Project Space Fieldwork

El Pavo Bakeries

This weekend I decided to focus my fieldwork report on a Latin bakery called El Pavo Bakeries. On Sunday evening, I had a notepad and I went inside the bakery and immediately directly from my view was three casings of slider doors filled with cold beverages like Coca-Cola, Sprite, and lemonade gallons. The second glass case had water, Monster drinks, Kerns, Arizona, Minute Maid, Gatorade, and a Mexican brand of orange juice called Tampico. The third case had cans of Sprite, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola, Squirt along with bigger plastic portion sizes of few of the soft drinks. There was the fourth case that had gallons and cartons of milk. Adjacent to the four slider door stood an aluminum shelf that had edible ingredients like oils, sugars, Abuelita Mexican chocolate boxes for drinking, and Maruchan soups. On my right hand side, next to the aluminum stand was aluminum, rectangular shaped pot which is used when hot meals like rice or beans are served while a burner lies beneath the pot. Following the pot was a microwave and next to it was a telephone with a fax machine, a computer, and a Mexican candy compartment. The cash register was on the right of the entrance between the sweet breads and the shelf of the aluminum stand, pot, microwave, etc. When I was facing the cash register, on the right, were small colorful cakes and some jello; while another glass like container had some chicharrones (pork skins). Directly behind the cakes, was a picture of a turkey in front of a mountain with the sun behind it. Below the picture was the words El Pavo Bakeries. This is ironic because the pavo in English translates to “turkey” which the bakery does not sell. Above the counter that had the candy there was a calendar, three illusion pictures, posters of 2-3 layered cakes for special occasions.  Behind me was a coffee machine and next to the coffee was the main product of the bakery the sweet, sugary, breads. There were four aluminum glass cases that slid open giving access to the various breads that had the tastiest smell. Above the bread containers there were pictures of colorful birthday cakes. The cases above the soft drinks have three piñatas, which is a cultural significance for the Hispanic community. Throughout the process of observing there was astounding curiosity about the bakery.

While observing and glancing around the area, I realized that the prices or names of certain products were written or printed. There were no actual printed, colorful menus that listed all of their products because they were scattered. For example, the coffee machine had some label of a price but it was hand-written by hand on paper, which I have seen in Hispanic cultures. Also, the sweet breads did not have a label or sign that were not visible enough for the customers.  Another observation I had was that there was barely any significant architecture that defines the Hispanic culture in any way, considering that most of the products are related to that particular community. However, I had the impression that the “look” of the bakery was constructed in a way that it was not meant for a specific culture because looking closely the bakery offered American based products like the soft drinks, coffee and soups. I came to the conclusion it was a small mini-mart that appears to attract the Hispanic community. However, it could be that they do not want to put aside any outsiders that do not belong within that particular community. Overall, I got the impression the bakery wanted to offer American-based products to not disregard the neighboring communities or sell more than what it is meant to sell. I felt that the location of the bakery was barely visible because it looked enclosed in a small corner of the “plaza”. When I entered the bakery, it was warm and congested that looked like needed some ventilation. The place is small with small area but it is public for the customers. While at the bakery, I took notice that most customers did not buy the other products like soda, milk, etc. because they were interested with the sweet, sugary breads. The times I have eaten the sweet bread from the bakery seems to have a better taste than the other “sweet” breads in town. It has this distinguishing taste that is exquisite and different but better than other imitations of that type of bread. The people that were coming to the bakery were workers, people like myself that are “regulars”, and people around the area because there are businesses nearby. I felt confident walking into the bakery because it can get crowded but it is fairly small and intimate that it is easily accessible to walk in and walk out, without bumping into someone. The fieldwork experience was interesting and curiosity struck me when there were limited labels on their products and their computers were turned off. Also, the architecture and colors that was nonexistent and normally Hispanic community uses colors to distinguish or represent a place. It gives a more exciting feel to the place when it has colors rather than gloomy, plain. At first, the bakery was a place where they sell sweet breads but walking out it was a cultural significance difference in its representation that was alerting for a Hispanic like me.