Thursday, July 21, 2011

what's in a name?

My given name is Megan.  There's only a very select few people (that would be my grandma, one of my best friends, another friend/mentor, an old roommate, and a former co-worker) who can get away with calling me Meg. To my nieces and nephew I'm Auntie Megan, or simply Auntie.  When I lived in Guatemala, Tito would illogically refer to me as MarcelaBut here in Tijuana, ever since I can remember, I’ve been known as Magi.  Short for Margarita, many Spanish-speakers incorrectly assume.  Some bilingual friends have at times shortened it into MagsTonia at the home for elderly used to yell for Mago; Angela would ask for The Girl From Minnesota.  For a while Giovanni called me Margara.  My neighbor Don Miguel has christened me Magali – after repeated drunken inquiries as to my name, he exclaimed that he finally remembered, and his mistake has since stuck. Sometimes of the neighborhood kids accidentally call me Mamá once in awhile, while one consistently and purposefully uses Mamá Magali.  Edgar the taxista always politely refers to me as Señorita Magi.  Sometimes Nereida does say Megan (but usually just when she’s teasing me), while lately Ivan has preferred the Spanish pronounciation of my last name: Ree-GOAT.  When I went to the junk yard to sell scrap metal the other day, they put Alisa (my middle name) on my receipt.  And of course, many take the easy way out and simply go with Guera, that is, “white girl”…

No comments: