CP8

After our Valentine's Day beer and billiards date this Thursday, Hayley and I picked up Mubarak and Mohammed from Grand Marc and went to Mahdi's apartment off Pensacola St. When we arrived, we met their friend Jarrah, and Mahdi was just finishing his prayers in the traditional white kuwaiti dishdasha. After the introductions we just hung out in the apartment, snacking on dates and chips and watching clips on youTube. At first we just watched a clip of George W. Bush dancing with a sword in one hand and the other arm around the president of Bahrain, an island nation in the Arab Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Then Mahdi showed us videos of the largest fountain show in the world, at the tallest tower in the world - the Dubai Fountain in UAE.

We talked a bit about their experiences with the IELTS, both recent and fast approaching. Mahdi told us he was traveling to Tampa over the weekend to take the test, and Mohammed said he had just taken it and his score was a 4.6 (or 4.9?) and their government grant program requires them to pass with at least a 5.5 before they can return to Kuwait to continue in university. After more conversation and youTube videos, I had to use the bathroom; when I returned I asked Mahdi if the strange attachment on his toilet that looked and functioned exactly like a sink hose for washing dishes was a bidet. Everyone in the living room heard him exclaim all-too-enthusiastically from the bathroom, "Yes, you can use it!" and uproarious laughter ensued. It was getting late, so Hayley and I offered to take Mubarak and Mohammed back to Grand Marc but they declined, saying they would stay and hang at Mahdi's some more. I can't wait to see these guys again, their fast friendship and sincere, generous hospitality is very welcome and refreshing. Best of luck to Mahdi with the IELTS!

TP8

 On Sunday, February 10th, I met John and his family at the library. It had been several weeks since I had seen them last, with the exception of a few short meetings with just John for some conversation practice. I asked Jason and Sally how they were doing and how they liked Disney World. Jason read aloud from Annie and Snowball and the Dress-up Birthday by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Henry and Mudge series that Jason loves. 

 As he was looking for another book I realized something incredible: there was jazz music floating in through a secret side room in the library that I had never seen before! It turned out to be an FSU jazz ensemble giving a performance in a banquet room. 

 I tried to explain to Jason what was going on as we peeked through the door's thin window, but I'm not sure he understood. After reading another Henry and Mudge book and answering some of my questions to see what he was comprehending, I was delighted to see that he had chosen Dr. Seuss's One Fish Two Fish to read. The rhyme scheme really helped him to sound out the correct pronunciation of many words, and as he was slowly but surely making his way through the tongue-twister of a children's book, I realized that he has made significant progress since I began working with him. After talking a bit more, we agreed to meet later in the week. I can't wait to talk with them again!

CP7

On Friday, February 1st, Mubarak and Mahdi came to my house for venison chili. I cooked the meat separately from the rest of the chili, because one of my roommates is vegetarian and some of our friends do not eat meat either. I made some bacon separately as well, since Mahdi and Mubarak do not eat pork. Mubarak helped by preparing rice in the traditional Kuwaiti fashion, to the best of what limited spices and cookware my kitchen could provide. My roommates and I had several other friends over as well, since we usually have a Friday night jam session, and my Kuwaiti friends were delighted to discover that my friend Orion who plays flute with us (and studied with a flute master in India) knows some Arabic. They instantly asked for his phone number since they very rarely encounter people here who have studied their language at all.

The chili was a big hit, and the jams were groovy, although I gave Mubarak and Mahdi a ride to go bowling with their friends at Crenshaw and came home before they really started pumping. I really enjoyed showing them my home and how we spend our leisure time, and as always, I am looking forward to our next meeting.

