Just Another Day at LAX

It’s early morning right before sunrise and I’m tiredly waiting in the security check line at LAX. The line is so long it raps around like multiple fives stacked on top of each other. Yet even with the ropes that organize the people within the line, there were still too many people so I was standing outside towards the end of the line. The people in the line were all from different cultures. A young woman who stood behind me was on the phone. She seemed very distressed and her eyes were puffy and red like she had been crying all night. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties and was African American. Her hair was in many small thin braids that went up to her shoulders in length. She wore a plain black shirt with black leggings, and to my surprise she was wearing pink fluffy slippers. She reminded me of my old classmates from Jr. High. They often wore their pajama bottoms with furry slippers to school and most of them were African American girls. “And why not? Why you even gonna say that?” The young woman argued on the phone and was still moving her hands like the person she was talking to was right in front of her. She proceeded with her conversation and occasionally made heads turn towards her because she was being a little too loud. An older Caucasian man stood before me, and he seemed pretty irritated at nothing in particular. Perhaps he did not have patience when it came to waiting in lines. He was in his early forties and wore a light blue button up shirt with tan dress pants. He looked like a business man and he repeatedly tapped his dress shoes which I presume is just a habit derived from being irritated. As the line continued to move forward, I kept noticing the expression on people’s faces. Everyone looked either tired or bored. It was a blank look, however I notice that only infants and children looked entertained. A little girl, no more than 6 years old sang a lullaby to herself. Her singing made random people smile around her. She wore flower printed pajama bottoms and a purple shirt and held what seemed to be an iPod touch. The little girl seemed like she was mixed, but her mother was definitely Asian. The mother looked at her daughter and nodded to the song. They exchanged smiles and then the mother started going through her purse. I was almost at the front of the line and noticed the TSA woman scanning the ID’s and passports. She was Hispanic with her hair slicked back in a ponytail. She looked bored and would give a fake smile after handing people their ID’s back. I finally made it to the security check, and while I waited to go through the huge drug scanner, I saw the Asian mother and daughter placing their bags through security. The daughter seemed as though she had gone through airport security plenty of times. I finally went through security and hoped that this day ahead of me would not be as brutal as standing in that hour long line.     

Lights

It was a slightly cold Friday, and our dress attire was not apt for the night. Thankfully we only had to walk around downtown El Paso for a few minutes before we got to the desired destination. We were waiting in line for a few minutes before we were let inside the venue, strangely, we were patted down like criminals, especially the boys. They searched our bags and pockets, and made us throw away the strangest items, like gum for example. Many of the people inside the venue looked very young, and were dressed in strange attire. Some girls were just in bikinis and fishnet tights, while others were dressed a little more "modest" wearing just booty shorts and crop tops. I didn't really understand what was going on. Some of the boys were shirtless with just pants or shorts, while both males and females were covered in what is called "kandi" - basically little colorful bead bracelets that they exchange with other "rave kids." 

Completely new to this scene, I was amazed at how everyone interacted with each other. Complete strangers going up to other strangers and taking pictures or discussing music interests. My friend Autumn, was explaining to me how its part of the "rave culture" or "PLUR life." Plur stands for "peace, love, unity, respect." All this rave and plur life instantly got my attention. 

While the show began, most of the crowd was just standing and listening to the opening artists. They were a hardcore underground dub-step couple who were taking the stage. It seemed like many of the people in the crown weren't really into the firsts DJ's. Many of them were just sitting around with their group of friends, or walking around the venue meeting new people, granted there was literally only about 25 people tops at the beginning. Once the main DJ's started playing their set, more and more people started to show up. 

At this point, security was doubled. Reason being is because at events like this many people tend to do recreational drugs. This is why they band the chewing gum and certain edible things, because they are drug related. 

Being a rave kid is basically like a subculture: there are certain things people wear to shows, a certain behavior people have, even the drugs people take. Calling yourself a "rave kid" in this generation isn't the best way to get people to be interested in you, not many people like this new musical culture that has become very popular within the past few years. Of course, there are those that swear and live by "eat, sleep, rave, repeat." 

