Susan Wehe's Testimonial
We have had a great time with our guys, Mahmoud and Ahmed. They are good people, good friends, and I hope good students. We’ve got to do a few things with them, and we still hope to do a few more things.
I don’t feel that we’ve been able to do as much with them as I wanted. We weren’t able to take them with us to Iowa during the winter holiday; it was just a bit too complicated. I have felt extremely guilty for not providing sufficient and varied experiences for them. I wanted to take them somewhere interesting each month, but I don’t think we have. Of course, we have spent time with them, but mostly just shopping and occasional movies or restaurants.
We have learned some things about their family, their city, and their goals. We went to some of the middle eastern restaurants with them, a challenge for Rob but no problem for me. It was very interesting for me to go to Austin with the whole group. Especially interesting for me were the difficulties associated with picking a restaurant. I was pleased that a small number of the group showed some flexibility and openness, but it seemed to me that that area: food – was an area that I didn’t see very much growth in.
We did make Thanksgiving dinner for our guys with an official halal turkey from the appropriate store.
I do think they enjoyed meeting with my parents and visiting them. They love my mom, of course!
I’m not sure at this point if we have had or received much of an impact, but I do recommend other families to be mentors. It’s mostly fun, and I believe that it’s important to continue working on these kinds of connections. I believe we will stay in contact with each other, and that we will continue to be friends even after this experience ends in Dallas.
