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.