The Last Meeting

     I had my last meeting with Milla on Monday. We spent the time catching up on each other's lives and she gave me another Spanish grammar lesson.

      Milla informed me that her son's birthday party went very well. Both of her boys had a ton of fun, she said. In September, she will get to plan her youngest son's (Santiago's) party.

     Milla's husband, Santiago, and Milla's neice all came to the meeting, so I got to meet them all again. Santiago told me he enjoyed his brother's party when I asked, and then all he could talk about was chocolate milk. Milla's husband took him to get some Tru Moo while Milla and I finished our conversation.

     I told Milla about missing something on a Spanish exam because I used "para" instead of "por." I told her my professor's reasoning behind choosing "por" and my original reason behind choosing "para." Milla was very confused and sided with my reasoning, so I'm not really sure what's going on with my Spanish preposition usage in that class.

     Milla and I chatted for a little while longer about mundane things and then it was time for her to go. She told me she'd be available to me anytime if I ever need any help with Spanish or whatever and gave me her new email address. We hugged and left.

     I greatly enjoyed meeting with Milla this semester. I learned so much from her about Venezuela.

     The most important thing I think I learned from her, though, is that everybody is different. She's living proof of that. I come from small town Texas, where the inhabitants stereotype every Hispanic person as lower class illegal immigrants. That's wrong, and even though I've always known that, I loved Milla actually showing me living proof that people are different. It was like she was proving my point that I've been trying to make all these years.

     No, she may not have known English when she first came to America, but she is trying to learn it. She's not low class, she's actually a lawyer and college professor with a college degree and an MBA. Her husband was a high-powered engineer. Her parents are teachers. She comes from a good background and thinks everyone should pay their fair share. She pays attention to American politics and has ideas on how to improve the system for funding the massive inflow of immigrants we have right now. She's a very bright woman. She's smart and humble and doesn't give herself enough credit. Most importantly, she is different.

     She is not the Hispanic stereotype politicians and small town inhabitants try to project on her. Milla is just that—Milla. She is unique. If I got nothing else from my conversation partner experience, I got that, and for that I'm truly grateful.