Project 2: The Diliman Mini- Ethnographies

What I see

• 3 Men playing Badminton- 2 nets are set up, but they use the one in the middle.
• A girl with earphones dancing in the gymnastics area. There are two other girls in casual clothing lying on their stomachs and using their laptops right at the foot of the balance beam. A guy is on his back, texting as well.
• 3 couples dancing in the mats area, as a bigger group of students watch. They are all in PE uniforms
• 3 people to my right at the bleachers
• The hardwood floors are shiny, maintained.
• In Court 1, there are 4 guys playing a casual 2 on 2 basketball game. At the other end of the same court is a guy working on post moves and jumpers. Soon after, someone joins the solo player and acts as a defender against the first guy.
• There is another guy in Court 2, working on his 15 footer and free throw shooting. He’s wearing UP basketball jersey shorts.
• At 3:35, 3 girls arrive and settle beside me on the bleachers. The badminton nets are set down, the maintenance person removing the poles and shutting the floor openings.
• My ex swim coach turned colleague arrives with a bag of balls. He sets up cones around the area where the men playing badminton used to be.
• 3 guys fill up the other end of court 2, casually shooting hoops.
• There were weights equipment in what used to be the mats area.
• A student in a PE uniform starts kicking one of the balls that coach Luis brought
• 2 girls play volleyball at the farther end of the badminton area. One girl’s spikes are precise, the other is sending the ball back poorly.
• More students join the student who is kicking the balls that Coach Luis brought with him. There are 2 people practicing solo, 3 are grouped together.
• A girl spreads her umbrella to dry by the side of the hardwood floor.
• The three girls that arrived and sat on the bleachers are using their cellphones. One is on twitter.
• The people that borrowed coach Luis’ balls and Coach Luis himself gather in the middle. They pair up and go for a round of “bato bato pik”. They play a scrimmage after.

What I hear

• The badminton players shout as their rackets whoosh when they hit the shuttlecock. Once, one guy screams  “Putang Ina” instead.
• The rain on the roof makes it impossible to hear whole conversations. It isn’t a pitter-patter. It’s a downpour.
• Folk dance tunes play as the people in PE uniforms dance.
• “Anong sked ninyo sa Monday?” “O yun, pwede ako noon!” from the three people to my right in the bleachers.  They talk to everyone that passes by them with lots of enthusiasm.
• The sound of sneakers on the hardwood floor.
• “Wait. I’ll just get dressed,” One of the three girls that arrived says to her companions.
• “Anong ginagawa mo dito?” Coach Luis to me as he sees me hanging out by the bleachers. “May kailangan lang tapusin” is my response.
• Weights clanging as people drop barbells on the floor in the weights area.
• Relative silence as the rainfall recedes.
• “Yes! Kaya na nya!” One of the students in the group of three people kicking the balls that Coach Luis brought.
• “Ok. Winners dito, losers on the other side.” Coach Luis after the class finishes a round of “bato bato pik”
• Coach Luis blows his whistle a couple of times during the scrimmage.

What I Infer

Most of the people in CHK during the time of observation seem to be students. There also seems to be 2 kinds of students present in CHK at that moment. The students at the gym area who are comfortably sprawled on the floor, the group of 3 people to my right who are boisterously conversing about schoolwork and schedules and greeting many people as they come by are probably from CHK. Perhaps, those that are playing as well, because they’re using the facilities without the supervision of an instructor. Those in PE shirts that were dancing were probably in the folk dance class, and with an extremely orderly system, I’m pretty ready to assume that they were having a certain kind of exam. The class that Coach Luis handled was probably futsal, considering that it was being played a lot like football but was being played indoors. I am vaguely aware as well that Coach Luis does play futsal too. The shiny hardwood floor too is probably because it’s being extremely well maintained because it had just been replaced.

Interpretation

                CHK is home to our athletes. The University is striving to provide their athletes not only a place they are comfortable with, but one that will be able to cater to their needs as students that represent the school in various sporting events. They have recently upgraded many of their facilities to adjust to the demanding tempo of life as a student athlete, what with the recent building of an extra basketball court, the re-flooring of the one on the main building and the opening of a better cafeteria.

                Also, the gym is much like the AS Building. It’s one of the few buildings you will find a student of almost any major in because all University students are required a certain number of PE units. The gym then becomes an inescapable part of student life in the campus, whether one wishes it to be or not.