As I walk into the coffee shop I notice that the
walls are full of different sayings, in different colors. While walking towards
a table I notice a saying that my grandpa used to always say when I was little,
“mas sabe el Diablo por viejo, que por Diablo.” Meaning that ‘wisdom comes with
age,’ (or so I believe). As I’m looking over the menu I notice that the
waitress is overwhelmed by the number of people in the room, after a few
minutes she comes over introduces herself and asks what I’ll be having. With it
being my first time in that coffee shop I asked her what she would recommend, I
don’t think I will ever forget the way she expressed herself about the drinks
and the food there. She said, “mira mija, tenemos una bebida para cada
sentimiento, y una rebanada de pastel para cada pensamiento, solamente dime
como te sientes y yo ago el resto.” (Look darling, we have a drink for every
feeling and a slice of cake for every thought, just tell me how you’re feeling
and I’ll do the rest.) As I laughed due to her response I said, “I’m feeling happy
and a bit curious,” then she smiled and simply walked away.
While looking around the room trying to read all of the
sayings, I notice an older couple sitting across the room, the lady was
laughing with joy. As I watched them I couldn’t help but smile, they looked
really happy. The waitress, Linda, comes over with a mango peach tea and a white
chocolate raspberry slice of cake, she then says, “ellos son los Velasco,
tienen 40 anos de casados y 20 de venir a esta cafeteria, tienen 7 hijos y aun
siguen tan enamorados como el primer dia. A mi tambien me dan ternura,
imaginate encontrar al amor de tu vida y estar casado con esa persona por
tantos anos? Ya quisiera yo encontrar a mi principe.” (Those are the Velasco;
they have been married for 40 years, have 20 years of coming to this coffee
shop, and have 7 children. They’re still madly in love; imagine finding the
love of your life and being married to that person for so many years? I wish I would
find my prince.) As she walked away I stared at them, I couldn’t help but
wonder what it’s like to find someone and be that happy with them.
While taking a sip of my tea I notice a guy sitting
in the table across from me, he saw me staring and smiled, I smiled back. I noticed
that he kept looking at his watch and then up at the clock that was hanging on
the wall; he would pick up the menu stare at it for a few seconds and then put
it down on the table. Linda goes over and asks how he’s doing, the guy, quickly
responds, “oh no, I’m waiting for someone, I won’t be ordering anything yet.” Linda
smiles and walks away. A few minutes pass by and his behavior is the same,
stares at his watch, the clock, and then takes a quick look at the menu. I hear
a loud laughter coming from across the room and I notice it’s the Velasco
couple, as I smile and turn back to take a piece of my cake I notice that the guy
sitting across from me is gone. I quickly look over the room, trying to search
for him and nothing, he was gone. The fact that he kept anxiously staring at
his watch and the clock made me wonder, had he been stood up? Or just afraid of
meeting up with the person he was waiting for?
Ethnography
Showing posts with label regulars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label regulars. Show all posts
September 7, 2014
Just a Cup of Coffee
Its 9:30 in the morning and I haven't waken up just yet. Not until I have a hot cup of coffee; that’s how I'll start my day.
As soon as I walk into the coffee shop the smell of fresh coffee beans meets my nostrils, a smell so sweet that it is almost like a soft touch to the soul, relaxing to the mind. As I approach the counter a young girl greets me and takes my order. As patiently wait for my delicious coffee, I then hear an employee say my name, and there it was--a caramel macchiato with my name written on the side. I then decide to take a seat and enjoy.
I see people coming in every 3 to 4 minutes. Some place an order and take a seat; others take a seat and don't get anything. Most of the people I see come alone, some carry a laptop and others a tablet. Some don't take their eyes away from their phone, completely disconnected from reality.
I see a young man with a book and taking notes in paper. I guess I’m not the only one who takes old-school notes in here--paper and pen.
