Ethnography Results, Week 1

Revolution in Happening - Week 1 Results:
An Ethnography by Evin Schuchardt, Jeremy Nelissen, Ryan Kerbow and Wesley Konderla

Goal: 
Our goal for the first visit is to observe the general setting of Revolution Cafe and Bar in order to get a feel of what to expect in future visits. We hope but are not expectant to do much interaction with the patrons of the establishment, but do seek to observe from a distance their demeanor.  

Setting: 
Not knowing what at all to expect, we ventured to Revolution with three other friends, a total of five people. We arrived at approximately on a Monday night at 11:40 PM to our parking spot on main street in Downtown Bryan. The temperature was about 45 degrees outside. After traversing a dark alleyway riddled with graffiti we saw a sign painted on the sidewalk with backwards lettering pointing an arrow signaling Revolution. A few steps later we found ourselves at the entrance of a tucked away courtyard surrounded by buildings on three sides and the parking lot side with large privacy bushes. The courtyard had a cement flooring with roughly fifteen metal tables and chairs to accompany them. They were dispersed in no particular order, but some had been pulled together in the center to form one very large grouping of tables. Outside we were able to see a bar roughly belly height which was made out of cement with a mosaic on the outface. There was a stage about seven feet by fifteen feet in area with three hula hoops proudly resting on it. Atop the roof of the building directly left enclosing the courtyard was an ominous statue resembling either an owl, Buddha, or little boy. Sitting together by a cement-looking fire pit were two men talking. Everything was very dimly lit with light blue Christmas lights, so it was difficult to see their attire, and they had their backs towards us. The music outside did not match the music inside, for the outside music was a wide array of genres of music.  

The door to the inside cafe and bar was difficult to distinguish as it blended into the surrounding buildings. It was a large unattractive door with a latch on it that swung wide open. The five of us peered in to see roughly fifteen people dispersed throughout the joint all conversing or on the computer having a good time. The room was extremely small for a cafe or bar with enough room to fit about fifty people all standing together. There was a stage in the far end away from the door with two men making music. On the left side as you waked in there were about four extremely small round tables with a bench along the side wall and a couple of chairs every so often. There were also a couple of stools at the bar in which people were sitting. There was not an empty chair in the building, be it there were not many chairs to begin with. On the opposite wall as we entered was the bar where the barhop was entertaining guests. Immediately on the right I assume there were bathrooms. There were a few hand-painted paintings, presumably art from previous guests. The outside had a mural painted across the entirety of one of the buildings which was calming.  

Initial Feeling: 
Throughout the entire night the humongous sign pasted on our foreheads was “outsiders”. We were all very out of place there looking around at everything, searching for a place to sit and generally taking everything in. We met glaring patrons wondering for what reason we would enter their domain. The outside felt nice and open - welcoming for a group to just sit and relax and enjoy a drink. The mural and lights added an ambiance to the evening - a nice place for an political, philosophical or intimate discussion. That may be because there was hardly anyone outside. The inside seemed very exclusive and we felt very unwelcome and judged. Two of us decided to hula hoop on stage, and with the large windows of the cafe could be seen by the folks inside. This was a bit unnerving, but we went for it anyway.  

People: 
While unable to speak to any of the ladies and gents there, we did observe quite a few. Again, there were two men outside sitting by the fire pit and roughly fifteen people inside the building (not including us). Most of the men tended to have facial hair and dressy hats atop their heads. The clothing was hip and trendy - tight pants and vests all around. The place was mostly filled with Caucasian folk.  

The two men performing had a guitar and kazoo in the time that we observed them. Their music was very indie and hard to follow. In addition to these two, a man walked up to the microphone when they were finished to recite something. We are unsure whether it was a speech or poem, but was either memorized or impromptu with much emphasis. We think it may have been slam poetry.  

We feel that the condescending stares we received hindered us from being comfortable looking too much at the people present.  

Conclusion: 
This excursion provided a solid base of information to prepare ourselves for our next encounter at Revolution. We intend next visit to have conversation with at least the bartender and hopefully a few of the guests. We understand the importance of being able to be inside, as that is where most of the action seems to be. It will be difficult to find a seat since it is so limited, so we see the bar as a good option to that since we can stand.