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.