Normally, turning 22 years old is fairly insignificant as far as birthdays go. However, I’m using my twenty-second birthday to inaugurate the alteration of my identity.
When I studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, I quickly found out that Hailey does not translate very well into Spanish. Upon every Spanish introduction, I had to repeat my name at least twice for anyone to understand what I had just said. Having these types of interactions on a daily basis got a little old and a bit frustrating, to say the least. Additionally, Hailey pronounced in Spanish sounded more like “Hi-lee” or even “I-lee” (since the “h” is silent). With this less than endearing experience under my belt, I have considered over the past few months what it would be like to go by my first name, Laura. All of my documents are under Laura Hailey Carmichael, and going by Laura would make things much simpler. Plus, Laura translates to Spanish well. Hailey does not.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, I have made the switch. I have started introducing myself as Laura when I meet people. Now that I’ve made up my mind, it’s been relatively easy to respond “Me llamo Laura” when people ask for my name in Spanish. However, I’m still having trouble keeping this rule when introducing myself to people in English. What can I say? Trying to change the automatic response to perhaps the most common question in any language is a tough habit to break.
Lately, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to introduce myself as Laura, because I’m starting to meet more people and actually make friends. Since Sunday, I’ve really been testing myself in my identity crisis. On Sunday, Sarah and I met up with two different auxiliaries (teaching assistants)—one I had met in the hostel and the other we met through another connection—and today was Day 1 of our orientation session. When I exited the Metro Oporto early this chilly morning, I could easily pick out the Americans walking in small groups down the street towards our meeting location. We followed the hand-made signs for direction; they were pieces of white computer paper with the word “Auxiliares” scribbled on it and an arrow underneath. I think it’s the perfect symbol to embody our orientation.
I’ve been to a number of orientations in my day, but this one may have been the most inefficient, ineffective, and useless one of them all. Because I’ve been given the inside scoop on everything-auxiliare from Carolina Thur de Koos (a 2007 Furman grad who did this program last year), I’ve been able to have answers to the 1000s of questions that come with moving to a new country and a new job. Also, Carolina has provided me with valuable tips and suggestions already worth their weight in gold—such as great restaurants in Madrid and travel tips. Unfortunately, the 500-600 other auxiliaries did not have their personal liaison to help calm nerves and provide helpful and useful information. So, thank you, Carolina, for giving me the information about banking, purchasing cell phones, finding housing, getting paid, using medical insurance, paying taxes, obtaining a residency card, y muchas otras cosas beforehand. I had quite a leg up on my journey to Spain!
Graduating from college and moving into the real world is a tough transition, but graduating from college and having to deal with the "real world responsibilities" in a foreign country and non-native tongue is another thing entirely. Me encanta. (I love it.)
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