Conversation 4

Yesterday, Guilherme and I met and decided to mix up our routine a little and grab lunch during our meeting. What exotic location did we choose to dine at? The BLUU.

As much as this is not my first choice for any meal, it sparked interesting conversation about food, something we both enjoy quite a lot, and its differences in America and Brazil.

Guilherme definitely enjoys American food. Pizza (although it’s Italian) and French fries were his lunch of choice as we sat outside of Market Square. Our conversation started of talking about the crazy weather yesterday (as cliché as this sounds we both agree that Texas’ weather is conversation-worthy.) Guilherme was also excited to share with me that he found an apartment to move into within the next two weeks so that he will be closer to campus, and more independent. We also discussed our respective Spring Break plans. Guilherme is planning on moving into his apartment and going to Abilene with his girlfriend to hang out with her and her family. These conversation topics and the natural flow that we have between topics lead me to almost forget the age difference between Guilherme and I since much of what he deals with is similar to any other college student.

However, these commonplace topics barely scratch the surface of all the funny things we talked about yesterday. Since Guilherme’s girlfriend has become a common area of conversation, I decided to ask Guilherme about Valentine’s Day since we had not met last Thursday. He simply responded that his girlfriend had insisted that he not make a special trip up to see her for the holiday because this would have required that he rent a car to drive up to Waco for a few hours and come back that night to return the car (since Guilherme has class on Fridays.) I responded that he was lucky, most girls have high expectations for this day and he just kind of laughed. Being the excellent conversationalist that he is, Guilherme asked about my Valentine’s Day in return. I responded that since I was home for the weekend my boyfriend and I “celebrated” with a low key dinner and hanging out with friends on Saturday night instead, explaining that this was fine with me since I am not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day myself.  I even went on to joke that my boyfriend was more upset about missing the Hallmark Holiday than I was.

 I can’t even describe the look of confusion/awe/humor-struck (if that’s a word?) that came across Guilherme’s face when I said this. He responded, “Ah! He and I are much the same then!” Turns out what I labeled as a “lucky break” he was too polite to correct as “disappointment.” This conversation was probably the most advanced that Guilherme and I have had. We went on to talk about the premise behind Valentine’s day, he was explaining things like how commercialized the holiday is but how he still loves the meaning and significance. This topic required advanced English, and yet he was able to convey his thoughts almost completely fluently.  Guilherme also explained how there is a similar holiday to Valentine’s day celebrated in Brazil but it is celebrated in June—so I guess he has a chance to redeem the romantic holiday in just a few months.

Being a self-proclaimed “foodie” I decided that this lunch was the perfect context to ask Guilherme about food in Brazil.  He explained to me that the cooking is pretty similar in both countries or “at least to [him] because it all tastes so good.” We were definitely able to relate on this note, we both love to travel (as previously discussed) and one of our mutually favorite parts of travel is exploring the world’s different foods. Guilherme did specify, however, that breakfast is different in America than it is in Brazil. Breakfasts in America are huge, consisting of bacon, eggs, toast, and the works. Breakfast is Brazil is a lot lighter, and lunch is normally (at least for Guilherme) the biggest meal of the day. We then got on a 5-minute tangent about how this is unfortunate because we both really enjoy breakfast food. We went on to discuss our respective cooking skills and experiences with cooking, Guilherme had some funny stories to share.

Yesterday’s conversation revealed not only more about Guilherme’s superior pragmatic skills in English and use of an extremely diverse vocabulary, but it was also interesting to learn more about his culture and background. We have often gotten so caught up in what’s going on here and now at TCU—as it is so easy to do—that this conversation and cultural comparison was rather refreshing. We were both shocked to realize that we only have 3 more meetings left after yesterday, and plan to talk a lot about humor next time we meet. This had been mentioned before, but Guilherme is determined to find YouTube clips to show me that he thinks are funny—but can only find his favorite shows in Portuguese. I am excited to be able to compare cultures even more with Guilherme over our next meeting, and think that such a modern and international thing as Youtube and the entertainment industry as a whole will serve as a great premise to do so.

Reading 1

When I went to read the texts to prepare for Monday’s class I was surprised (but definitely pleasantly so) to find that these were not tales about playing Indian in the woods or about pranks pulled by irritating little boys, but the stories of girls. Most of the time it seems like successful and renowned comedians are men. (However, I will admit that most of the time I favor a stand up male comedian’s act or role in a movie over that of a woman,) so these stories definitely took me by surprise. I kept giggling and thinking to myself “it’s funny cause it’s true.”

