How did "What is your name?" get to be such a difficult question? Both Andrew and I have found it tricky at times to know how to answer that one. And you yourself might have been confused at some point by wondering why we're using a different name than the one you know us by and might have wondered what is up.
Well, you see, I was Michelle Smith for a long time. It was pretty straightforward, except when there was another Michelle Smith around. Yeah, have you ever tried going to camp, the doctor, or church and had to clarify which Michelle Smith you were? That was my life until I went to Tanzania in July 2006.
Upon arrival, I discovered that Tanzanians couldn't pronounce the name Michelle. The i, ch, e, and l gave them trouble. Oh yes, and when they look at it written out, it looks an awful lot like 'mchele' to them, which means 'uncooked rice' in Swahili. I even had a man at the Kenya border look at my passport and announce "Michelle is not a name, it means rice!" and write out my Kenya visa for Frances, my middle name. So, thus the introduction of my new name: Misha.
Misha is a nice name - there aren't too many Mishas in the world, and it's really easy for Tanzanians to say and remember. For the sake of consistency, I had everyone call me Misha, my expatriate colleagues and Tanzanians alike. I was a Misha Smith in Tanzania and to all who knew me from Tanzania, and Michelle Smith to all who knew me from elsewhere. It worked pretty well, although I got confused at times when visiting North America after having been in Tanzania for a while and started hesitating when asked my name.
When I met Andrew, I first introduced myself to him as Michelle, since we were in Olympia. But then, when I realized that things might get serious, I asked him to call me Misha, unless we were with other people who already knew me, and then he'd better call me Michelle, or else they would be confused. The poor guy was kind of confused himself after that explanation!
So, Andrew's friends in North America call me Misha, by my friends call me Michelle. Yeah, that one can be tricky...
On Andrew's side, he was Andy until he went to college, at which point he became Andrew. I guess Andy Sandeen can start to sound a bit too much like Andy Sandy for comfort! So all of his family and pre-college friends call him Andy, but all of the college-era and after ones call him Andrew.
And then he came to Tanzania, where there is someone named Andre at our office. Because of the confusion, he goes by Sandeen with the Tanzanians at the office. For all the others here and for Tanzanians who are not at the office, he's Andrew. Yes, that does make it necessary to pause and think sometimes before answering "What is your husband's name?"
So, for example: to Andrew's family, we're Andy and Misha. To my family, we're Andrew and Michelle. To expat friends in Tanzania, we're Andrew and Misha. To the Tanzanians at the office, we're Sandeen and Misha.
Legally, as of last week, we're Andrew and Michelle Sandeen. After one year, I finally got my last name changed! But there sure are still a lot of things on which my name is still Michelle Smith... it takes a while to get it all straightened out!
Finally, we wish you to call us whatever you like from the list of above options. Sandeen, Andrew, or Andy; Michelle or Misha, choose your own adventure!
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