My second meeting with Suelli went much smoother than the first. With minor scheduling conflicts, we were able to set up our second meeting with far less hassle. One of my roommates, Kristin, was interested when I told her what I was doing so she decided to come along. The three of us decided to meet at 1873 for lunch that Friday.
Since it was only our second meeting due to the issues in the beginning of the semester, we spent most of it going over more of the basic topics and getting to know each other. We talked a little more about the English classes that she was taking and what they had been going over recently. She had mentioned that she was at the intermediate level with only one more to go before finishing so I was curious about what topics were covered at that level. Suelli told us that in her grammar courses that week they were covering past perfect. It was then I realized that there are a lot of elements of the English language that I take for granted. I cant say I usually take time to think about the appropriate tense when I am speaking to someone. She admitted that this was one of the most difficult parts of learning the language because she still felt unsure at times about how to correctly respond or phrase something in conversation. Because she isn't confident in all of the grammar uses yet, she says it stops her from speaking too much because she feels self-conscious about making mistakes. I hadn't really thought about this as an obstacle before, but after thinking about my own experience in foreign language classes with oral exams, I could understand. She asked Kristin and I what other languages we could speak and seemed surprised that we were only fluent in English. We found out that beyond her abilities in English, she could not only speak Portugese, but also Spanish and some Italian.
We moved the discussion from languages and English classes to what we like to do in our free time. It turns out that we enjoy doing a lot of the same things and even in Angola it isn't much different. Even though there are a lot of shared activities, she says that the people and general feeling of the United States is definitely different. It really isn't how she expected it to be, and although she likes the Dallas/Fort Worth area, she will definitely be returning to Angola after she finishes university. One difference that she was missing the most was the food. If she wants anything like what she eats at home she has to cook it herself or go to visit family because there aren't any restaurants around serving it. She says the food here isn't bad but it isn't what she gets at home. Suelli really enjoys to cook and explained many dishes she loves to make that sounded delicious as well as difficult to pronounce.
Our meeting started to wrap up because her family from Dallas was coming to pick her up for the weekend. She was going to spend the weekend with her cousins shopping and spending time together. Apparently due to some roommate issues, she often spends time with her family on the weekends. I can understand this and know myself that it is nice to have family nearby just to get away every once in a while. I was getting ready to go back to my room and take a quick nap after the long week. My roommate was making fun of me for all of the naps I take when Suelli commented that she enjoyed napping as well. I thought it was a funny thing to have in common, especially since we both said that when we were younger and were supposed to be taking naps, we hated taking them and often protested.
It has been an interesting experience so far even with all of the logistical problems in the beginning. I look forward to our next meetings after the break and being able to teach each other some more along the way.
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