The World Is Full of Possible Celebrations

While waiting for my class to start, I start rummaging through old papers and a folded up, highlighted interview from Eduardo Galeano came tumbling out of my notebook. I realized that I read this interview long before I came to Chile but now, more than any other period in my life, I have been forced to listen and, while hearing new voices around me, I have experienced worlds that I could not have imagined existed. 

So here's to listening, experiencing, and growing!

And above all, most importantly if you don't want to be mute, you should begin by not being deaf. You have to know how to listen if you want to speak. Listen in order to speak. Then open your eyes if they're closed, uncover your ears if they're blocked. Listen, look, feel the voices of the world...The happy, the merry, the joyous (that's the word I was looking for, joyous) proof that the world neither begins nor ends at the edge of your own skin. That every one is more than just one, and there are colors and voices waiting for you...The world is full of possible celebrations. There's so much to celebrate. And to receive the world is to accept the horrors but also the wonders. It's a constant challenge to leave your shell, your prison. Just remember that in order for that to work you've got to also know how to see what's happening outside. Because other voices will challenge what you think, they'll help make you alive. It's a kind of dialogue, a fecund, living contradiction that allows for growth. 

Eduardo Galeano 

Hello Snow, Goodbye Winter

Winter, snow, and Christmas. 
Ornaments, ho ho ho, hot chocolate, and mistletoe. 
What else is there in the cold months? 

Oh wait! That is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Living in the Southern Hemisphere reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia where Lucy explains, "And the White Witch has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia—always winter, but it never gets to Christmas."

Here in Chile we are in a winter...without Christmas. 

Nothing beats the winter blues though like a visit to the Andes. Over the weekend some friends and I climbed into a van and headed to the border region between Chile and Argentina. The day was perfect: snowball fights and snow angels, snowmen and sunshine, hot chocolate and good friends, white mountains and frozen lakes. 

What I realized was that even without Christmas, winters in Chile are still beautiful. 

Hello, My Name Is...Oh Wait, I Am Not Sure

"Beth" never seemed like that hard of a name. The one syllable word was rarely misspelled or mispronounced and, better yet, took me no time to fill out on scantrons for tests. (Seriously, could you imagine having a first name "Mahershalalhashbaz" and being in kindergarden?)

"Beth Anne" sometimes confused people. Two syllables, an "e" at the end, and a space in between was a bit tricky but people usually figured it out. That was, until I came to Chile...

In the last seven months my name evolved to the point now, when people ask me what my name is they are sometimes met with a blank stare.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me go back and give you the official name timeline.

Beth Anne- I leave Arizona, name in hand.

Beth- I drop the "Anne" in the airport. I have only been in Chile 5 minutes but both syllables are already causing problems.  

Bet- The "th" sound is almost impossible for most of my friends to say. When I say, "Beth," they ask me how to spell it. B-E-T-H. The response, "Oh I get it- Bet!" Perfect, I always wanted my name to reflect a work related to gambling. But Bet works. I begin to introduce myself as Bet to avoid spelling my name out all the time.

Vet- Let it be known that Chileans love to switch around the "v" and "b" sound when talking. So, the name "Vet" quickly followed "Bet." People start asking me things like, "I was calling your name, didn't you hear me Vet?!" Oops! I forgot my name is Vet. Forgetting one's name causes problems. Forgetting one's name in another country causes hilarious and sometimes awkward situations.

La Bet/La Vet- I actually find the use of pronouns before names in Chile really endearing (with a sprinkle of fancy). However, I feel like I am in a Pavlovian name experiment and suddenly find myself responding to La Beth or La Vet like a conditioned puppy.

Bent- If you are confused by how someone thought my name was Bent, don't worry, I am too. One day I was reading a group email from a friend and they mention "Bent" needed to do x, y, and z. I read the email and thought, "Well that is strange, I thought I was responsible for that but clearly this Bent person is taking care of it." Later realized that I am that Bent person. Luckily, the name Bent did not stick.

Gringuita- When you are the only gringa in your classes or events, people may start calling you gringuita, which literally means "little gringa." Nothing makes going to classes more interesting than being called gringuita and then talking about the history of the word "gringo" in Mexico. Love it.


After all of these names though, nothing really prepared me for the name my professor gave me in class today.

After discussing something in class, my professor looks at me and ask, "Gringuita, what is your name again?"

"Beth or Bet." I am trying to make my name as easy as possible for my 80 year old teacher.

"Beth?"

"Sí."

"Beth is too difficult. I am just going to call you something else."

"Okay..."

"I am going to call you- Panchita. Perfect name for you...Panchita!"

I almost die laughing. Panchita. I am not even sure how that is remotely related to Beth/Bet/Vet. The three syllable name seems less easy to me than Bet but what do I know?

So, the current phase in the name evolution is Panchita! I am thinking about scribbling "Panchita" onto my birth certificate and passport. I may even start signing my emails and introducing myself as Panchita.

Or I might just wait, who knows when my next name will roll around? But until then...

Yours truly,

Panchita