I think that both Ephron and Parker utilized comic techniques effectively in their tales on the trials of womanhood. To me, these stories were much more humorous and relatable to me than those of O’Henry and Thurber. There were ageless themes in both of the texts that I think translate better to the modern era than some of the other stories.

Similar to “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, there were components of Parker’s “The Waltz” that seemed more tragic than comic to me. The whole premise of being stuck in a marriage described with such agony is downright depressing, but Parker’s comedic merit arises from the delivery of this dark message. She employs really interesting structure throughout the passage with the interspersing of the real remarks and conversation she has with her dance partner that are contrasted with her actual thoughts. I have always really enjoyed writing that is stream of consciousness and that includes many witty remarks—like those of Parker. And of course there is the infamous cognitive shift present in this story. After four and a half pages of detail about the misery the dancer feels as inspired by her partner and the burning hatred that she has for him she admits, “Ah I couldn’t bare to have anything happen to him. I love him.”  Now I will admit that woman are extremely hot and cold in all matters of their life, especially when it comes to love and relationships, but Parker’s tale surprised me. Especially when you find out that the incompetent dance partner is in fact her life partner.

 The most outstanding technique that both Parker and Ephron effectively use is, in my opinion, exaggeration.  From the Parker’s rant on every possible downfall of her counterpart’s existence to Ephron’s tragic life without breasts I couldn’t help but be reminded of Morreall’s discourse on the positive ethics of humor. I think that both of these pieces could arguably be the character’s “coping” with their trials through venting that at least we perceive as humorous. The exaggeration of both of these characters is very relatable for women and men alike. Woman because we similarly act as if 5 days of menstruation is the apocalypse; Men because they often fall victim to these exaggerated rants. In a piece of literature on the follies of womanhood I think exaggeration is definitely an effective and necessary technique.

Ephron’s “A few words about breasts” captures the awkward struggle of adolescents and women everywhere. Again, the exaggerations well as the stream of conscious narration were effective. The betrayal that the narrator felt as her friend “continued on without her” to puberty was especially comic and relatable to me. I remember being in elementary and middle school and insisting on doing literally everything with my best friend, Jordan. I laughed at this part because I totally can see myself feeling the same as the author about this situation. I also related to this story because my family could definitely have inspired the Raksob family’s outrageous description. Not with the fancy living accommodations perhaps, but my mother has literally been nicknamed the ‘queen of extreme’ by all of my friends. Our was was infamous for the snack cart (yes, a giant cart) that she keeps constantly overflowing with all things junk food and her overachieving culinary exploits. However, the “competitive remarks about breast size” discourse was definitely my favorite part of this week’s reading assignments because we all know how competitive women can be, especially about body and self-image.  To top it off, I think that the narrator’s rejection of her friend’s consolation as being “full of shit” was funny because I think at one point everyone has felt as dejected as the narrator, and totally called out those expressing empathy with a similar jab.

Conversation 3

“Monkeys riding dogs!” Guilherme laughed with tears (yes people, literally small, glistening tears) trickling out of his eyes. Last Friday the IEP program had their long-awaited visit to the Rodeo—Guilherme’s first ever—which made for some good laughs this week. Not only did he enjoy the monkeys and dogs but we both had a good laugh when talking about the children who try to wrestle a calf. (This event may have a specific name, but what do two non-Texans know about Rodeo?)

This week Guilherme and I met on Tuesday because the schedule for the week was busy. Since less time had passed since our last visit, this week we got to talk about a lot more than just the happenings of the past week. I can’t quite recall what led us to the topic, but Guilherme and I ended up spending much of our time on Tuesday talking about travel—something else that we definitely have in common.

Talking about travel was probably evoked by the topic of spring break. This week I learned that Guilherme not only has travelled a lot since he has been in the states, but he is also quite the world traveller! He’s been to Spain, Italy Switzerland—among many other European spots—as well as Australia and New Zealand. I literally was gawking at him by the time he was done listing all of the dream vacation destinations that he had crossed off his bucket list. Guilherme found my jealousy quite amusing, but I have literally always wanted to travel to Australia. Per Guilherme’s recommendation, I now am longing to travel there even more than before, as well as to New Zealand.

When talking about a park that Guilherme visited in Waco last week we learned that we both enjoy hiking and other outdoorsy activities. Our common passion for such activities, especially in the context of travel, made the stories that both of us had to share rather enjoyable. Guilherme told me all about the first time he ever snowboarded (which was in New Zealand, amazing right?) and how sore he was the next day. Being a native Coloradan, and snowboarder myself this was relatable on many levels and led into my classic story of how I learned to ski/board. I don’t know how much you know about these sports or the learning process that they entail—but such experiences are the root of many a great story.

