher tells them to sit on their sitters. To me it seems as if the students are doing some type of yoga. They are being very soft and gentle.

After they are a little relaxed, they begin to smell the candle of which that has been burning. They all count to three, and choose someone to blow the candle out. Then they are told to count to three again, and they are told they have superpowers. When they hit three in counting they rush to clean up all the things they have played with during free time.

As I continued to observe,  and the kids clean. One child walked up to me and puts a shell on the table and tells me not to touch it, that the shell was very special. I noticed some of the children seeked for more attention then others. So when the teacher tells one of the students to picked something up, another will try to do so instead. The teacher remains firm until they have stopped, and let the person that was told to do something do so.

When they have finished cleaning up, the kids sit back on the floor. The get ready to sing a song. The teacher has them chose a song. They chose a bunny song, they do whatever the song says to do. The kids are really interacting with the teacher as well as each other, during the song of choce. When there is something wrong with a child, another will point it out to the teacher. Soon the kids are all reading along to a huge book with lot of colors. For a young age group they are really good at reading.

While some of the kids are reading, two younger ladies are picked to wash their hands and help with snack. In order for kids to eat, they do a song standing on a block and chooses a friend to go next. The child that picks goes and washes their hands and sits to each lunch. Each of the kids bring their own water bottles and that’s what they drink out them, while the children start to eat snacks, they are very social. The kids are really animated, and they are really good with knowing their fruits. Around each table, there are teachers to watch out for the kids just in case.

Then I watch an close interaction between two young ladies. One of them is very outgoing, while the other is more quiet. Between the two of them, they start to copy off of everything he other ones was doing. After the kids have had food, their energy level rises back up. They become more and more loud. Whatever ones child does, the other does. They all start to make random noises. At random, the room volume goes soft, but then just picks back up again.

After the kids finish eating, they put their shoes on. They get ready to go outside in the front. They play outside in the front while some of the children stayed in the house until if was time to leave or they finish eating. They start calling the teacher name for fun. Begin o make a game out of it. Soon the children start getting picked up to go home.

Lobo Middle School Basketball

The second basketball game of the season for the Lobos, the girl’s team will be competing against the Rangers at six o’ clock. The game is being held at the opposing school. Though the middle school was made in the mid-twentieth century –made out of bricks-the gym is new. The outside resembles the gyms which were made with the grant a little less than a decade ago. Entering into the  Range’s gym  from the cold autumn evening , I encounter a young women- wearing a district name tag – charging for entry, Fifty cents for students and one dollar for adults, are the ticket prices.  I am supposing this is the standard fee , for the school . I pay the fee, and like last game I  get my hand stamped with mark of payment. Seeing not only does Lobo school , has to resort to this , I again assume that because the game is held on a weekday past students  have attempted to sneak in. 

Before the game starts I look around and notice that this truly is a new gym for the floors are wooden , the white paint of the walls are fresh , there is no visible damage to the walls or ceilings. There is a  heater in the gym. There are championship posters in basketball hanging from the rafters , and I notice a large painted colored butcher poster  cheering on the girls.  Like last week I notice the trend that these basketball games are drawing in a larger crowd. Again I ponder is this due to it being easier for student support since they were at the school already. Is it easier for parents to come right out of work? Again not many elderly participates but appears to be more parents present. Spanish , English and Spanglish are being spoken. I attribute the speaking of Spanish and Spanglish due the region and for the fact that this school is a feeder school more at least five elementary schools  and thus has a diverse population. Concessions are being sold in a built in snack bar. The prices of the cokes, chips , nachos and candy are the same price that Lobo School sells them for- due to same region thus same economic environment.

 Last week I pondered if the seventh grade coach’s inexperience would effect her team , but seeing as how they won last weeks game , it seems like the mistakes the coach made in volleyball- no promoting teamwork and equality – is not being repeated for as I watch the girls practice I don’t see any division amongst the girls.

The Ranger girls are relatively the same height as the Lobos- a little over five feet. Watching them run pre-game drills it appears that their middle aged coach has prepared them well , for they are making more of their free throws and shots.

The game begins.

Like I mentioned last week , the spectators appear to be more lively with their boisterous cheering. I assume that because this game is timed , and requires running the fans are affected by the energy and motion and thus are responding with more liveliness than compared to volleyball.

