Meeting Mohanad Times Two

 I met with Mohanad the week before spring break, but never got the chance to post this blog.  Mohanad is such a cool guy; I have really enjoyed getting to know him through these meetings.  We met at the TCU Bookstore and had to search to find seats to sit at, but we finally did.  Mohanad actually spotted his twin brother, and asked if we could take his table from him.  So I met his brother, Abdul, and we chatted for a little bit, and then he was gracious enough to allow us to sit at his table.  We started with some casual small talk, the normal “How have you been?” “How are your classes?” “What have you been up to?”

We then started talking about our Spring Break plans.  Mohanad had some big plans for the break, and I was excited to hear what he thought about them.  He thought Spring Break was a great idea.  Everyone jetting off to different places with their friends? He was all about that.  He hadn’t exactly decided where he was going yet, but he gave me his two options and asked me for my opinions. The first was to fly to Miami, Florida, and the second was to drive down to South Padre Island.  He was leaning towards going to Miami, because he really didn’t want to drive nine hours to South Padre Island.  This was another thing that really sort of blew his mind.  He had a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea that you could drive that long, and still be in the same state.  Texas is huge, and sometimes I forget that, since I’ve lived here my entire life. 

Mohanad asked me about my Spring Break plans, and I told him that I was going home.  One of my best friends got married, which was strange to me, but it was normal for her.  He asked me why it was so weird for me to think about that, and I explained to him that in my friend Madison’s religion, it was normal for her to get married at our age.  The way that I was brought up, I was encouraged to wait until after I got out of college and had established myself in the professional world to get married.  That made sense to him, and I was glad that I was able to successfully explain my feelings about it to him

We got into a brief conversation about the different laws and policies that are found in the United States and in Saudi Arabia. We didn’t speak too extensively on this topic, and there weren’t any specific points that stuck out to me.  What stuck out to me the most was that he was surprised by certain laws that are in place here in the US because those laws would never be made back in Saudi Arabia.  It made me feel so blessed to be in a country where we have so many freedoms.  I forget how lucky I am to live here, and I always take these freedoms for granted.  Now that Mohanad lives here, even if it is just for a while, I have learned that he definitely doesn’t take his new freedoms for granted.  He has told me multiple times that he is so lucky to have been given this opportunity, and it never ceases to amaze me. 

I’m really enjoying getting to know Mohanad.  He is an awesome guy, and he has a really great outlook on life.  I definitely can’t wait to meet up with him again this week!