First Interview Set

I knew even before I pulled onto the dusty main street of Earlimart, California, that I had entered a different culture of California, forgotten in the glamorized portrayals of Hollywood and so very different. Off Highway 99, I saw billboards picturing decently attractive middle-aged white men advertizing water-saving solutions for the farms they owned. Just a few paces later, were signs with tired Mexican women standing in front of fruit trees, with explanations in Spanish of benefits from the government about getting enough rest and water during their work days.

Main street of a town of 3,800 is nothing to write home about: A gas station cleverly named "Earli-Mart," services for pregnant women and young children, and a liquor store. Definitely no In-n-out, Starbucks, or Jamba Juice anywhere close. Every sign is in Spanish. I looked down at my freshly printed out questionnaires and suddenly realized that my English was too complicated. Unfazed, I pulled out some pens and clipboards and pulled over.

The nice thing about being blonde is that no Latino will ever ignore me. Immediately I had several young farmers offering their assistance in my project! The only problem is that of all the people I interviewed in this town, only two of them were able to fill out the questionnaire in English but even that was extremely limited. The majority of people did not use social networking, and the more English they spoke, the more they seemed to be involved in websites like Facebook. I asked young women to retired men and almost every one of them was at least a little suspicious when it came to the question of "Are you from Earlimart? If not where are you from? Does your family live here, too?"

All in all, because I was shy about speaking Spanish with too many people, I was not able to interview as many people as I would have liked but it was still data. Unfortunately, due to a couple interviewees complaining of gang problems in the town, I did not want to go door to door either. I am hoping that my next town will give me some good data! The next set won't be until I drop off the truck in San Antonio. It will be good to have some time to rethink strategies and get the courage to go up to strangers and talk to them again.

Til then!!