The Lobo girls have improved from last week , there is less bunching up, more shots are going in and defense is not as weak preventing easy points to be scored by the Rangers. The referee is playing it fair , for in the second quarter he does award a free throw shot to both teams. And though there is no animosity visible , the Lobos are losing.  They are still trying to win this game and are not giving up- a trend that I saw in the eight grade sport performances. Why is this I wonder ? Is this due to eight grade apathy that seems to effect individuals or is the team work due to the bond these girls carried from playing volleyball together.  The Rangers win 24 to 18.

Bitter Sweet

It is my last day walking to my field cite for the purpose of observing people and looking for behavioral patterns. It is a bitter sweet moment; I cannot believe that the semester is almost over, and that this is my final field note. It is Thursday at noon when I walked in to my field cite. The smell of burritos and hamburgers filled my nostrils. The day is not cold; the crazy weather does not make up its mind. It is cold one day and the next it is not. I am tired of this weather; can't it be officially winter already?

Since it is noon, the place is filled with people wanting to eat lunch. I noticed that today the majority of the people ordered a hamburger and fries instead of the breakfast burrito. Also, since it is not in the morning and it is not cold, people did not order coffee. But apart from the difference in time and food, everything was normal and just as I expected it to be. People looked anxious and exited about Thanksgiving break being one day away. Everyone of us desperately need a break from school.

A line of people waiting to order started to form, and as more people walked in, the louder it got. Almost everyone came in the company of friends and those who didn't just ordered and left, some stayed to eat by themselves and they did not seem to care. Since today was not cold, people took their food to eat on the tables outside. They looked relaxed and enjoyed eating outside; we must make the best of the warmth when it is available to us because hopefully in a few weeks we will not get that luxury anymore. As usual, there were people in the back of the place reading and working. The usage of technology was seen a lot.

Field Notes 12

For my twelfth week of field notes I performed similar observations to the ones that I had done during the first week of field work. To accomplish this I conducted my observation between the times of 12:30 and 1:30 pm on Thursday November twentieth.

I began my observations in the commons area of the nitrogen building to see if there was any substantial activity in that building at this point in time. Despite the normal level of activity being somewhat unsubstantial at this time the level of activity in this building was even lower s there was only one student in the building at and this student was on their phone seemingly playing a game. This student only remained in the commons area for a few minutes before returning t there classroom indicating to me that this student had been in a class before my observations began and that they had either been taking a break from or where going in late to their class. Other than this student it seemed that all activity in this building was in the classrooms and that very few students came into that hallway or commons except to use the restrooms or water fountains.

Despite this level of inactivity in the nitrogen building the area underneath the awnings had slightly more activity than normal with both of the original groups, the drawers and the doors, as well as another group consisting of three female students and four male students who I had most frequently observed in the carbon building at this time. This made me curious as to why the students were not in that building at the moment and why they came to this area. To accomplish this I went to the carbon building but was sent away from the commons before I was able to observe the students’ behavior I was told to leave as the janitorial staff was gleaning up a large mess in the corner of the commons. This would explain the group of students under the awnings not being in there usual location. The selection of the awnings was likely just a decision made on the convenience of the location and not another factor like the students already there as there was no mingling going on between the new group and the other two groups of students.

Despite being a more recent formation than the other two groups the new group displayed similar behavior to the others with the majority of the activity taking place in that group being conversation and occasionally playing with their phones. In addition to being similar to the other groups at the time all three groups present continued the trend I notice the previous week of heavier clothing being worn as the went on continued but the clothing seemed to be lighter than it had been during the earlier part of the day. This was like ly due to the increase in temperatures as the day went on.

