Lucy CP-1

Tayana and I had a blast our first time hanging out. We went to Up in Smoke BBQ and shared a meatloaf plate (she was curious) with collards, mac n cheese, baked beans, and garlic bread…Super Southern!
I tried to describe what meatloaf was to her, but she did a better job of describing it after we ate- she said it seemed like just a big meatball...Kind of true, it definitely wasn’t as good as my mom’s. We both agreed food was always better when it came from home.  Anyway, we talked about everything- our families, our travels, relationships, school. Then we walked next door to Cypress and shared a crème brulee which a very cute waiter gave us for free! She enjoys trying new foods so we talked about having foodie dates and splitting otherwise expensive, interesting meals. Very cool.
I think maybe we’ll also try to take in art around town, since she’s a design major. And there are lots of other neat museums around town we could check out- the antique car museum, maybe San Luis? Anybody ever been? So, one idea that I’ll volunteer here is for conversation partners to look in to getting a WFSU card that allows a person to get two for one deals at restaurants and attractions around Tallahassee and around the state, say Panama City or Destin? I have one and love it.  You make a donation to WFSU, I want to say 50 bucks, so it’s kind of pricey…But if you’re interested in donating to a good cause, and then surreptitiously getting a freebie (kind of rocks) then check it. If you’d like to see how it works and some of the available discounts, check out Membercard.com/wfsu, or ask me in class and I can let you know more. Swear I don’t work for them, I just like the thing and it’s good if you want to save a little money.
Tayana’s English is nearly flawless and she has an excellent vocabulary. The only problem I can see is pronunciation, which I imagine practice will take care of. She and I spoke of how besides learning to wrap your mouth around foreign words, a person often also has native regional accents to overcome. For instance in Brazil (where she’s from), people from one region pronounce their “r’s” differently than people from another region—she doesn’t pronounce hers very strongly, but does have problems with some English words like “glass” as opposed to “grass”. She also has issues with how many different ways specific English letters can be pronounced. We both agreed that the letter “E” can be awfully unfair.  I totally get what she means by the pronunciation thing though, because I often lapse into a Southern accent and then have to reorient my mouth once I notice the twang. The same deal with “r’s” exists in the U.S. though, with Bostonians who “pahhk the cahh” instead of “paRking the caR”…Or in other countries- I know in the North of Spain, Asturians lisp their “s’s”…
Anyway, Tayana and I had an awesome time together.