Seeing everyone interact together and help each other out during the entire show was very refreshing, you dont see that at many shows. When one goes to a concert, its usually every man on their own, here, there was a sense of community - girls helping other girls in the restroom for whatever reason, and people spotting each other with drinks. 

  

Sunday night

This long Sunday night I'm sitting here in my dorm watching Sunday night football. I have my purple and gold LSU gear on lol. As I currently sit here and think this is are Last weak of school and are last field note of the year. I walk outside and there is really anybody here on campus it might be a lot of different vehicles but there is really no one here. The season is winter and it sure do feel like it wind blowing 40 miles per her and are trees look naked. The leaves are falling waiting to be re in burst in the spring. Tonight on campus there are bags lit up all around with candles in them I never seen nothing so strange it seem like a prank, but I notice a whole bunch of people I never seen before on campus and there are men on campus riding people around in a carriage. It was no ordinary carriage the carriage and lights lit up all around it to this was very strange to me but I never seen nothing so beautiful like it. The horses were pulling the carriages it was multiple carriages and horses. The horses was built big wide and chunky and the colors of the horses was white, black, and brown. The lights on the carriages were blue, red, and white well it was some clear. I never seen nothing like this on campus every since I been here maybe its because its the last weak or maybe because Christmas is near. The game I was watching was the Patriots vs the Chargers and the Pats was 23-14.  Now that the game is off I don't know what to write anymore lol so I'm going to end this by saying have a wonderful Christmas break people! XoXoXo Elmo!

Stressful Finals Week

Time is ticking to go home it's about 4 days now. My body is physically and mentally tired but I can't give up. I refuse to give up. Stressing about passing all of my classes without any distractions. It's about 4:43 p.m in Pete's Place trying to finish up my work. I'm so tired, I just wish I was back in California. I need to go home soon to see my mom. One of the reasons why I'm not focused is because of what I am focused on. Going home sounds great when you haven't seen your loved ones in a while. Football season is over so now it's really time to finish off the semester the right way. Every one faces some form of stress either now or during a very important time in life. I have to deal with this the right way. What's wrong with me? I'm not sure I'm myself right now. My body feels all worked up. Last week of school is the only thing in my head, knowing that I leave Thursday morning. It honestly just made me happy just typing that. But if I don't do good on my finals for my classes I will be so angry. Why does two of my finals have to be on the same day? I'm not a morning person but I guess I would have to be if I wan the grade that I deserve. Head pounding feeling like an aftershock of a earthquake, a lot on my mind. It's making it hard for me to just be focused on school work. Keep stopping doing what I am doing because of my phone. I get easily distracted and sometimes sidetracked. I look around the computer lounge and see mostly almost everybody on a computer with ear plugs in. A mixture of males and females. By the look on their face it seems like they really came here to get work done. Then you always have those 2 people that are loud for no reason. While others are trying to get ready for their final. It is now 5:22 p.m and I'm still staying focus but sometimes I may take a break. These 4 days need to hurry up I feel so miserable I'm so fed up with this school. I just need to get away from this place. This place doesn't make me feel as if I'm home at all and the finals seem pretty easy but I can't speak so soon. Voices coming from behind me but don't know where there coming from but I do know that they need to keep it down. I just hope the best for myself this week coming up overall I feel I had a good year and I just need to finish it off the right way.  

Cold Day

Today the weather is very cold. Most of the patrons are bundled up in warm down coats and boots. I decide to buy a hot cocoa, to get in the cozy mood of the place.

I sit down behind a young girl with purple colored hair. She has gauges and multiple piercings. She is wearing a black hoodie with converse. She is sitting across from a guy with larger gauges. He has snake bites and his skateboard is propped up against the table. They drink their warm drinks and continue with their conversations.

I continue to observe several people in the cafe. A woman with light brown hair, and black coat is standing in line waiting for her coffee. She looks to be of caucasian descent. Eventually her order is ready and she takes a seat a table on the other side of the premises.

A young man with a black wind breaker jacket and timberland boots stands in line  he eventually approaches the counter and orders. He is tall, with black hair and glasses. He has his hands nestled in his wind breaker's pockets and pulls out his wallet. He hands over the needed amount and waits for his order.

There is a couple three tables down from mine. They are sipping their warm drinks and talking. The girl is wearing a tan trench coat. and tall boots with a grey sweater and the boy was wearing a red long sleeve with jean. The girl had dark brown hair, she looked to be of Hispanic descent. So did the male.

A young lady with a light blue sweater with sparkles on it is sitting on a lounge seat and reading a book. Her dark hair is in a side braid and she is sporting ugg boots and skinny jeans. Very trendy. She has a hot drink in front of her sitting on the table. I'm guessing its coffee, as this establishment's coffee is some of the most popular.

A woman about the age of 35 is sitting at a table by the counter. She is on her laptop and her cell phone is pressed between her shoulder and ear as she is multi-tasking. She has light red hair. Somewhat orangey. She almost looks a bit like Julian Moore. Eventually her phone call ends and she begins to focus on whatever it is she was typing. She stops briefly and takes a sip of her warm beverage.

An older man of African descent sits a table away from the red headed woman. He is on the phone with someone. He is wearing a light brown sweater or long sleeve, with jeans and black boots. He is reclined a bit and has a happy disposition as he talks. He has a warm beverage in front of him as well. (note: hot beverages are very popular today, due to the cold weather) He takes a sip and continues his conversation.

A young man of about 25, and Hispanic descent is sitting at the other side of the cafe. He is typing on his Mac book and has a bag of chips besides him. He sits back for a bit and eats a chip. Then he continues to type. He is wearing a black hoodie with jeans and sneakers.

Eventually I see that it is time for my next class. So I pack up and head out into the cold weather.

Finals Week with O.U.G.

It is Finals Week. It is the week that everyone dreads due mostly to all the stress that it causes. Some people have Math, English, History, Science, etc. It gets pretty hectic because everyone always seems to stress over what to study for the final exams that teachers seem to put up. Fortunately, the O.U.G. came up with an answer. On a Saturday, it was asked for everyone to show up to do some praying for Finals Week and also to do some studying. It’s no surprise that this was something everyone should pray for. So, I thought it would be very helpful if I showed up to this studying “party” that they had planned for everyone.

As soon as I arrived, everyone was there. Some were praying and some were studying. And some people were going on talking about their day. But it wasn’t necessarily time to do anything yet. So I decided to sit down and have a normal chat with others. Then, the group leader arrived. He thanked everyone for showing up and asked everyone to bow their heads for prayer. He went to pray for everyone to have a good Finals Week and hope for the best. He ended the prayer and everyone got to studying.

It was amazing how serious everyone took this. It was as if it was a contest to see who had the most knowledge. And as for me, I had to study for my Communications class, which was a very hard class (surprisingly). I had previously did bad on the midterm with a 55% and I did not want to finish off in a bad way as well. So I made it my mission to study.

It was also amazing how many people were there. It was a huge surprise to see people with different religions to actually be here. I didn’t think much of it however. The O.U.G. highly accepts anyone who is willing to open up to God, even if they have had different views. One person that I noticed was a woman who seemed to live with a Muslim community. She had on her “cloak” and had her hair covered with it. It was highly required for her to do this. It was her first time here, and I had barely just noticed how much the O.U.G. accepts.

But there wasn’t much else to talk about. There was nothing but people who studied for their exams, including myself. I had managed to just stay there for an hour and decided to leave. It’s pretty good to study, but it was even better to pray for it! Good luck to everyone!

Finals Week!!

          It's 10:39 P.M here in Pete's Place on a Thursday night. It's pretty interesting to see how many students are in here preparing for finals. They are all on their individual computers and reading their books, taking notes and shortly conversing with others. It's super quiet in here, I feel like I'm being a disturbance by even typing.

There are all types of different race people and genders. I notice that many students are gathered in groups towards the back of the building. There's one group in particular that catch my attention. It's a group that consist of 2 females and 4 males. They seem to be reviewing for a Physics test.

They are speaking in mono-tone voices each taking turns to express their ideas. They are all sharing different methods on how to solve a particular problem on the white board. It's funny because the guys are constantly trying to " prove their dominance" by answering all of the questions then doing a little friendly gesture when they answer correctly.

The ladies however are not phased one bit by them and actually start laughing at their mediocrity. I think it's quite hilarious that some people start to panic towards finals and worry about their grades at the end of the semester instead of more at the beginning. This was a great way to end my observations for field notes.

Winter

Its chilly outside, the trees are losing their leaves, and it is the last day of observations. As the door opens, you can feel the warm air of the heater escaping and brushing your face saying goodbye. Everyone inside was enjoying their meals, and seemed to forget it was cold outside. Coats and bundles aside, that they had freed themselves of, were now eating and laughing. It is during these times that people start getting happier and feeling the holiday spirit.  The establishment is full of groups of four or less, who decided today was a good day to not cook dinner and go out to eat. 

Corbett Center Thanksgiving Week

My field sight is Corbett Center so I went to observe Corbett during the week of Thanksgiving break too see if it was still busy and full of chaos as it usually is. Usually there are people coming and going as groups or as individuals. There was still traffic through Corbett but definitely not as much as there usually is. I am guessing people that could not make it home for Thanksgiving were still hanging around campus and find Corbett as a nice place to sit and philosophize about life and college.

I also went to get some other homework done. I noticed many people working at tables with their laptops or papers, maybe preparing for finals week as I was. For the most part, Corbett was abandoned, but there was still light traffic going in and out of the place. There was one study group that were particularly distracting because they had flash cards and were quizzing one another. They seemed to be having fun doing this because they were louder than the lone wolves like myself who were trying to get work done in peace.

I didn't mind this distraction however, because this group reminded me that if I get all my work done I can be loud and carefree like them and to enjoy my holiday break.

11-30-14

5:15pm I walk into the café. It has been a while since I’ve been here and it’s already beginning to get dark out. I situate myself in a comfy chair near the big window in the back, but still in clear view of the entire café and everyone in it. In front of me at the large conference table sit a group of 7 Saudi Arabian men. As they converse in their language that is foreign to me, I notice they all have dark hair and scrufy beards (no shave November still in effect?). They all have a hot coffee, or some sort of warm drink, and a pastry in hand. They look like they must be a good group of friends who know each other well, as they don’t mind interrupting each other excitedly (reminds me a lot of me and my girlfriends).

5:23 I get up to order my hot cider and banana bread from the counter. I don’t really want or need either but I feel bad coming in only for the free wifi. Which makes me think how it’s never really free wifi, because you’re expected to buy something from the establishment. After I sit down with my warm cider the men at the conference table are gathering their things to leave.

5:27 Almost immediately after the Arabs leave a new group occupies the table. Two older woman, probably in their mid-thirties, and two small children, one belonging to each woman. It looks as though both the women and their daughters a good friends. The women have ordered coffee and sit their girls next to them, who each have their own hot chocolate and treat. The two young girls are probably no older than 5 and behave quite calm for their age while their parents converse about their travel plans for the holidays coming up.

5:39 At the other end of the conference table sits a college aged girl who looks exasperated and overwhelmed. She sets her large stack of text books and back pack on the table and spreads out her belongings around her seat. She wastes no time getting started on her mountain of work and borrows her face close to her computer screen. I notice this study girl has not bought a coffee or a pastry- taking full advantage of the free wifi.

5:46 One of the 5 year old girls has now finished her hot chocolate and banana bread and is now bugging her mom and complaining that she is bored. She doesn’t complain loud or obnoxiously cry, in fact I wouldn’t have noticed this if I wasn’t looking at them. Her mom, unphased , reaches into her purse and pulls out her ipad and gives it to her daughter who lights up. Together the two small girls set the ipad down on the table and lean their heads in as close as possible and begin to search for their favorite game.  

5:55       MEN: 9

              WOMEN: 11