I now begin to eavesdrop. I hear a thousand things, but then my brain adjusts to isolate the sound that I find the most interesting. It was some sort of business meeting. I then glanced towards the sound of that conversation. Two men very well dressed talking about numbers and statistics. I began to get bored, so I decided to take a good look around the whole place.
There was a young couple; both enjoying a cup of coffee just like I was. They looked in each other's eyes; an eye contact so powerful that it seemed like not even a fire alarm could distract them.
I now see an old man walk into the shop with a very cheerful look on his face. The people at the counter seemed to already know him; they greeted him by his name as soon as he walked through the door. He ordered a coffee and took a seat three tables from me. He was alone and it looked like he was not waiting for anyone. Being alone did not seem to bother him at all; he still carried the cheerful look on his face.
All these people came to the coffee shop with a different purpose in mind: some for business, and others looking to relax. But in the end a cup of coffee was all that brought them to that one place.
I didn't know that just a cup of coffee could last so long, but I guess we can make it last as long as we want.
As soon as I walk into the coffee shop the smell of fresh coffee beans meets my nostrils, a smell so sweet that it is almost like a soft touch to the soul, relaxing to the mind. As I approach the counter a young girl greets me and takes my order. As patiently wait for my delicious coffee, I then hear an employee say my name, and there it was--a caramel macchiato with my name written on the side. I then decide to take a seat and enjoy.
I see people coming in every 3 to 4 minutes. Some place an order and take a seat; others take a seat and don't get anything. Most of the people I see come alone, some carry a laptop and others a tablet. Some don't take their eyes away from their phone, completely disconnected from reality.
I see a young man with a book and taking notes in paper. I guess I’m not the only one who takes old-school notes in here--paper and pen.
I now begin to eavesdrop. I hear a thousand things, but then my brain adjusts to isolate the sound that I find the most interesting. It was some sort of business meeting. I then glanced towards the sound of that conversation. Two men very well dressed talking about numbers and statistics. I began to get bored, so I decided to take a good look around the whole place.
There was a young couple; both enjoying a cup of coffee just like I was. They looked in each other's eyes; an eye contact so powerful that it seemed like not even a fire alarm could distract them.
I now see an old man walk into the shop with a very cheerful look on his face. The people at the counter seemed to already know him; they greeted him by his name as soon as he walked through the door. He ordered a coffee and took a seat three tables from me. He was alone and it looked like he was not waiting for anyone. Being alone did not seem to bother him at all; he still carried the cheerful look on his face.
All these people came to the coffee shop with a different purpose in mind: some for business, and others looking to relax. But in the end a cup of coffee was all that brought them to that one place.
I didn't know that just a cup of coffee could last so long, but I guess we can make it last as long as we want.
Dog's Best Friend
Its gloomy outside, yet more people are starting to arrive. Don’t they know those dark clouds that are starting to hover around us will begin to threaten us with lightning? They continue their routine without caring about the weather around them. My first impression is these people are nuts.
They’re routine consists of taking their dogs to this dog park every day after work. The dogs play as if they are at recess, while their owners sit around and watch. The park is mainly a dirt lot with a fence around it. There are a few benches and two small gazebos. Plastic lawn chairs are scattered all around the park, however the regulars have put a few together for their afternoon chats. Dog toys are found all over and there is one kitty pool that dogs use to cool down. For the owners, this park is just that, a park. However, for the dogs, this is their hangout spot.
I used to believe that dogs look like their owners but now I’m not so sure. All these dog lovers are very different, yet their love for dogs is what makes them friends. The regulars know every dog's name and talk to the dogs as if they were people. They greet the dogs and ask them how they’re doing. Thus, my second impression is these people are nuts. Moreover, some people arrive to the park in their work outfit. Others are in comfortable clothing more suitable for the outdoors. Most of the people sit by themselves or with the people they came with just watching their dogs.
The clouds continue to darken above us, and the rain has started to fall ever so gently. The dogs begin to run in a frenzy, while the owners begin to pack their things. The weather takes over and people begin to say their goodbyes with promises of seeing each other tomorrow.
