Our third meeting was in the Lapinkaari common kitchen. Because we already felt more comfortable with each other and outside it was dark and cloudy, we decided to stay inside, have some coffee with some cookies and continue with the exchange in a calm and cozy environment.
In this session we worked on some vocabulary about the different parts of the house: kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, etc. Alijon learnt these words in Spanish and Andrea, Daira and I, practiced them in Persian. We also took advantage to talk about typical foods and ask Alijon if in Tajikistan it is common to have an afternoon snack. The conversation mixed English, Spanish and Persian, according to what we needed to understand each other.
Little by little the conversation drifted to more personal topics like, how we are experiencing Erasmus in Tampere, our routine here, the trips we’ve gone on and the wants we want to do, etc. I soon realized that I was learning about life in Tajikistan and how complicated it can be to travel within the country, but from the perspective of someone who is actually from there. Remembering the words in Persian was still a challenge, but we took it with a pinch of salt. We then started talking about our future meetings, like meeting up to bake a cake together, something that wasn’t planned in the beginning.
In conclusion, this third session confirmed that true learning happens in simple moments in which we share coffee, stories and little snippets of our everyday lives. Not only have I learnt new words in Persian but I also feel like I get to know the world a little better through these conversations.
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