Let's Get Down to Business

We met at Starbucks. How original? Her name is Angela, and she is from Columbia. Let's be real-- I was really excited for this. South America, cool beans. We talked about the normal, this-is-slightly-awkward-since-we-don't-know-anything-about-each-other stuff, but we quickly came to realize that we had a lot of things in common. We both had ordered the same coffee, same size. Both of us are in need of a good hair dresser and agreed to let the to other know if we found one. She's trying to learn English, and I am trying to learn Spanish. We are beginning plans to meet each others friends, so she can practice English, and I can practice Spanish. Angela is 27, has already graduated from the university, and is here to learn English. After years of protest from her parents, telling her she needed to learn English, she finally wants to learn English. Being in the same I'm-going-to-learn-another-language boat, we have a lot to relate on, from how hard it is to how much it fascinates us to learn to how scary it is to go to another country to learn. In school, she studied business for five years, oh and surprise, I'm studying business as well. We exchanged numbers so we can text. We're now Facebook friends. Welcome to the communication of the States, all about our convenience. Personally, I'd rather speak in person, all the time, not that it is in any way feasible with all of the people we not feel the need to talk to. While we had our phones out, we showed each other pictures of our cats. Conversation flowed like we had know each other for a while, with the exceptional misunderstanding or not knowing how to explain something. She referred me to an exceptional Spanish-English electronic dictionary that includes phrases and grammar tips. I need to get one of those. It was pretty legit. Our meeting ended with me having to go to class. I left with the alertness received from coffee, possible plans to go to church this weekend, an open invitation if I ever find myself in Columbia, and a promising outlook of this adventure.