Marissa_CP#3

 

Marissa M.
Conversation Partner Blog #3
9/10/2014

 

Last Wednesday I met with Jesus for another conversation session.  Since he is only in the US for a short time, he does not have a car to get around most of the time and relies on the bus system.  He has navigated this very well!  But knowing this – and how interested he is in experiencing what he can while in Tallahassee – I wanted to take him somewhere different for our meeting.  I used the idea of Lichgate that I had seen on another student’s blog. 

 

Lichgate is a place I had not known about until just last year, even though I have lived in Tallahassee the majority of my life.  It is such a neat place and I thought he would enjoy it.  I was right!  He took many pictures and posted them on Facebook saying what a fun time he had exploring the place with me  We stayed for almost two hours walking around, learning the history, and then relaxing in the chairs under the oak tree as he interviewed me for his class.

 

There were several words that Jesus was not familiar with as we walked around the gardens.  Kin was one of the words.  This was easy to relate to family, but to really explain it in more detail based on the questions he asked proved a little more difficult for me since it isn't a word I generally use.  We went through the maze and so he got to learn about this word.  That was a lot of fun to me, even though it seemed never-ending!

 

Our timing was perfect, as one of the Lichgate staff who helps maintain the property was visiting the site to meet with a couple about their wedding.  We had a few minutes before they arrived so Jesus and I spoke with her about the property.  She told us that the giant oak tree was grown from a single acorn over 300 years ago.  Jesus did not know what an acorn was so we had to try and explain that by finding one.  Since they are just out of season, I wasn't able to, but did find pictures of acorns on my phone that I showed him.

 

While we couldn't find acorns, I was able to find locust bugs.  I'm guessing they do not have these as much in his country and/or South America (I've never seen one), because he enjoyed looking at it and seeing exactly what it was.  I told him that when I was a kid they were all over the place and we used to play with them. 

 

Before we left, Jesus told me that he really enjoyed this place.  There is nothing like this for him in Colombia because of the government control.  We are lucky to have this unique place to enjoy!

 

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