For my ethnography I chose to do it on my car. It is a 2001 Acura MDX model. My father bought it for me when it was time for me to go to college. I really like my car it is old and broken but it has been good to me so far. I have to constantly put air in the wheels and power steering fluid, but other than that it runs pretty well. My car is a weird cool grey color and that makes it unique but not quite. My older sister has the exact same car as me, it is the same model, color, and year. The only way we can tell them apart is by the license plates. I was upset once I found out that my dad got me my car but I have grown to love my car. When writing my ethnography I thought that I should do it in the point of view of the car itself.
This is my second home. My previous guardian took care of me for about 12 years, and I always took them to school. I was born in 2001 and I was built to have so much luxury but I seem to have lost it over the years. I have been broken and nobody seemed to care to fix me up so they just chose to give me away. I don’t have not much to offer to my new guardian because I am old and broken, but she seems to not care and still treats me as a baby. Many of the accessories have been broken along with inside lights and the lighter plug. When I first was put under her care my past guardians polished my leather seats which made me give off an intoxicating smell that made them bring down the windows of how awful it smelled. I was a bit embarrassed that I smelled that bad but, it wasn’t until my new guardian gave me a penguin pin that I wear that made the smell go away and I now smell of berries. My guardian has given me a small necklace that hangs on my rear view mirror that has the feature of Mickey Mouse and Mini Mouse. I have been decorated with Starwar stickers on my steering wheel. Her sister has given me a small blue furby that I like to show off on my dash board. I really like all the gifts she has given me because I feel that I am important to her and her family.
My guardian bathes me every so often and that is when I feel special and new again. I am able to look as young as my fellow brothers and sister when I am nice and washed. But right now I haven’t been washed or been cleaned. There is grass on the carpet along with wrappers and spare paper. On the outside I have so much dirt that I have “wash me” written on my back, I do hope I get to bath sometime soon. But my guardian seems to be really busy all the time, I am always taking her and her sister to school. We get up early in the morning to get everyone to school and not come back until late. On the drive to school she likes to blast music. At first I was startled because it was music I was not familiar with, but now I have gotten quite used to it. My guardian usually carries spare things inside me, she has a fluffy blue blanket, sneaker, napkins and a first aid kit among other things. I hope that I won’t fail her and be of good use to her in the future.
My guardian bathes me every so often and that is when I feel special and new again. I am able to look as young as my fellow brothers and sister when I am nice and washed. But right now I haven’t been washed or been cleaned. There is grass on the carpet along with wrappers and spare paper. On the outside I have so much dirt that I have “wash me” written on my back, I do hope I get to bath sometime soon. But my guardian seems to be really busy all the time, I am always taking her and her sister to school. We get up early in the morning to get everyone to school and not come back until late. On the drive to school she likes to blast music. At first I was startled because it was music I was not familiar with, but now I have gotten quite used to it. My guardian usually carries spare things inside me, she has a fluffy blue blanket, sneaker, napkins and a first aid kit among other things. I hope that I won’t fail her and be of good use to her in the future.
Selina Salazar is a freshman at California State University Northridge. She is working on her degree on Visual Arts.