Mohammed and I met at Fuzzy’s today,
Sunday. It had been a while because of our conflicting schedules. He travels
often and I’m pretty busy with school and other activities, but we make it
work. I arrived at Fuzzy’s and got my food first because I knew that Fuzzy’s
takes a long time to make their food. I thought I had the perfect plan. But it
did not work out.
Mohammed had a hard time finding a
parking spot, which I did not anticipate. So he was about 10 minutes late. He
did not even want anything to eat. I even offered to buy something for him if
money was an issue. But he told me that he had eaten at Fuzzy’s before and did
not enjoy it. He told me that his favorite Mexican restaurant is the one that
is next to BJs on Hulen. (Sounds like I have an idea for our next place to
meet.
So I quickly ate my food because I did
not want it sitting in front of him while we spoke.
I asked Mohammed what his favorite sport
was and he told me, with no hesitation, soccer. He was very excited as he showed
me pictures of the stadium on his phone. He told me that people go crazy during
those games. He told the name of his favorite team but I cannot remember the
name of it. I asked him if he ever watched any F.C. Dallas games, but he does
not usually watch MLS (major league soccer).
Mohammed spent Saturday in Dallas. He explained
that the Arab restaurants in Dallas are a lot better than the ones in Fort
Worth. He also told me that he spent some time in Michigan over fall break.
When I asked about his business up there, he told me that he was visiting the University
of Michigan because he plans to transfer there next semester. I was kind of sad
when I heard of this, even though I’ve only spoken to him twice in person. I
asked him why, and he told me that his Saudi friends have told him their experiences
were not very good at TCU. Mohammed told me that his experience at TCU has been
difficult, and he feels that it will better and easier for him at Michigan. I’m
glad that he will be finishing the semester but I am bummed that he did not
enjoy it. Mohammed also explained that the Saudi population at Michigan was a
larger percentage than at TCU. I told Mohammed that I am sad that he hasn’t had
a great experience at TCU but happy that he is moving on to better things.
After this Mohammed and I caught the end
of the Cowboys game. While we were watching the game he told me about his first
experience at a TCU game. Since he did not know the rules, he told me that he
simply would cheer when everyone would cheer and “boo” when others booed.
I am very glad that he was able to be
there to watch the Cowboys win. I explained some of the general rules of the
game. I explained why the Cowboys kept running the ball at the end of the game.
Hopefully Mohammed and I can meet each
other this coming Friday or Sunday. Maybe I can convince him to remain a horned
frog.
Terrul, it sounds like you've been getting along well with your conversation partner! I enjoyed reading about your conversation, and hope that you can convince him to stay! Go Frogs! It's interesting to note that you talked about food and football because Barbi and I have spoken about these two topics a few times as well! When speaking about food, we talked about how food is different here than it is in Haiti so we have discussed the cultural differences related to this. However, when it comes to football, I have realized that sports unite not only Barbi and I, but also many nations in the world. The connection you made with your partner about football is awesome, and it just goes to show that sports can bring many cultures together for the same entertainment purposes.
ReplyDeleteTerrul, I loved reading about your time with Mohammed. It seems like you enjoy each other's company and I love that, considering I get to experience the same joy with my conversation partner. Amber has also played with the idea of transferring to a school in Los Angeles next semester. I can definitely relate to the sadness of Mohammed possibly going to Michigan. It is a bummer that we have had such quality time with our conversation partners and began forming friendships, when then they leave. However, with that, it shows how important making the most of the time we have now is! I treasure every moment I have with Amber and how special it is to get to talk with her and learn more about her, as well as her culture. I love that you and Mohammed were able to experience something outside of TCU: Fuzzy's and football! It truly shows your passion behind meeting with him and going out of your way to make each meeting fun and different! I hope that even if he goes to Michigan, that y'all can stay in touch!!
ReplyDeleteHey Terrul, I liked your blog post. It is interesting you mentioned that Mohammed is having difficulties with TCU, as my conversation partner (who is also from Saudi Arabia) has mentioned that he is having problems as well. Specifically, I hear that TCU does not like to accept credit from other universities, which really hurts people like my conversation partner who already has 90 something credit hours under their belt. While rules are rules, I think TCU should definitely look into this to see if exceptions can't be made, it is a shame to be losing so many great people!
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