Zachary Backes - TP 12

6/28/12

So this was going to be Talal and I's last meeting for awhile since he was going to be staying in Orlando with friends and I was picking up more shifts between my jobs since classes were out. I asked if he wanted to go and ride the St. Marks trial. Its about 32 miles from start to finish but its all flat and mostly shaded. We agreed to meet around 1:30, So I got there at about 1:50 and only waited 15min before he finally showed.

We set out at an easy pace, I didn't have to be at work until six and neither of us were planning on doing the full trail. We started talking about some of the new music we had exchanged, I introduced him to The Black Keys. Not for any language learning advantage, but because they are awesome and should be heard. He really liked them, even though he said he could hardly understand most of the songs. I cant wait to show him Pearl Jam.

The day was pretty nice and the trail was all but deserted except for the random jogger or other cyclist. I started asking him about his impression of America after being here for almost 6 months and the one he had before he came. He said he hadn't really thought much about what America would be like before he came. He figured it would be bigger and different but most of his impressions before that came from movies which he didn't think were real. Smart guy.

One thing he said he was not expecting was how much he would miss his home. He told me that he had not lived anywhere but the apartment he was currently staying at and his father's house. Talk about a big jump. I asked when he thought he would get to go back home, and he said it would probably after he graduated. The way in which he said it made him almost seem stranded, but he smiled after a second and said that at least by then he will be able to speak English and have a degree to work with.

We stopped for water at the Munson Hills Mountain Bike Trail after a good bit of biking. Talal was curious about the trail and mountain biking so I told him about the few times Mayowa had taken me out. Mountain biking is amazing fun, stupidly scary, and often times partially painful. But the more you stick with it the more addictive it becomes. I saw a slight gleam in Talal's eye as I described racing through the winding trails dodging trees and hopping brush. Told him I would take him out mountain biking the next time he was in town.

The topic of mountain biking lead us to sports, and me ineptly trying to explain the appeal of American Football. He didn't understand much of the point to the game but did understand when I said that I really only follow the teams my dad, and his dad before him, followed because it was kind of tradition. He is, of course, a huge soccer fan. And one thing this trip taught me was that you cannot convince a soccer fan that anything is better than soccer, ever.