Emily_CP_2

I had been conversing with one of my conversation partners all weekend to try and figure out something to do for Halloween.  I met Laura at the beginning of this past spring semester when I signed up to get a conversation partner.  I’ve had fun seeing her English progress from when I first met her!  Laura is from Panama. She was actually born in Colombia but has lived a lot of her life in Panama. We are the same age and get along really well.  I have been to the capital of Panama, which is where she lives, so that is one of the first things we bonded over.  My sister studied abroad this past summer in Panama with FSU, so she and Laura talk about that a lot.  We are all friends.  Laura has even come to Thomasville with me, eaten some southern food (she actually really liked grits), and hung out at my house with my family.  I’ve met her whole family as well.  We all had dinner together in August when her parents and sister came to Tallahassee at the start of the fall semester.

I told Laura about the Halloween event that InternatioNOLE was having today, so she came to that, and we ate dinner at Chili’s together afterwards.  I was Lil’ Wayne and she dressed up as a hippie. It was nice catching up with her.  She was originally planning to go back to Panama in February, but she told me that she already took the TOEFL, and if she did well she will go back in December. 

Her English was pretty good when I first met her, and as the months have passed I’ve noticed fewer and fewer grammatical errors in our texting conversations when trying to plan things as well as our actual conversations in person. She is not shy when she isn’t sure how to say something and always asks for clarification, which I am happy to give.  Today, I also noticed how comfortable she has become in speaking that language and talking for a long time.  I will miss her a lot when she leaves, but I know I’ll see her again.  She plans to spend some time taking classes at FSU Panama.  All of the classes there are taught in English, which is why she came to CIES. Then she wants to come do the last two years of her undergrad in Business here in Tallahassee.