But that wasn’t all.

Guilherme doesn’t only snowboard, kayak, hike, raft, etc. (you get the point) he just so happens to also find some of the coolest, quirky little things to integrate into his trips. When I asked him what his favorite trip was, Guilherme detailed all about his trip to New Zealand. It wasn’t just the amazing snowboarding experience, but the tour that he went on while there: a Lord of the Rings Tour. Now, I can’t sit through an hour and a half romantic comedy without taking a 45-minute nap, so I am definitely not a Lord of the Rings 5-hour movie kind of girl-but this tour still sounded pretty amazing. You get to be taken to some of the spots where the movie was filmed. Guilherme is now determined to go back one day for another tour that includes a helicopter ride up into the mountains to the places where more of the scenes were filmed.

Although the places that Guilherme has visited were much more exotic than many of mine, he claims that Colorado is on his list of places that he would like to visit. Naturally I gave him some local tips about skiing and eating (two essential components to Colorado living.) I’m not sure that he actually wanted to go but I did intersperse a comment along the lines of “oh you like hiking? Colorado has beautiful trails!” or “of you like to eat? Colorado has food!” whenever I could fit it in. What can I say? I have a little state pride. (Which is hard to keep kindled in such a proud state as Texas.) But this is all beside the point.

There’s a saying that the world is a book and if you never travel you only read one page…or chapter? Or something to that effect—but whatever the saying is I think that travel really is the best way to learn. I also think that it was a great way to learn more about Guilherme. I now long to travel the world more than ever—I’m sure my dad will love that this already immense desired has been intensified. It was especially interesting to compare what our experiences were at places that we had commonly visited, and to see the experiences that people with very different cultural backgrounds have had there. However, it was also fun to compare similarities, especially stories about kayaking  or white water rafting. The stories about travel did lead to funny stories about cultural discrepancies and awkward misunderstandings while abroad, but I’m glad to say that Guilherme and I’s interactions have continued to keep such moments to a minimum.

Conversation 2

On Thursday afternoon Guilherme and I met again. This time we sat outside of 1873 to enjoy the beautiful southeast breeze and 70 degree weather. We caught up about the past weekend and learned a little more about each other.  Guilherme told me more about his visit to Waco, and his girlfriend there.

This week it felt like we were catching up as old friends, even though we have only met twice. I feel like I already know a lot about Guilherme and it is cool to follow up on all of the things that we have already talked about, as well as learning even more.

Last week Guilherme had told me briefly about a girlfriend that he met while in America. This week I learned more about what brought him here and their “how we met” story.

Guilherme laughed when I asked if his friend in Waco that I had heard so much about went to Baylor (the only thing I know that exists there…). This friend is 80 years old. Guilherme’s family helped host a missionary years ago, Guilherme’s nameless friend. Since his parents spoke English, they served as interpreters for the missionary. The family’s relationship has stayed strong for many years and now Guilherme visits Waco most weekends. I thought that this was a very interesting story, and couldn’t help but think of the cognitive shift as the friend that I picture as an 18-year-old college student is quickly transformed into an 80-year-old man. Guilherme even went on to joke about how I shouldn’t feel too bad, most people think that his friend is younger because he works out so much and looks more like 60-years-old. I just sat there thinking about that cliché saying about assumptions.

As soon as Guilherme mentioned a girlfriend last week I-in typical girl form-asked all about her. Guilherme met his girlfriend (who is also currently nameless in my head) at Church one weekend with the missionary friend. Guilherme was lost in the large Baptist Church and ran into his now girlfriend who hospitably showed him to the bible study room and later asked him to sit with her at the service. Now Guilherme frequently visits her, and has travelled around Texas with her family.

When talking about the visits to Waco, Guilherme and I had this sarcastic little back-and-forth Waco. It was a typical Horned Frog ragging on Waco, Baylor, and how little there is to do there-type of conversation. It came out pretty naturally, but I thought that in regards to the topic of humor that this was interesting. This type of discourse is very specific to TCU and our rivalry with Baylor, and perhaps may extend to being a Texas joke as a whole. I just think that it is cool how humor can bring even someone outside of a culture inside of it. This was definitely a moment that reflects the social and bonding nature of humor.

