Rita Schwab Week 1 Conversation partner:

I met my conversation partner today at an international tea party with many people from all over the world, very exciting.
My partner turns out to be Eric Minoungou, a young student that has just arrived from Burkina Faso, a west central African country, 2 weeks ago. He is all smiles, a 'happy go lucky' fellow whose friends call him 'lucky' sometimes in his country. He is tall, very dark skinned, good looking and very intelligent. He had gone to Ghana to study English for just 2 months and never studied it before. Her speaks quite comprehensively and likes my slow and German pronunciation. He is not enrolled in college yet. He is here to learn more English to take the TOEFL test in order to become a student at FSU in Tallahassee.
He is so fresh and new and full of his culture, that I sense that he has no idea what is in store for him. His home language is french as well as an African Moorish slang, that is still prevalent from the Moore invasion a good 200o years ago. So is his county's architecture, a Moorish style with lots of stone work, court yards and round door frames. The climate he lives in is tropical.
He comes from a family of 5 children and a strong heritage with close connections to his grandparents. He lived with his Mom and Dad all of his life. His father and grandfather were considered 'King' in his community. They have the status of respect and wisdom to speak for their community. Only they are allowed to wear the traditional garb that is a lose flowing and colorful dress that drapes to the ground. He comes from a very traditional family, where his mother raised the children and kept house while his father runs a business and keeps two liquor stores to make a living.
We talked a lot about social expectations especially in regards to marriage and women. I told him that I was single, having raised 3 children primarily on my own and I had no husband. That is something he had never heard of. Women in his country get married very early in their mid to late teenage years. If they are not married by the time they are 20 years of age, they are considered 'not good enough', ugly or just unwanted. It is not a good status for a woman to be single and be over 20 years of age. Women's emancipation is just beginning in Eric's country.
Women bear a lot of children in Eric's heritage. This is a symbol of prosperity, wealth and good blessings. Due to many diseases, women usually lose a child or two.
Modern medicine is not very common in Eric's hoe country. Eric lost his grandfather due to the lack of medical treatment and the non-existence of a cardiologist. This left a sad feeling with Eric throughout the years. Therefore he has decided to come to the United States and study medicine, so he can become a cardiologist and return to his country to help his people. What a beautiful caring non-egotistical thing! I was really moved.

Eric lives in Tenkotdogo, a small town in the countryside of Burkina Faso. His father grows mango trees, about 100 of them. Other neighbors grow oranges, papayas, small avocados and in general tropical fruits. Land owners trade amongst themselves for their fruit.

We liked each other right from the start. There is so much to talk about and we just couldn't stop. We talked about each other's schedule; how we could meet and when; how we both like to cooked and what; how we could share a meal; how he could catch a ride with me as he does not have a car; how he does and does not like the cafeteria food and so on. We decided to meet again Friday for a ;tutoring session and it will be about 'family'. We both are going to bring pictures of our family and talk about them.

It was so good to meet Eric Minoungou - he made my day and I am looking forward to see him again on Friday.
Rita