Name for a Baby? 

(Don't worry I can still ride the roller coasters)

“?Quieres ir con nosotros hasta la casa de Marta?” Yeah, see, I’m not sure either. Though, my Spanish has improved some. I can now say the word “if” which I find I am using fairly frequently…for example “If I don’t feel sick tomorrow…” and “if I wanted to say…then I would…” So, you see, the conditional is also important too. Anyway, back to Marta. First of all it takes me a second to realize that this is an invitation. Would I like to join my host family in going to Marta’s house. Well, seeing as how I don’t know Marta or where she lives, or anything really about the situation, of course I will go. So, I leave with my host family and walk around the corner to Marta. It turns out that Marta is my host father’s sister. Perfect. Now I have a frame of reference. She has two small children, ages 4 and 1 and one baby, who is 4 days old (well a few days ago he was 4 days old). Mind you, it should be known that no one here speaks any English, so me figuring out these details is an accomplishment in and of itself. So. I meet everyone in the family, and end up sitting with the women a bedroom with the baby. They are talking and on and off I will have a side conversation with one of them. I think at one point I got too excited and way ahead of myself when I tried to explain that while Florida is a fairly hot state, that going to college in Gainesville meant that it was also sometimes very cold. Thinking about winter passed and I remembered how terribly hot it would get in Gainesville during the summer. Now up until this point I’d been getting by speaking in my broken Spanish. But in my English mind all I wanted to do was explain how because Gainesville was in the center of Florida, well, at least far enough away from the coast, that we had no sea breeze and thus no water in the air (humidity) so the summers were worse because of how dry it was. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, wow, Jessica can explain that in Spanish? How awesome! But then, you’d be wrong. Very, very wrong. The next five minutes consisted of me trying to say the word air, gesturing, gasping and saying “air” in English. It was torture. They were all laughing and shaking their heads at me, and finally one of them said, “Ah, aire?” Really. Really. The word air is a cognate. Wow. So we move past that and I mention “no agua en el aire” and they looked even more confused. Why would there be water in the air? Do you mean…rain? Ugh! No, no I don’t mean rain. I mean water in the air. So you see how ridiculous I sounded. I finally learned that humidity is actually “humedad”. Great. Another cognate. Anyway after the water in air fiasco, my host mom gave Marta’s baby a bath. He was not happy. A few minutes after he was dry and curled up on the bed again, I asked what his name was. From a cultural perspective the answer was very unexpected. “The baby doesn’t have a name yet” they said. I nodded back in understanding. Then without warning or explanation, they all proceeded to ask me the names of every male in my family. Naturally I started with my father (you’re welcome dad ;) ) and then began listing off names, with a great amount of hesitation and a slight amount of concern. Stuart is my father, Jared is my brother, etc. and then it dawned on me. I could accidentally be naming their baby, right now! Panic. I can’t name someone else’s child! And then as the eternal seconds passed I realized that not only could I be naming their son, but that their son would be named after one of my family members. So, as we flash twenty years into the future, and Stuart Jared Garcia wants to know where his name comes from, I’m going to be getting a phone call. So, somehow moving from family member’s names to simply names I liked seemed like a better idea, but still the situation was not resolved. I had to be more specific. I then listed off a few names I’d considered for myself if I ever have a male child. I should also let it be known that this information wasn’t voluntary. Peer pressure can be a very hard thing to avoid. Nevertheless, they couldn’t come to a consensus and alas, I am sorry to report to all my male family members that you will not have an Ecuadorian child named after you this time around. And just a bit of follow up here before I end this post…I did ask when the baby would get his name, and of the answer I was given all I understood was…30days. So after 30 days, and potentially the baby’s baptism or some other monumental event that I am unaware of, the baby will have his name! Oh, and don’t you all worry. I will surely report back with their final decision! ;)