They’re routine consists of taking their dogs to this dog park every day after work. The dogs play as if they are at recess, while their owners sit around and watch. The park is mainly a dirt lot with a fence around it. There are a few benches and two small gazebos. Plastic lawn chairs are scattered all around the park, however the regulars have put a few together for their afternoon chats. Dog toys are found all over and there is one kitty pool that dogs use to cool down. For the owners, this park is just that, a park. However, for the dogs, this is their hangout spot.
I used to believe that dogs look like their owners but now I’m not so sure. All these dog lovers are very different, yet their love for dogs is what makes them friends. The regulars know every dog's name and talk to the dogs as if they were people. They greet the dogs and ask them how they’re doing. Thus, my second impression is these people are nuts. Moreover, some people arrive to the park in their work outfit. Others are in comfortable clothing more suitable for the outdoors. Most of the people sit by themselves or with the people they came with just watching their dogs.
The clouds continue to darken above us, and the rain has started to fall ever so gently. The dogs begin to run in a frenzy, while the owners begin to pack their things. The weather takes over and people begin to say their goodbyes with promises of seeing each other tomorrow.
The Old Sun Shop
Fieldwork Week One: The Old Sun Shop
It’s around noon, partly cloudy and a bit humid since it just rained about an hour ago. Over all its cooler than most days this week. A few Hispanic families come in and out of the shop within the first 30 minutes. Most are from El Paso and are just looking around before they go grab a bite to eat.
An older white woman (around 60) walks in with her husband right behind another Hispanic family that just came in as well. The Hispanic family is very loud and chat about their day plans and discuss where they would like to go eat. They are in the shop to just pass time and enjoy the day and not really shop as they only glance at the products and admire a few pieces of metal art, which includes some 3 foot suns.
The White woman sees only half the shop when she reaches the jewelry section in the back. She stands there for a while looking and examining different pieces of jewelry. She sees some fashion earrings near the bottom. They are silver (almost in a Zia shape) and have designs on them that really shout out New Mexico. They also have a small and dark coral bead at the bottom of them and are worth 16 dollars. She picks them up and doesn't seem to think twice about them as she takes them up to the register to pay for them. After the purchase, the white woman walks very happily to her husband who seems a little bored standing by the door but gives her a warm smile and they leave holding hands.
Later on the shop is once again empty and an older woman, also white with salt and pepper hair comes in all wired up. She walks fast, talks fast and seems to be on a mission. She starts trying on some Native American ointments and gossips to the owner about another store who is also selling the same product. It turns out that salt and pepper is also an employee for another store. She and the owner converse about a variety of things. It seems as though all the stores on the block need to be a little competitive to make good business.
A middle aged Hispanic women from El Paso comes in with a huge brown hat that covers most of her face. She is followed in by an older woman with white hair who is the hat lady’s mother. She seems to only speak in Spanish. A young tall man comes in with them who is the hat Lady’s son. He speaks in fluent English. The hat lady walks up to the register and starts to ask if we sell a very specific cream. Her Spanish accent is very thick that it is very difficult to understand her. I tell her that I have never heard of it but show her the Native American ointments that could help with what she wants. She is very open and starts to share with me that she works very hard in her garden and in her house and has very bad conditioned hands. She shares lots of stories as she samples the ointments. She seems to like them but she feels they are too little and expensive for their size. Finally she decides that she did not come all the way from El Paso for nothing so she decides to take a few ointments for her and her mother. She takes a few brochures that give a little more information on the product and plans to show them to her neighbor. She leaves very happily, full of energy and content with her purchase.
In between 1:30 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. the shop was very slow, almost dead with the exception of one big crowd around 2:20 P.M. It seems as though tourist and visitors are off having a late lunch since the parking lots are full but the flow in the shop is very slow. However, for being a cloudy and bit stormy day it’s quite a moving Saturday.
