Photo courtesy of graffiti-shop.nl
When I first arrived in Ecuador everyone wanted to call me Lorena, but I was very adamant about the fact that my name was LAUR-EN. Not Lorena. I felt that I was making an effort to pronounce everyone’s names correctly (I wasn’t calling José “Joseph” just because that’s what it is in English) so I assumed everyone could try a little on mine.
However, as the months went on, everyone kept calling me Lorena (along with niña, mi hijita, and mi amiga Lora-lynn) and I began protesting less and less. I even started introducing myself as Lorena. The eventual surrender of my name had me thinking about what aspects of your identity are important to keep while abroad and what aspects you should allow to flex a bit.
Most importantly for me was to remain true to the person I was at home. I came to Ecuador with a desire to help, to learn, to relate to a culture and to be a positive ambassador of my country. While I may have Chilean blood in me, I still remain true to having African and Caucasian roots as well. Although I’m diligently trying to learn the language with the proper pronunciation, I don’t talk to my friends at home in an odd accent. And while I’m trying hard to understand and maybe even sympathize with Ecuador’s complex relationship with the United States, I’m never going to start dogging on my country.
However, I’m also not trying to overtly push my culture in a place where I’m the minority. While I find a lot of things frustrating about the systems here in Ecuador, I make a point to never say “We do this so much better in the United States.“ I consider myself a very “independent” woman, but I’m respectful of the fact that this is a male-dominated culture. And even when I’m in a place where I know the people also speak English, I will always at least try to exercise my mediocre Spanish first, because that is the language of this country.
At the end of the day, I think it’s about blending without totally assimilating. Letting people call me Lorena seems a small price to pay to share and take part of this beautiful culture.
Check out this other post about maintaining your identity: “Your Friend the Poncho Guy” by fellow La Vida Idealist blogger, Curtis Fox.
Latest posts by laurenfoukes
- Saying Goodbye to Ecuador - March 29th, 2010
- Aftermath of Chilean Earthquakes - March 7th, 2010
- Taking the Plunge - March 1st, 2010
- Lo bueno, lo malo y lo feo - February 20th, 2010
- My Country, 'Tis of Thee - February 8th, 2010
- Forget Language Teachers...I've Got Kids - January 31st, 2010
- Staying Flexible - January 25th, 2010
- Pollution Matters - January 22nd, 2010
- "...But Is It Safe?" - January 11th, 2010
- Saludos de Ecuador! - January 4th, 2010
Haha – “Puente” is so genius! I love it.
You’re lucky to have an easily translatable name… “Bridget” is pretty tough for the Spanish speaker and I absolutely hated the “Brigida” adaptation. My friends took to calling me “Puente” though, which does raise eyebrows upon introducing myself.
Sounds like you’re doing a great job at staying true to yourself as you work to assimilate!