A Mad Departure from a Winter Wonderland

              On the evening of Saturday December 9^th; I had been inside intently studying for my final exams over two days as North Texas became a winter wonderland.  As cabin fever began seriously creep up on me, I had to step away from my studies for few hours to let my mind rest a bit.   So I decided to text Mad to see if he would like to join me for a meal.  A few minutes later I received a response from Mad saying that although he would like to meet for dinner, the prospect of walking in the biting cold prevented him from venturing out.   I laughed and told him not to worry since I didn’t mind walking to a food venue closer to his house.  I thought it would do me some good to get some fresh air anyway and really did not want to have another meal at the school cafeteria, Market Square, since they had been running low on supplies over the past few days and the selections were becoming increasingly limited.   Mad and I decided to meet at Wendy’s since it was right next to his house.   So, at five in the evening, I began my epic quest to Wendy’s.   Nearly thirty minutes later I arrived finding Mad all bundled up awaiting for me.

After greeting one another and ordering our food the first thing to come out of Mad’s mouth was “Man it’s (expletive) cold! I can’t handle this.”  Foreseeing this to be one of the first things out of his mouth, I burst out laughing.   Mad seemed to be more stressed about the snow then finals!  But he was right; he was not being too much of a baby about this one.  It was seriously cold!  Neither of us  have ever lived in a place where it snows so this was a new experience for us both.  We never realized how much trouble and dangerous snow and ice could be.  I myself nearly died a handful of times on what would normally be an easy walk to Wendy’s as I slipped around the icy roads in my Vans (which had become wet and cold). We discussed how fascinating it was to us to learn of practices such as placing salt on the roads of or having buckets of dirt available for students to scatter as they walked.  Mad complained about not being able to get to the Rec Center the past few days to workout, which became a tangent about working out.  Mad and I both take an interest in fitness and in fact, the Rec Center is actually the place where we first met and where we frequently run into one another.   His interests there are in body building – which is apparently a popular sport in Saudi Arabia.   He expressed his frustration with not being able to afford buying enough “clean” food to fulfill his caloric needs.  Having played and followed four years of a rigorous high school football program myself, I understood how frustrating it could be to see little to no gain from hard work and of the importance of eating right.  But what had never crossed my mind was the fact that some people like Mad, simply could not afford good fresh food.   This made me realize that things like “food deserts”, which I have studied, are actually real and how lucky I am to not worry about food… yet. 

Eventually his tangent tapered back into our original conversation on the cold and snow. Mad stated he was surprised how well and quickly the U.S. government responds to natural disasters.  This statement perplexed me because I figured that with the vast wealth of the Saudi Arabian government their citizens are provided for both in times of turmoil as well as in everyday life.  Mad said it was true that they had money and resources to respond to adversity but that the government was so corrupt that if some type of disaster such as the recent tsunamis in the Philippines were to strike, the wealthy government officials would only look out for themselves and their affluent families.  Once again this shocked me, making me realize how lucky I am to live in a country like the United States.

An hour later, having finished our meal, Mad and I figured it best to get back to our studies. As we prepared to depart; I realized that this was going to be our last meeting for the purposes of this class.  But we assured one another that once the New Year comes and I arrive back at TCU for the new semester we would get back together to catch up.   Once we said our goodbyes and I ordered a steaming hot cup of coffee, I began the long, cold trek back to my dorm.

I am extremely thankful for having had the opportunity to meet and learn from Mad.  Our conversations have made me immensely appreciative of what I have and they have instilled in me a more worldly perspective.  But what I value the most from this experience is that I have gained a new friend.