CP6

 On Thursday, Jan 24th, I met up with Mubarak at Jimmy John's near his apartment. I got a sandwich and we headed to our friend Mahdi's apartment off Pensacola St. We had discussed going bowling, but instead we just decided to hang out at Mahdi's and talk. Mahdi had set out some delicious chocolates and other desserts, as well as cashews and pistachios, and prepared for us the traditional tea of his country, flavored strongly with cardamom (هال in Arabic). We watched some documentaries about jaguars and other wildlife in the jungles of South America such as caimans and capybaras, and discussed the IELTS and TOEFL (Mubarak says he is not allowed back to Kuwait until he scores at least a 5.5 on the IELTS as they are here on a government grant).

 We talked about a few other things such as differences between what is polite or expected behavior for someone from the U.S. versus someone from Kuwait; for instance, when asked whether or not they desire more tea, someone from the U.S. usually will not hesitate to say yes or no, but people from Kuwait will say no thank you even if they really do want more.

 I think it's important to have discussions about cultural expectations, to raise awareness about international manners and hopefully help avoid unnecessary conflict due to such differences. Just yesterday when I was eating at Far East Cuisine with my girlfriend, she told me that in Japan (she lived there for some time) and likely other Eastern cultures, it is considered rude to leave your chopsticks sticking out of your food and instead should be placed together sideways to indicate that you are finished. [Just looked this up and chopsticks sticking straight up from a bowl of rice indicates an offering for the dead. More chopstick etiquette: http://www.neiu.edu/~sdundis/examples/cook/chopsticks.htm]

 After taking some goofy instagram pictures and chatting for a bit more Mubarak subtly hinted that he was ready to go home, so I gave him a ride back to Grand Marc. I am looking forward to spending more time with these great guys and helping them to pass the IELTS so that they can return to their home country victorious in their quest to learn the language and culture of the United States.

CP5

 On Monday, Jan 21st, I met up with Mubarak, as well as his friends Mahdi and Mohammed, at FSU's student union to go bowling at Crenshaw Lanes. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the bowling alley would be closed as it was a holiday (even though Chili's was open), so instead we decided to play pool at Zingale's, stopping at Starbucks on the way. We all crammed into my girlfriend's tiny VW Beetle for the ride. I found out that, like Mubarak and Anwar, Mahdi and Mohammed are also planning on studying engineering; Kuwait has a high demand for engineers to develop technology for the oil business.

 After Mahdi graciously bought Hayley and I some hot chocolate, we sat outside Starbucks talking for a while and then walked to Zingale's. We played 4 games of pool, rotating players through teams so everyone got a chance to play on a team with everyone else. I ran into a friend that I used to work with playing pool next to us, and found out my girlfriend knew him and his buddies from high school - small town! After our fourth game, our Kuwaiti friends decided it was time for them to head home. Though I offered to give them a ride, they chose to walk. I think the brisk January air would be more pleasant than a stuffy and cramped backseat car ride. I had an awesome time making new friends with Mahdi and Mohammed - they are incredibly nice - and I'm excited to show them more fun things to do in Tally! Hopefully I will be meeting up with the 3 M's again this weekend; perhaps I will take them to a nice park such as the Miccosukee or Pedrick Greenway or Wakulla Springs.

CP4

On Sunday, January 13 I met my new conversation partner, Mubarak, at Starbucks on Tennessee. He was late, but he told me it was because he had been at the hospital getting flu shots with his roommate. I learned that he knows Anwar from CIES. Mubarak told me a little bit about himself: he wants to study chemical engineering at one of several universities, he has some 30-odd camels back in Kuwait, and he wants me to introduce him to American girls. Cool guy! He likes sports, especially European soccer leagues, but also likes to bowl and play ping pong. I may try to get him to branch out and play ultimate and do some cycling or swimming, but perhaps hiking would be the best place to start. We were showing each other pictures on our phones and I installed the Arabic keyboard, which incidentally changed the language of my entire phone to Arabic. Thankfully Mubarak switched it back right away. We talked a bit about potential future activities, such as bowling or billiards, and then called it a night. I gave him a ride back to Grand Marc from Starbucks. People from Kuwait seem very friendly, I'm excited to have new friends from foreign lands!