My first meeting with my conversation partner, Ruben Amaya, went much smoother than I thought it would. In trying to coordinate a meeting place and time, the English in his emails was misleading of how good his English actually is. For example, we planned to meet in the library but he went to Barnes and Noble. This is a completely understandable mistake, but as it turns out, his English was impressive and only a few times did he use his portable translator on his phone to find the right English word for what he was describing. Ruben is from Cali, Columbia, and told me that he took English all through high school and some in college as well. His aunt has lived in Texas for thirty-one years so she helped him with his English when he first arrived. In Columbia, he studied industrial engineering for five years “at university” and is now working at a phone company retail store.
To my surprise, Ruben did most of the talking during out meeting. He was openly conversational and told me many interesting things about his home country. He said that the Columbia everyone thinks of when they hear the name of the country is one plagued by crime, drug cartels and murders. However, he loves Columbia and stated that the country is getting better and the crime rate is decreasing. He also said that many American tourists come there regularly despite what they hear in the news. He believes that the media has a big part in the global representation of his home country. They never show any of the good happening in the country and only when there is a story involving the drug lords is Columbia even mentioned, therefore giving it a bad public image. He feels safe in Cali, the city he is from, but by no means as safe as when in Fort Worth. He loves the security that being in the States gives him.
He asked me about my major, which is Film, and he showed an immediate interest in the study of it. He said that in his hometown, they had three movie venues with two or three theaters in each. They would show mostly American movies, but occasionally some Columbian movies as well. Also, in Fort Worth, he said he goes to the theaters around town on a regular basis. I can understand how seeing movies in English might be a good way to practice the language. Being able to hear people talk in the language for an hour and a half to two hours might be a huge benefit, especially in expanding his vocabulary. I am an Italian minor and I know that when I watch a movie in Italian, I come out of that movie at least feeling like I know more or can speak more of the language.
Ruben told me about some of the customs and traditions of Columbia that interested me. He said that each city in Columbia has their own local traditional festival each year. For Cali, it is from December 25th-30th. The capital, Bogota, has theirs sometime in July. During these festivals, there is no work, everyone just celebrates and relaxes and eats and drinks and has a good time. Also, he told me that in America his name is Ruben Amaya, but in Columbia, the last names of mothers and grandparents are also included in the name. Ruben said he could only remember seven of his names just because it went back so far, but that is still incredible. I could not imagine my name being Brandon Gregory Somerhalder Laham Throckmorton Salome. Overall, in our hour and a half long talk, Ruben and I kept a great conversation and I’m excited to meet again.
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