Final Friday

It is current 12:30 and I am at m field site. It is really slow today because it is the Friday before break so not many students are here because many classes have been canceled. The little amount of students that are here look to be doing homework. It is very hot in here today but everyone is wearing pants and long sleeve shirts. Many have jackets with them. I have seen a total of two people in the room who are in short sleeve shirts. There are more woman in here again today. A woman who appears to be a nursing major sits in the booth in front of me. She has an apple laptop with a heart shaped stethoscope on it. Two more nurse students come and sit with her, both have food from skillet 360. A guy and girl sit in the table to the left, there is only a total of 7 people in the room. There are the three nurses, a young blonde girl who sits alone, a young brunette and a young Hispanic girl. Two older gentlemen walk in and sit at a table across the room farthest from everyone else who is sitting near the booths if not in a booth. The blonde girl sits at a table by my booth and I can see that she is studying from her notebook. The nursing girls talk about an exam they have just gotten grades back for. Many people have now entered to get food, but none have come to sit down and eat. Both of the older gentlemen from earlier got food from skillet 360. Skillet 360 is much more popular then newton bros today. I find it odd that it is so hot in here today compared to last week and everyone is wearing warmer clothes then before. One of the nursing girls carries a stethoscope around her neck. Almost all the people that were in line for food have now gotten their food and either left or ate outside where I cannot see. I was unable to see what exactly they got but I knew mostly all got food from skillet 360. 

Busy Morning

It’s Sunday morning, but …

There were three girls today working the food counter.  In the back, one man, in street clothing and a ball cap turned back, was manning the kitchen, he looked unkempt, no one was at the shoe station, and the only other worker was grease stains, who was wheeling bottles of beer from the pool room over to the food station.  The bar and the pool room are both closed.  The building is working with minimum staff, but the alley is as full as it is during the afternoon tournaments.

In the middle there is another party, birthday, a small one today, and another group next to them, also with young children.  Both groups were using the lanes in the middle that had railing.  The railing is bent and mangled, no longer pristine as it was when I first started my observations.  They are missing supports, and the ends are bent, as if they were pounded by a hammer.  On the monitors above them there is now a warning that players must agree to that states that bowling is a dangerous sport that can lead to many injuries.  The warning includes a set of rules, among them are, shoes must be warn when bowling, no one is permitted to walk down the lanes, that the staff must be informed anytime there is faulty equipment, and that people are permitted to only bowl one ball at a time.  On the scrolling marques that flash underneath during the entire game, and even in unused games, warning have also been added, including that people are not permitted to sit or place their hands on the stands where the balls come out, no sitting or standing on tables, no putting feet on top of the tables, balls must be kept dry and free of food, and finally that there should be no food in the lanes.

The music is country, a first in my time here, it is also lower in volume than normal.

One of the kids, when he went to bowl, threw the ball, it flew and got caught in the gutter, he waked onto the lane, looking like a penguin slipping on ice, grabbed his ball, then in the middle of the lane, ran towards the pins and threw his ball again.  He then slid back to his family, surfer style.  No one cared to notice him except for the girl who was next up to bowl.  She looked to be about 14 years of age and while waiting for him to finish she was scarfing down her pizza.  When he finished she briskly stood up chewing her last mouthful and reach for her ball.  She took the ball, and, halfheartedly, let it roll out of her hands, landing with a thud on the floor.  It rolled slowly with the same halfhearted attitude. Appearing discussed by the oily texture of her ball she wiped her fingers on her jeans as the ball still made its way down the lane and returned to her pizza taking a bit as she sat back down at the table (no she did not bother to finish her turn). A second girl, with the same haircut and similar outfit as the first got up next from the adjacent table.  She looked to be the same age as the first and she too took her ball, very casually raised it and slowly sent it on its way. Both seemed to be equally engaged.

Around this same time a family began to move behind me.  A man and two children, a boy and a girl, both under the age of 12 were preparing the pool table behind me.  The man got the balls in order while the son walked back and forth fetching the cue sticks and the cue ball.  The man took his time explaining the game to the kids as he prepared the balls to break them.  They played a quiet game together as a family. 

Families also occupied the tournament’s lanes.  They were families with older children; teenagers playing alongside the adults.  They were rowdy and rambunctious, but not as much as the children in the middle lanes, they also bowled following the many rules posed up.

Java Overload?

This week, my field site was rather empty, causing my notes to be extremely dry and uninteresting. Therefore, this entry will be short, sweet, and to the point.

Speaking from personal experience, it was obvious that the campus was dead this week, most likely due to the fact that students were preparing to go home for the break. I know I found myself extremely homesick-- and actually really sick, so I didn't spend much time out of my room. The one time I visited my field site this week was on Wednesday, which just so happened to be the day of the basketball game. I went in with perfect timing because most students were getting a quick bite to eat before they went to go support their team.

