Confidence

            After changing the meeting location several times, we decided to meet for lunch at Market Square in the BLUU. Her doctor had put her on temporary sodium-free diet. That did not leave much for her to eat but salad. I chose to eat a salad as well so she wouldn’t have to smell and look at some food she was not allowed to eat. It starts off with the normal catching up on everything since our last visit. Not much has changed, as usual.

            She asked about some pictures she had seen on Facebook. I did not know which ones she was referring to, so we looked them up. It turns out they were from a western themed party I had attended the previous weekend. I asked her if she knew how to two step, but it turns out she does not even listen to country music, which is crazy for me to think of someone living in Texas and not listening to country. I guess being from an entirely different country doesn’t help. I then asked if she had ever been to Billy Bob’s. She said no, but she did know it was in the Stockyards. She does not think she would like it, and I would have to agree. People who do not listen to country usually do not find much entertainment in Bob’s.

            As we are eating, I see several people that I know. After each one, she asks me how I know them. She believes that I know almost everyone, which is far from true. I struggled to explain what a sorority is, which is how I knew most of the girls. She explained how she is from Manizales, a small town and the same thing happens to her when she goes downtown to hang out at night. She comments on how she misses her town, but she will not be able to go home until at least December. She has not been back home since she came to TCU over a year ago. I cannot imagine not going home for that long. I believe the longest I have gone is three months. Luckily, her family is coming to visit her in August. As excited as she is for that, August makes her think of summer, which she is not excited for. She remembers how hot it was last summer. She never wanted to leave her apartment since it was so hot.

            Then the topic of finals came up. Now that is something I am not excited for. She asked about all of mine, and I told her how I only have two tests but also have a paper and a presentation, which she could help me with once we were finished eating. She explained how they have finals the same week as us, but they continue class the following Monday since it is a year-round program. I cannot imagine not even having a long weekend to recover and get back into school mode.

            Once we were done eating, I interviewed her and asked her questions about her family and life in Colombia and how it compares to life in the United States for my Spanish presentation. She was thrilled to get to talk in Spanish, as it comes much easier. She was easily able to form answers to my questions. It was interesting to see the confidence she spoke with when she started speaking only in Spanish for a whole conversation. If she had that confidence with her English, which she speaks really well, then she sound perfect. Her English is excellent, but I understand how difficult it is to speak with confidence in another language. Maybe I’ll be able to do so after Spain. She is excited to see pictures and hear all about my trip. We will have a lot to talk about after that one.