Guilherme also shared with me that he tested to be at level 5 in English for the IEP program. He was really excited about this because 5 is the highest level that you can get for these tests. I feel fortunate to have a partner who is so advanced already in his English and so easy to understand. There were moments in our conversation where he would struggle to find the right word for what he wanted to say-similar to last week-but I am continually impressed by the wide range of English vocabulary he already has. I am curious to see how much English was used in his home now that I know the missionary story, perhaps he had a bit of a head start.

Although our conversation didn’t get much past the past week’s happenings, Guilherme and I shared yet another laugh when I told him about the week that I had been having. I explained to him the ironic (only funny when looking back on it) Tuesday that I had had. (This included a computer crashing just in time for two tests and projects last week, getting lost going to get the computer fixed and almost missing a test, barely escaping a speeding ticket while rushing back for the test, and not at all escaping a parking ticket when I made it back just in time for the test.—thankfully the computer was at least able to recover.) Similar to how I felt when Dylann tumbled over her Christmas present (see humor blog 1), Guilherme first laughed, then felt terrible after hearing the story. Fortunately for him I had cooled off by this time (Tuesday I was an emotional wreck about the whole thing), and we were able to laugh and joke about it.

The joking and witty banter between Guilherme and I made the conversation time fly by this week, but I did mention to him to be thinking about humor specifically just to see what he comes up with. I hope that this will lead us to more interesting conversation next week. I also look forward to hearing about the Rodeo field trip that Guilherme was buzzing about, he couldn’t wait to “basically have Friday off!” I think this will also serve as a good point of cultural comparison next week.

Conversation 1

A tall and lanky man approaches the table and introduces himself with one of the biggest smiles that I’ve ever seen. Although I had thought of a 1,000 possible ways that this meeting could have gone I never would have expected it to go so well. The time flew by, and there were a lot fewer awkward moments than I had anticipated. (I have a knack for making first encounters excruciatingly awkward.)

Guilherme has an intriguing story and was more than willing to share it with me. There were some times when his excitement would get him talking so fast I could barely keep up, but overall I think that we communicated fairly well and really understood each other. Guilherme has trouble with some of the irregular verb forms and other weird quirks of English, but I could always tell what he was saying.

Being a Speech-Language Pathology major made talking with an individual with such a strong accent an even more interesting experience. In my major classes we have been learning about dialectal differences and sounds that a person learning English as a second language might have difficulty with. I actually picked up on a lot of these things in our conversation. I think that since I have studied these things our conversation benefitted.

Guilherme is from Brazil, just outside of San Paolo and Rio de Janeiro along the coast. He grew up as an only child. We had a goodtime comparing our upbringings (there is quite a bit to contrast considering I grew up one of three daughters.) A big part of our conversation was also about travel and all the places that Guilherme has lived. (This was also easy to contrast to a girl who had never lived anywhere except for one house until she went to college.) This really got me thinking about how neat it is for two people who grew up in their own little worlds and niches to have ended up meeting like this. That may sound a bit cliché…well I guess it kind of is. We talked about New York and Guilherme’s summer visit there to see a friend from Brazil. We finally found some common ground, we both love to travel, have been to a lot of the same places, and share a lukewarm attitude towards New York.

The more questions that I asked Guilherme, the more interesting his story became to me. The IEP program at TCU was something I knew virtually nothing about before this meeting, and I think that it offers students like Guilherme a very cool opportunity. Guilherme is very intelligent-he has a law degree in Brazil. We talked about the book that they are reading in the IEP Literature class, To Kill a Mockingbird. I was truly impressed by this. I remember thinking that my Spanish teacher was insane for trying to make me read children’s level novels in a foreign language, and there Guilherme is reading full novels in English after living in America for practically no time at all.

One of my favorite parts of our conversation was talking about our experiences in being assimilated into the culture of Texas. We both laughed when talking about Rodeo (the IEP class has a field trip next week) and our first experiences with Whataburger.  (Can I just say that I am feeling seriously nostalgic about field trips after learning about the IEP program’s outings?) Guilherme lives with a host family. Their family consists of a mother, a father who works out of town all week, a daughter that attends A&M and a son in high school. His host family isn’t very close-knit, but he likes living with them. Comparing our experiences and talking about things associated with TCU in general made our conversation really flow and allowed us to relate to each other a lot more.

This week we didn’t touch on the subject of humor directly. Upon reflecting, there were many times when we would both giggle or politely laugh at little things that seemed socially acceptable or expected. There were also some awkward laughs. I’m sure this is something that we will be talking about a lot more (and experiencing a lot more) in the future for Guilherme is a wonderful storyteller and conversationalist.