Lucy CP-5

Even though I hadn’t really wanted to have Mussad as a Conversation Partner because I already had him as a Tutoring Partner, I could tell he was eager for extra speaking practice, and because the TOEFL is in June, I complied. As it turns out, I’m so glad I did. Mussad is incredibly thoughtful and interesting and we have a lot we can talk about. My boyfriend came along at my request, and the three of us had a wonderful meeting at Monk’s/Wells Brothers-? (It looks like they’re changing their name).
He spoke of teaching at King Saud University, and said he felt confident having me as a tutor…(What a moment—I think “beaming” is the word). I asked him if Saudis liked U.S. citizens, and he thought that the educated college crowd would be very receptive. He did admit that there is tension with Western influence, but seemed to think that with the Arab Spring, minds were opening. He said that the tragedy of 9/11 hurt the whole world, and that attacks like that had happened in his nation. He also confided that he had a friend killed by Al Qaeda and disliked their influence. I told him that I had been afraid after 9/11 that the U.S. was going to become increasingly closed and hostile towards immigrants, and it made me sad to know that there was such fear and bigotry clouding our air, but that I thought the U.S. was slowly recouping its international relations. We spoke of religion, and how upsetting it is that while so many religions claim to value peace (can’t think of one that doesn’t actually), they all seem to come to conflict. Mussad is a pretty devout Muslim, and I told him that I had taken an Islam course in college, which he seemed grateful to hear. I told him that I was a Catholic, but that I had a lot of respect for the Quran. We both thanked each other for our understanding. I also brought Mussad an American Education book this meeting…”Creating An Inclusive School”.  Perhaps Mussad and I can co-author “Creating An Inclusive World”.
 I was really happy to have Jon with us because he spoke at a normal pace and didn’t slow down, speak louder, enunciate, or avoid jargon or analogies while he chatted with Mussad. This was interesting to observe because I saw what Mussad was really having to deal with and would need to become better prepared for. A fascinating moment came when we began speaking of the job market here in the U.S. and Jon held the opinion that immigrants able, willing, and intellectually capable of work should be able to hold jobs, while Mussad didn’t like the idea that jobs for Americans were being taken by immigrants. Mussad wants to return to his country and help there as soon as he finishes his phD here. He held the idea that immigrants should return to their own countries and help to fix the problems there before coming to the U.S. for help.
…I smiled and nodded but stayed out of it. I would agree with Mussad, except in a few cases. Say, language teachers for one… (: