Giving Back

I have been part of the subculture of twins. I have experienced many different situations and know some twins who are in our community. From the research I have been gathering in my community there are many opportunities where people are in need of help. Most people with twins or the twins that I have been talking with need money. Twins are very expensive because whether they need a college education when they are older or just a pair of sneakers when they are young. Twins need two of everything. They can share some things yes, but when it comes to necessities they are very expensive. Also mothers of twins need help raising their young twins. For mothers having one child, that is hard enough let alone having two. 

For my community I plan to give back possibly participating in community service. I am planning on helping twins in my community back at home. I would like to help mentor them and just try to give them a better life because they don't come from a wealthy home. I will try to help them and their family with anything they need.  

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Impressions

The first impression that I got from my field site is that the landscape was very different. I remember the place being surrounded by hills. The parade that the festival held for the twins was up and down hills. I joined the parade with my twin sister and the weather was extremely hot. Many people were struggling down the hills because they were old or just tired from walking in the extreme heat. I also was overwhelmed with how many people were actually there. Everywhere you looked a set of twins were standing nearby.
In the new space that I was in I felt like I belonged. I was one of the group per say. I am obviously an insider in my subculture so going to the place and seeing people that are like me was fun. I got to experience what the atmosphere was like with other people that relate to me. It was kind of different because I had never been there but it was easy to get used to.
In my subculture I am in insider. I don't know that I could even consider my as an outsider. There are things that I don't know about twins that I am still learning an experiencing. That is the only way that I could be an outsider. I think that the different experiences that other twins have had an I haven't make me an outsider in that aspect of not always knowing the answers.

Sources

The two sources that I have cited for my mini ethnography are...

"Good Twin, Bad Twin." Twin Stuff.  Larkin, Cheryl. 1995-2000. .

"Being a Twin." Twin Stuff. Baker, Shannon. 1995-2000. .

These sources are from the Internet. They are two sources that I found and have useful information. They are by two people who are twins. They wrote these articles on the website to better describe twins to people who may not know a lot about twins. 

I think that these two articles will help provide information for my mini ethnography. They provide different views from twins who are older and have been through more experiences. One of the articles is comparing the twins to decide if there really is a good or a bad twin. The second article is about being a twin. The author writes about the different feelings that twins have. She also writes about how her and her twin sister can feel each others pay. I think these articles will give myself a good perspective on other twins. I also think that these articles have information to offer that will be helpful in completing my mini ethnography.  

My Fieldsite

The site that I have visited is where twins gather once a year to talk about there experiences of being a twin. They have a festival dedicated just for twins. Every year about 3,000 twins dress alike and put on a parade. If not a twin then there is definitely and out cast feeling. 

My one focal point for my site is that people go out of there way to make twins special. Twins get their own town named after them. They are treated special when they gather together. At this special gathering they are treated like royalty. They feel a special bond when they are around their own kind per say. I had a great experience here, enjoyed the stories and can't wait to go back sometime.    

Another place that brings back memories

I went to Panama City Beach last year on Spring Break. My sister and our friends family went on the trip. We spent nine days in Panama City. This spring break was probably the best I have had so far. I had never been there before so city was definitely a shock to me. Everyday we went to the beach. The sun was so hot and there were so many people there. I remember the smell of food because right across the street there was a seafood restaurant. The people were not much different than the people around here because most of them were tourists as well. I also remember at night we would here singing from our room. We were staying right beside a bar and every night they would have karaoke. Some were very good and others were horrible. I also remember at night the sounds of the waves. They were very loud but soothing, they almost put you to sleep they were so calm. I also remember at night hearing people driving by and they would scream or have there music up very loud. Panama City is a crazy place but I had a lot of fun and would go back someday if I ever had the chance.

Finishing the ethnographic assignment

     To finish my mini ethnography I would like to find more information in periodicals. I think that is where my project still needs to further progress. My interviews are progressing very well I still have one left to go. I am also going to work on the observing part of my ethnographic study this weekend. 

At this point I don't have any questions pertaining to our future assignments. 

The light of the hoop shine in my mind everytime

I see a goal. The bright summer, spring sky only reminds me of one thing.

My sense of place the basketball hoop in the driveway.

My Sense of Place

   The place that I am thinking of is in my driveway. Every spring and summer my sister and I would play basketball. The basketball goal was located on the corner of our driveway next to a black gate. The black gate would rattle in the wind. I can hear the black gate chiming when the ball rolls away and clangs up against the slender gate. I remember the sun and smelling the spring air. I also remember the corn field across the street. When the field was picked of the crops you could always smell the musty air of corn. 

This place in the driveway was my favorite place to go. Even in the winter when I needed a place to escape the basketball goal in my driveway always brought me out of my troubles. I spent a lot of time shooting hoops by myself. I would always find, that outside in the driveway shooting hoops is where I could do my best thinking. 

This place also brings back many memories. My sister and I would always take on my dad in a game of horse or pig. In my early years my dad would always win. Later, I was good enough to finally beat him. We also took on my brother but he was never any good at basketball.  

This is a sense of place where I have many memories. I sometimes still go back to visit my place of happiness because it brings me back down to earth when things are a little crazy in life. 

The subculture of this documentary is skaters. I think that the movie is an ethnographic study but it is also entertaining as well. I think that the interviews were very good to help move the story along. They were the ones that were actually really there so they know what happened. They were a group they had their own rituals like for example they had to get it approved by the group if they were going to bring someone with them. Some of the stereotypes that were put on this group was that they were surfers, most of them had long hair and they were tough. They didn't take anything from the other people that weren't locals. I think that this documentary was very good because it not only showed past views and scenes from the past but also what the skaters thought about the group now looking back on themselves. I really enjoyed the documentary not just because it was about skating but because the group was very well filmed in the past and future and I think that makes for a good documentary.

Some of the conclusions that I have drawn from my subculture might be that many people don't treat twins differently if they are by themselves. I have seen many people treat us different when we are together. I know that everywhere people are treated different. Definitely if I went somewhere else and observed other twins in a different area they might be treated different. I also think that people are people no matter where you go. I think people are going to treat people like they are different but also they may be judged where ever they go. So there are good and bad things about my subculture if you go somewhere else or  just like the problems that are faced here. 

Privileges Box 12

Privileges

I am privileged in many ways some that I have control over and some that I don't.
I consider my age to be a privilege. I am privileged to have a family that loves me.
Gender, American Citizenship, Middle-Class level, freedom, school system, average student, christian

The privileges that I have will effect my because I am of the middle class family and we have money to use. If I were talking about people who are not in the middle class then my research would be different. It would be different information and findings if the informants that I interviewed were from the lower or even higher class. Also because I am a female my research will be different than a male perspectives. My sister and I probably have a different bond than a male set of twins have.