Last Meeting with Aitana

As the craziness of finals week comes to an end, Aitana and I met one more time for the semester this morning. She had just gone shopping with her stepsister. They needed to find a wedding present for their father. Aitana forgot to mention they were traveling to Peru for his wedding! I guess their dad and her stepsister’s mom were finally making it official. I asked her she enjoyed going to weddings. She said that she had never attended one before. That was shocking to me. I told her all about my giant family – my dad has five siblings and my mom has six. I’ve been to my fair share of weddings, especially since all my cousins are older than me. Aitana said that she didn’t have that big of a family, just a few younger cousins.

Aitana showed me the gift they bought for her dad. It was a photo album for all their wedding photos. She mentioned how she wished she had a job so she could afford a “more impressive” present. I told her that her dad would love the gift. Then I asked her about her job search – she had mentioned the last few times we talked.

“No one’s really hiring right now,” Aitana told me.

I said that she should try again first thing next semester – that’s usually a lot of places on campus are hiring. Aitana told me that’s what her plan was, after she moves halls. I didn’t know she wanted to move dorms! I asked her why.

“It’s so old! And none of my friends live there.”

Aitana does live in Colby – the oldest (and creepiest) dorm. Her roommate wants to move somewhere too but they don’t plan on living together again. Aitana wants to live with a friend that lives in Waits now. They’re in the intensive English program together. Aitana said that a lot of her friends live in Waits – she really likes it there. Hopefully she’ll be able to move – it doesn’t sound like she enjoys living with her current roommate. She’s very shy and doesn’t like to talk much, which Aitana finds annoying because she can’t practice her English. Luckily, her roommate also mentioned moving, but to Clark and with another girl.

I was still very curious about her trip to Peru. I asked Aitana if she planned on going to Machu Picchu. I’ve studied the Inca in my history and art history classes and I have always wanted to travel there. It looks beautiful.

“I’m not sure if we are,” Aitana replied. I encouraged her to check it out. Aitana said that they would mostly be spending time with their family since they hadn’t seen each other in years. She also wants to go to the beach. My jealously increased as she talked about everything they had planned. Once it was time for me to return to studying for my last exam, we said our goodbyes. I had a strange mixture of melancholy and relief after that last meeting. I was glad to be able to write my last conversation partner blog but at the same time I’ll miss talking with Aitana on an (almost) weekly basis.

This class gave me an opportunity to see how the intensive English program at TCU works. I had never met anyone in the program before this semester. I enjoyed seeing Aitana’s progress over the semester. She really did improve a lot in just a few months because she could only speak English. No one around her really spoke her native language with her. The entire experience reinforced my belief in the merits of an intensive language program. It really helps students learn a language quickly and it allows them to retain more information for a longer period of time. I think it’s the best way to learn a foreign language!