Conversation Partner Reflection One

     My conversation partner is Deo Mahanga and he is from Rwanda.  Deo and I met at the IEP center because he told me he only knows "IEP and Lupton-BLUU."  We introduced ourselves with a very awkward handshake- he told me that he is still working on his "greeting skills."  We asked each other basic information to break the ice.  I learned that Deo is 34 years old, has a wife and two children, previously lived in Oregon, and works as a cab driver on the weekend.  As he finished telling me this, the lady who was in charge of pairing us together walked by.  Deo stopped her and asked why we are doing this and what is required of him because he was confused about the whole program.  After hearing that this is designed to help develop his conversation skills, Deo seemed excited and really began to open up.

     Since it was so nice outside and Deo is so unfamiliar with the campus, I decided that we should have the remainder of our meeting while walking around.  As soon as we left the building, we ran into a tour group.  Deo was very curious about the purpose of this group.  He did not understand why students were visiting and, even more so, why there parents were with them.  I guess all of his schooling has been by his own will and independent of his parents.  Either way, we continued on with our own tour.

     As most males do, Deo and I began to talk about sports.  We shared the ability to watch and enjoy any sporting event, but I wanted to know what his favorites were.  He couldn't really decide, but he picked basketball and soccer.  I told him that I like baseball and college football, but I also told him that I play a lot of ultimate Frisbee.  He looked very confused and told me that he did not know what a Frisbee was, so I promised to bring one to our next meeting.  The remainder of our tour was him asking questions about the dorm and stopping mid-sentence to make sure he was using certain words correctly.  I really admire how committed he is to learning English and how seriously he took our conversation.  I look forward to our next meeting.