The weather outside must have caused all girls, mostly sorority girls, to dress in a sort of uniformed code. A majority of the girls were wearing black leggings, long sleeve shirts with either sorority letters or a Greek life event printed on it, and boots. Other than that, it seemed like all the girls on campus were dressed similarly in baggy long sleeved shirts or sweaters and scarves. It was actually quite comical to see a bunch of girls wearing pretty much the same outfit. In all honesty though, I'm guilty of following this trend.

Due to the cold weather, a lot of people have been getting a warm cup of coffee after their dinner. 'Tis the season, right? The walk back from the restaurant to on campus housing is a lot farther than it seems, especially when there is a chill in the air. The change in time and weather causes it to get colder earlier on in the evening, which is why customers get coffee for the walk back to their rooms. I guess there was a coffee overload this week because the cappuccino machine was broken multiple times. (No java for me...)

Altogether, I learned that cold weather causes girls to dress the same, and lures people into drinking so much coffee that the machines break from the overload.

The Ultimate Frisbee

The day is November 22, 2014, 11:30 p.m. the time is 11:30 a.m. Today I decided to analyze the Schools fitness center at USMN University. The gym was called center fitness and I decided to observe the recreational area, where they had numerous events going on such as intramural leagues. Whether the games be basketball, volleyball, or even flag football, I was even surprised how they had ultimate Frisbee as a league as well. For this blog I will write about a specific few people whom I found interesting. The three people I will write about is an African American known as Falsetto, he was 24 years old, there was a 19 year old gorgeous Hispanic female whom was named Fierro Jasmine, Finally there was a handsome Samoan and Hispanic male whom was 20 years old, his name was Sole Luv. They were honestly the most interesting group of people that I have ever met in my life. Through their comedy, love for one another, and family bonding I was able to pinpoint those members out of everyone that was playing throughout the recreational sports.

                These few people had an interesting swagger about them if you will. They had a bond that no other player had; first off I will talk about ultimate Frisbee they seemed like the Harlem Globetrotters for the USMN University. Falsetto would throw the Frisbee to Fierro Jasmine with a key phrase that only those three knew. He would say “ Hoah Bruh run for the shoots Dogg, oh and don’t forget the sauce yea!!!” Fierro Jasmine would then do a slant and run for a post route; finally he would throw the Frisbee directly to her and she would catch it. Finally Fierro Jasmine would throw the Frisbee to Sole Luv, personally it seemed that those two had a personal connection with one another. Almost as if they were in a romantic relationship with one another. She would yell out routes for him to run that had nothing to do with his specific direction that he was supposed to run. For instance she would yell “Babe Dishes are in the sink tonight from pasta, oh and don’t forget to take out the trash while you’re at it. Don’t forget that I love you”. From there sole luv would run a straight route, where he would cut left and juke the defender. From there Fierro Jasmine through the Frisbee and he caught it for a touchdown pass. The three were inseparable, they all used key phrases, and I remember one play where I observed Sole Luv and Falsetto running a route for a touchdown play with only those two players. The play begins at the end of the basketball court where Falsetto convinces Sole Luv that he was a little girl, and started making fun of him in front of the whole team.

                Sole Luv would then respond in an angry comment like “Shut Up man I’m so Tired of you thinking that you are better than me, honestly man you are nothing but old. You judge me too much man, screw it!!!!! I don’t even care about this sorry team anymore just find another player. The scene was so dramatic that the Refs came to intervene to see what was wrong. The whole team was saying “nothing ref” afterwards the game resumed. From there Falsetto told Sole Luv in front of everyone that “You aren’t going to do anything for this team wasn’t going to do anything for the team and snapped the Frisbee. I noticed that Falsetto winked at sole luv whenever he said it. From there Sole Luv ran a slant, and post come back route where he was in the end zone. Honestly no one expected the route, and Falsetto threw the winning points to Sole Luv. At the end of the game I noticed that Falsetto said to Sole Luv “You know I didn’t mean anything that I said to you little bro, I love you bro till the end”.