Final Blog Post

When I started this class, I didn't know what to expect. I remember learning the first day that we had to blog at least once a week, comment on other's blogs, take online quizzes, and etc. I was overwhelmed after a few weeks and it was getting harder for me to catch up. For me, it was a problem because I barely even went online and it was hard for me to actually express my thoughts in a blog. I didn't like the idea that other people were able to read my blogs. I would've have felt more at ease if we had to hand in our essays. I actually learned a lot from the videos Prof Gaunt showed us in class and the ones she posted on the group blog. The ones I absolutely loved the most was the ones from TED. My favorite has definitely got to be the Sarah Jones video. I also enjoyed all the guest speakers Professor Gaunt invited to class. Not only were they inspirational, but they provided us with motivation. My favorite guest speaker was Josh Klein and how he hacks basically anything and everything.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed being part of this class. I learned a lot about cultures overall and just life in general.It has taught me to be more open to conversations about race and gender. Every day that I went to class I came out learning something new. I really enjoy having Prof Gaunt's presence because she's so enthusiastic and always has something up her sleeve. What I would suggest for this class is that students be allowed to participate more. What I mean by this is that there should be something similar to a fishbowl discussion where we can just freely discuss things relating to what we have just read.

Chapter 9- Mixed Blood

Ana Ontaneda
ANT 1001/ TV24A Gaunt
April 30, 2009

Mixed Blood

After reading the first few pages of "Mixed Blood" by Jeffrey M. Fish, I was definitely hooked. It's somewhat amazing at how humans think. Fish mentioned in the book that"race is a social rather than a physical classification (Fish, 89)." I know of people that are mixed races although they were born in America. For example, I have one friend who has a Chinese-Brazilian mother and an Italian father. When people ask him where he's from he insists he's Brazilian, even though his mother is not exactly Brazilian (she was born and raised in Brazil from 100% Chinese parents). This agrees with what Jeffrey Fish said about hypo-descent. The Brazilians have various tipos that serve as a description of a person according to their physical features. Likewise and according to my experiences and knowledge, Spanish people also classify people according to their physical features. I myself, would consider myself a morena although I am somewhat pale. In spanish, if someone were to say "morena," one would immediately think ok the black girl. All this race talk and classification makes me somewhat frustrated. No one's perfect. We don't all look alike. Latinos come in many different shapes, sizes and colors with a huge array of features. I don't know what to consider myself. Why can't I just simply be hispanic?

In conclusion, all these stereotypes are just a huge pet peeve for me. What's even more funny is that when people have to guess what "race" I am, they say everything but Hispanic. This chapter was very interesting overall and I really admire Prof Gaunt for her work with race and mostly for emphasizing on these social constructs of race throughout the semester.

Chapter 13- Baseball Magic

Ana Ontaneda
April 24, 2009
TV24A / ANT 1001 Gaunt

Baseball Magic

Whether it is for good luck or for superstition, many sports teams perform rituals and routines. It is true that it is more known and seen in baseball. I am not a baseball fan at all, but I have been invited to a fair share of several Mets games. I never really understood why the players constantly touched the plates with their bat and why they would unstrap and re-strap their gloves. At first I thought it was simply an OCD that a player gets when in a game. Only now do I have that "Ah-ha!" moment.

Although I haven't watched nor played baseball enough to make assumptions, I have played volleyball for a great time in my life. I can agree that there are some sorts of rituals/traditions that we used to do before a game, during a game, and after a game. I can remember back in 5th grade when I first started playing volleyball, my teammates and I would all dance to a Brazilian chant (or song? I don't even know what that was) in the girl's bathroom before every game. I also remember doing something that may seem silly now but back then it meant a lot to several of us. My teammates and I would put on a bandaid under our knee guards. I have no idea how that tradition even started but I remember how we would lock ourselves into the bathroom and put bandaids on our knee. I guess all this sounds very silly now but it was so important to us back then and these rituals are so important to players nowadays.

This chapter taught me that baseball is just a reflection of life. There are many rituals that we perform on a daily basis. No matter how strange they may be, they work for us.

Bibliography
Gmelch, George. "Baseball Magic." Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spradley and McCurdy, 2008,126-135.