When the flow of customers picks up again I realize that the majority of people make a remark about how good it smells in the shop as they walk in the door. I let them know it is our candle burning and most of them went to take a look at the candles for sale with the same scent. I also realize that a lot of people notice the ceramic happy pigs at the entrance of the store. They all exclaim how cute and adorable they are either when they first come in or as they leave the shop.
A group of five older women (around their 60’s) come in chatting and looking quite colorful. They all have hairstyles that seem to be from the 80’s or early 90’s. The 80’s girls take their time and look at almost everything in the shop. They look very relaxed enjoying each other’s company, laughing, and conversing about a verity of things. They all seem to take a longer time looking at jewelry more than anything else in the store. They converse about the jewelry but did not seem to converse about any other product (besides the occasional hey look at this) that I could hear. The 80’s girls left happily continuing their relaxing day.
Another group of people walk in. Two of them are married (around 40’s) and serve in the Military. The Husband collects Kokopellis and the couple decide to buy a light copper metal Kokopelli with blue beads worth 25 dollars. A friend of theirs whom is from Ireland asks to see some jewelry. I politely ask him to repeat that because his accent is very heavy and extremely difficult to understand. His friend then tells me what he said and tells me that most people have a hard time understanding him. Ireland guy looks at a Native American piece made of white thin rocks with turquoise beads in them. It has the Hawaiian look to it. He looks at it and sees how it would look on him. I am a little surprised since I see no sign of jewelry on him and he doesn't seem as though he was shopping for someone else. He puts the necklace back and the group leaves continuing their conversation.
Around 3:40 P.M. I can see through the window that it becomes quite windy, it feels cooler, and dark clouds come by looking as if it will rain. Yet people still remain looking and shopping around till closing time. I wonder if the cooler weather (even if a little stormy) causes people to be out more. I wonder if the heat here is too much for some tourist and even some locals.
It’s around noon, partly cloudy and a bit humid since it just rained about an hour ago. Over all its cooler than most days this week. A few Hispanic families come in and out of the shop within the first 30 minutes. Most are from El Paso and are just looking around before they go grab a bite to eat.
An older white woman (around 60) walks in with her husband right behind another Hispanic family that just came in as well. The Hispanic family is very loud and chat about their day plans and discuss where they would like to go eat. They are in the shop to just pass time and enjoy the day and not really shop as they only glance at the products and admire a few pieces of metal art, which includes some 3 foot suns.
The White woman sees only half the shop when she reaches the jewelry section in the back. She stands there for a while looking and examining different pieces of jewelry. She sees some fashion earrings near the bottom. They are silver (almost in a Zia shape) and have designs on them that really shout out New Mexico. They also have a small and dark coral bead at the bottom of them and are worth 16 dollars. She picks them up and doesn't seem to think twice about them as she takes them up to the register to pay for them. After the purchase, the white woman walks very happily to her husband who seems a little bored standing by the door but gives her a warm smile and they leave holding hands.
Later on the shop is once again empty and an older woman, also white with salt and pepper hair comes in all wired up. She walks fast, talks fast and seems to be on a mission. She starts trying on some Native American ointments and gossips to the owner about another store who is also selling the same product. It turns out that salt and pepper is also an employee for another store. She and the owner converse about a variety of things. It seems as though all the stores on the block need to be a little competitive to make good business.
A middle aged Hispanic women from El Paso comes in with a huge brown hat that covers most of her face. She is followed in by an older woman with white hair who is the hat lady’s mother. She seems to only speak in Spanish. A young tall man comes in with them who is the hat Lady’s son. He speaks in fluent English. The hat lady walks up to the register and starts to ask if we sell a very specific cream. Her Spanish accent is very thick that it is very difficult to understand her. I tell her that I have never heard of it but show her the Native American ointments that could help with what she wants. She is very open and starts to share with me that she works very hard in her garden and in her house and has very bad conditioned hands. She shares lots of stories as she samples the ointments. She seems to like them but she feels they are too little and expensive for their size. Finally she decides that she did not come all the way from El Paso for nothing so she decides to take a few ointments for her and her mother. She takes a few brochures that give a little more information on the product and plans to show them to her neighbor. She leaves very happily, full of energy and content with her purchase.
