Today, I finally got an E-mail from my conversation partner!
I was so excited to find out what my conversation partner was like having had
so much fun getting to know Kally’s partner last week. When I got a response,
we decided to meet at Union Grounds like I did with Kally’s partner. I described
what I was wearing: a purple coat and a tan scarf. Next, the man sitting next
to me got up and started looking for someone. I had been sitting next to him
this whole time! Haha! Looking up from my books, I noticed it was actually
Essa! Little did I know, Kally and I had been assigned the same conversation
partner. What are the odds? Having sat in on Kally’s session last week, I had
no idea that I was actually meeting with my very own conversation partner. I
was absolutely thrilled that it was Essa. He told me that the teacher had asked
them who would like to take on another partner, and he raised his hand. This
actually made a big impact on my impression of Essa. The fact that he was
willing and looking forward to taking on another speaks volumes about his
character and what I had already gathered about his personality. Essa has a
very loving spirit, and due to his daughter, it is evident that he has many
wonderful paternal qualities about him that make him very easy to be around. For
example, as soon as he sat down, he pulled out snacks that he had brought us to
share. One of the snacks was a common snack to his home country: Saudi Arabia.
I was so excited to learn about the food in his country. In my house, food is a
way of bonding and means so much more than just a survival mechanism. When we
travel, we visit places based on where my mom’s favorite chefs have recently
opened new restaurants. Saudi Arabia, however, is one location that I am very
unaccustomed to regarding the culinary aspect. My mom uses food to connect with
people, and she even calls it her ministry. She says that a tummy full of
home-cooked food can brighten anyone’s day. Recently, she told me that been
caring and considerate doesn’t cost a dime. This is one of the qualities I can
truly see in Essa. After he got the food out of his bag, he explained to me
what exactly it was. In the container were pretzels, which I felt familiar with
and some sort of round cracker looking snack. This, Essa explained, was a
biscuit with sesame seeds with nuts. It was a combination of a cracker and an
actual biscuit. It was flaky, but not crunchy. Overall, just a very unique
snack unlike anything I had seen in the states. This was fascinating to me, and
I loved that he incorporated a bit of his culture into our meeting. Noticing
these paternal qualities surfacing, I began to ask him how his daughter was
doing. He said that she has been faking sick and asking to stay home from
school. I got a kick out of this, and I can’t say that I blame her with this
weather! He mentioned that his daughter goes to school nearby, though there are
many great “kindercare” options in the area. He said that he chose this
location due to the lack of traffic that it presents. This naturally brought up
the topic of the icy roads. He said his wife has been especially worried about
the bridges and has been advising him to be extremely careful. I always enjoy
hearing about his family, because his face lights up when he mentions them. It
is very refreshing to know that he has his family here, as he is so far from
home. I am sure that having someone around who shares in the difficulties of
adjustment is comforting to him. The same can be said of the Intensive English
Program here at TCU. The great thing is that he shares classes with people who
are going through the same types of learning experiences as he is. He mentioned
that he is beginning to get nervous about his grades particularly in grammar
and reading. Apparently, they have a class that is solely based on those topics,
and they spend quite a lot of time going over these aspects throughout the
week. One thing I really enjoyed about this session with Essa was how
comfortable he seems to be. Last time, he was a little bit tenser, but that is
to be expected upon meeting someone for the first time. After our meeting we
stayed and studied in Union Grounds. It seemed like I was just hanging out with
one of my friends. I look forward to meeting with Essa again soon, and I am so
glad that my trial run with Kally was actually my conversation partner after
all.
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