Matthew TP # 1

Yesterday (Monday, July 1st) I met with Leonardo Enrique, one of my Tutoring Partners. As this was our first meeting it was mostly informal. We met in the CIES lounge and made our introductions. For the most part we discussed how Leonardo was liking America, having arrived only 6 months ago here from Venezuela. We went over more technical subjects for a few minutes, such as what he wanted to work on and he showed me examples of the work he was doing at the CIES so I could get a better understanding of how to help him. I was impressed with his speaking skills, especially after he told me that he had arrived here with no English knowledge. While not always grammatically correct, he was confident as he spoke and we had very little trouble carrying out our conversation. After a while our conversation drifted towards his home country and the spotty relations between Venezuela and the US. He was refreshingly open on his opinions about this subject and grew excited when he discussed his family and his life in Venezuela. We made plans to meet at 4.30 every Monday and also made a rough schedule of what we would be working on.