In between 1:30 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. the shop was very slow, almost dead with the exception of one big crowd around 2:20 P.M. It seems as though tourist and visitors are off having a late lunch since the parking lots are full but the flow in the shop is very slow. However, for being a cloudy and bit stormy day it’s quite a moving Saturday.
When the flow of customers picks up again I realize that the majority of people make a remark about how good it smells in the shop as they walk in the door. I let them know it is our candle burning and most of them went to take a look at the candles for sale with the same scent. I also realize that a lot of people notice the ceramic happy pigs at the entrance of the store. They all exclaim how cute and adorable they are either when they first come in or as they leave the shop.
A group of five older women (around their 60’s) come in chatting and looking quite colorful. They all have hairstyles that seem to be from the 80’s or early 90’s. The 80’s girls take their time and look at almost everything in the shop. They look very relaxed enjoying each other’s company, laughing, and conversing about a verity of things. They all seem to take a longer time looking at jewelry more than anything else in the store. They converse about the jewelry but did not seem to converse about any other product (besides the occasional hey look at this) that I could hear. The 80’s girls left happily continuing their relaxing day.
Another group of people walk in. Two of them are married (around 40’s) and serve in the Military. The Husband collects Kokopellis and the couple decide to buy a light copper metal Kokopelli with blue beads worth 25 dollars. A friend of theirs whom is from Ireland asks to see some jewelry. I politely ask him to repeat that because his accent is very heavy and extremely difficult to understand. His friend then tells me what he said and tells me that most people have a hard time understanding him. Ireland guy looks at a Native American piece made of white thin rocks with turquoise beads in them. It has the Hawaiian look to it. He looks at it and sees how it would look on him. I am a little surprised since I see no sign of jewelry on him and he doesn't seem as though he was shopping for someone else. He puts the necklace back and the group leaves continuing their conversation.
Around 3:40 P.M. I can see through the window that it becomes quite windy, it feels cooler, and dark clouds come by looking as if it will rain. Yet people still remain looking and shopping around till closing time. I wonder if the cooler weather (even if a little stormy) causes people to be out more. I wonder if the heat here is too much for some tourist and even some locals.
Stormy Night
The sky was a dark blue color and the presence of a storm
was approaching at the campus duck pond. The clouds were dark and lightning can
be seen flashing in the distance. A light breeze blows through the night and
you can tell the rain isn’t far behind.
There is a pair of what seem like college students sitting
at a table just talking. They seem like a happy couple. They just sit there and
quietly talk throughout the night. They stay a long time and when I leave they
are still sitting there peacefully talking.
To my right side there is two young men fishing on the edge.
They seem like college students as well and might even be related, as their
appearance looks very similar. One of them seems to be new to fishing and the
other is trying to teach him a few pointers.
It seems like there is construction going on at the duck
pond, as there is heavy machinery on the opposite side. There is a few large
construction vehicles and machinery parked on the side and what seems like a
foundation for something on the ground. We will see what this turns out to be
as the weeks progress.
On the opposite side close to the construction vehicles
there are 4 older men fishing from the side as well. They are just all gathered
together talking and casting their rods in the calm water. It doesn’t seem like
a good day for fishing, I don’t see them
catch anything and soon begin to pack their things and leave.
There is a man sitting on a bench all alone by edge of the
water. A woman later joins him with two kids. It seems like they know each
other quite well and I believe they might actually be a family. They sit there
and talk for a while, I cant understand what they are saying as they are
speaking in another language. After a while one of the kids starts to cry and
the family starts walking around the pond in what I believe is an attempt to
calm him. The mom is trying to point out things trying to stop the little boy
from crying. She points out a turtle floating in the water, as well as the two
young men fishing on the side. They make their way around to the other side of
the pond and I don’t see them again after that.
