Musings with Mr. Moreno (Part 2)

Last Thursday I had my second meeting with Edinson Moreno, with whom I am meeting a total of eight times this semester to discuss life in general. After learning alot about him in the first meeting, I was interested to have an actual discussion about something that interested both of us, rather than simply talking about our personal lives.

I asked Edinson what kind of things interested him other than his violin. Sports? Movies? Food? He explained that he hadn't found much to like in terms of food here at TCU, but admitted that may be the case because of his frequent visits to Market Square. He also said that many of the foods here are prepared differently than they were in his hometown in Colombia, causing the taste and texture to vary greatly. He told me that he had been unpleasantly surprised multiple times after thinking he'd found something that he'd had before. Edinson also explained that, like many others around the world, he was a fan of futbol (american soccer) and basketball. I explained to Edinson that I'd played both in high school and throughout elementary school, which he found to be pretty interesting.

However, the greatest similarity and talking point we found was our mutual love for the mysterious. Edinson told me that whenever he found free time, he would read about the world's greatest mysteries online. The Loch Ness Monster, the Bermuda Triangle, Stonehendge; he loved immersing himself in their mystique. We talked about the Bermuda Triangle for a long time before moving on to the Easter Islands, followed closely by Nazca's lines (which I'd never heard of). Edinson told me to look them up after our meeting, which I did gladly. Apparently these lines are shallow rows dug in the dirt in the Nazca desert in the shapes of different animals. The shapes are sometimes miles wide and are truly remarkable given the methods available at the time that they were made. The lines were created by the natives of the Nazca desert thousands of years ago, yet show amazing symmetry and scale. The fact that they survive to this day, despite only being a few feet deep, is remarkable.

After meeting a second time, I realized that although we grew up thousands of miles apart, Edinson and I share many similar interests. Clearly the world is a smaller place than I'd imagined.