What really IS in a name?

I noticed here pretty quickly that my name was not going to work. If I wanted people to be able to remember my, let alone pronounce it, Kirstin was just not going to do. From the time I got off the plane and people began asking my what my name was I had various reactions and only one person that could say it. The most typical responses were as follows, WHAY???, laughing- followed by "Oh, Okay," and my personal favorite, blank stares. I then had my first day at the school and it was a continuation of the same thing. When I returned to the school on my second day, EVERYONE had to ask me for my name again because they could not remember it. That night I went home and knew I had to change my name... but to what?

Well, luckily and unluckily my name has caused problems for people to pronounce and remember my entire life. Even to this day I have family members that call me the wrong name (usually KRI-stin). When we were younger my brother could not say my name and started calling me Kiki. That has been a nickname for me since I was little, however ONLY my family called me it. Kiki is now my name.

I introduce myself to everyone now as Kiki. At first I would start to say Kirstin and have to stop myself. Now I tell everyone and have a hard time saying Kirstin when I actually meet people who could say it (other Americans and Europeans I have met). Kiki has worked great though. People love it. I get compliments on my name here all the time and have been told people want to take my name. Two other responses I get to Kiki are laughs, followed by someone saying "Like you kick a ball?" and the other is people start singing me the song about Kiki (I don't know it, but they enjoy singing it for me).

Here all of us volunteers (whites) are referred to as sisters. At school every morning (and now on the streets when the kids are not in school) I enjoying hearing them yell, "Sister Kiki, sister Kiki. How are you?".