I was expecting to see more people here today but it seems
like a calm night. Everything is really calm compared to the busy heavy foot
traffic by students throughout the day. Maybe its empty because of the upcoming
storm or because it’s a weekday and people have things to do tomorrow.
Upkeep
It just turned evening as everyone gathered in the warm shop that was filled with fans fighting against the hot air. There is many people ranging from mostly middle aged men to a few kids. There was only one person working who I assumed to be the owner. I can only imagine how he was going to handle the many people in his shop. However he seemed more focus on refilling the fridge with drinks and snacks then the people.
Slowly he took players names one by one and added them into the tournament roster, not paying to the kids asking for the cards that were displayed in the display cases. When everyone was placed on the Roster, he did roll call, like how a teacher would to his students on the first day of school. When the games started, everyone was engaged against their opponents, and volume of the players decreased and the shop was more quiet.
A blond teenage boy lost his match but it didn't seem to affect him much. He went up to the counter and asked the owner if he could purchase a certain card. He seemed like a regular since he knew the owner's name without asking for it. A little boy then came up which I assumed to be his little brother since they looked a little identical. Soon after problem occurred, the Teenager was down one dollar. His little brother offered him some money in exchange for his snack. Before the teenager had a chance to respond the owner told him that he had exactly one dollar in store credit. The little brother then became upset since he wanted his brother's snack and he wasn't going to get it anymore.
Time passed and large man got up and few of his (which I assume) buddies as well, and they all walked out of the shop for a smoke. They seemed a little angry, probably because they lost or they just really needed a smoke. Meanwhile the owner was taking a break and was eating a cheese pizza. One thing I notice is that most of the middle aged men knew each other in a way. Even the ones form Las Cruces knew the men from Alamogordo and El Paso. They refer to each other as nerds even though they clearly were themselves.
As things started to wrap up, The blond teenage boy's mother walked in to give him his lunch money. It seemed though the teenager had an obsession since he would rather spend his lunch money on cards. Some people stayed after the first tournament was done, because another tournament was started and I was told that this one usually ends at 5:00 am in the morning or when the sun starts rising. These people seemed very dedicated and passionate in the game.
Different card tournaments are held here, maybe the people are different as well.
Slowly he took players names one by one and added them into the tournament roster, not paying to the kids asking for the cards that were displayed in the display cases. When everyone was placed on the Roster, he did roll call, like how a teacher would to his students on the first day of school. When the games started, everyone was engaged against their opponents, and volume of the players decreased and the shop was more quiet.
A blond teenage boy lost his match but it didn't seem to affect him much. He went up to the counter and asked the owner if he could purchase a certain card. He seemed like a regular since he knew the owner's name without asking for it. A little boy then came up which I assumed to be his little brother since they looked a little identical. Soon after problem occurred, the Teenager was down one dollar. His little brother offered him some money in exchange for his snack. Before the teenager had a chance to respond the owner told him that he had exactly one dollar in store credit. The little brother then became upset since he wanted his brother's snack and he wasn't going to get it anymore.
Time passed and large man got up and few of his (which I assume) buddies as well, and they all walked out of the shop for a smoke. They seemed a little angry, probably because they lost or they just really needed a smoke. Meanwhile the owner was taking a break and was eating a cheese pizza. One thing I notice is that most of the middle aged men knew each other in a way. Even the ones form Las Cruces knew the men from Alamogordo and El Paso. They refer to each other as nerds even though they clearly were themselves.
As things started to wrap up, The blond teenage boy's mother walked in to give him his lunch money. It seemed though the teenager had an obsession since he would rather spend his lunch money on cards. Some people stayed after the first tournament was done, because another tournament was started and I was told that this one usually ends at 5:00 am in the morning or when the sun starts rising. These people seemed very dedicated and passionate in the game.
Different card tournaments are held here, maybe the people are different as well.
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