Chris CP#2

I just met with my second conversation partner. His name is Abdulla and he is from Saudi Arabia. He is Muslim and is currently fasting during the day for Ramadan, so he suggested we do something outside instead of meeting for food. It was pretty nice after it rained this afternoon so we walked around Lake Ella.

Conversation between me and Abdulla was very easy. His English was very good and we began talking about our pasts and what we are currently doing. We talked a lot about east/west cultural differences and similarities as well as politics in both regions. I could tell that like myself, Abdulla was very interested in learning about people from other cultures. He had a lot of questions for me and there were many times our conversation took a philosophical turn and then we would both laugh realizing how a simple question had raised such interesting banter between the two of us.

He asked me about the different types of waterfowl in the lake and I told him the names of the ones I knew. At the same time a white heron flew right in front of us with a fish in its beak. The fish was flipping around in its mouth while it just stood there. Abdulla and I sat there quietly waiting for its next move. After a few moments, it flung the fish into its mouth, swallowed it, and then flew away. We looked at each other and started laughing. It was one of those cool moments in nature you don't get to witness a lot! On that note we parted ways, but definitely as new friends.