WHO AM I?

Since arriving I have collected quite a few apodos, or nicknames. I realize that the Ecuador culture and maybe even the hispanic culture in general places heavy emphasis on giving out nicknames; if you know someone personally you shouldn´t call them by their name, but rather a nickname that shows you either know them in a special way. It can be funny, situational, random, or a title; no matter what the nickname is it shows something.

I am....

DOCTOR

NEGRO

PROFFE

CHIDO

VECINITO

JOSHEP, YES J O S H E P.

I translated for a medical brigade, where I gave simple advice like vitamins and washing hands. I told them what they needed to cut out of their diet to lower diabetes rates or high blood pressure, and because of this a large group of people call me DOCTOR. This happened about four months ago now, but I still have people coming up to me asking me about their bloody are or their headaches.

I look at them and for a split second don´t understand why they are pointing to the head asking me what they can do, then I have to try my best to tell them that even though I gave them the advice, it was coming from a doctor.

On night I was hanging out with a friend and another friend that happened to be drunk yelled across a room to me. I don´t know how he chose his words, or for what reason he said what he said but in front of a huge group of people he said, que fue negro. I was really confused, because everyone knows, I am not black. After looking around for negro I realized it was me and everyone started laughing.

I just finished a month long camp where I taught a section called Intergrating the World. This basically consisted of environmental education, leadership, self-esteem and english. From this camp 150 kids call me Proffe, like proffessor.

Everyone knows that I am mexican american. To them this is one of my most important merits and gets me a lot of cool points. They get all the mexcian television shows here, so the fact that I understand what "pinche wey" or "ch**ga tu" means makes them so interested. In these novelas they use a word for cool, "chido". The Ecuadorians do not however use this word, but rather "chevere". Since this difference makes them laugh they call me chido because they think I full embrace this term, even though I learnt it here. Besides this nickname, I also get tons of questions. There is a novela right now that is about a Mexican family crossing the border to USA, whenever there is a cliff hanger I get tons of questions the next day about what is going to happen. For example they ask me: "When you crossed the border did the coyote kill your sister?" "I don´t have a sister, plus I was born here" "When you crossed the border, did you almost suffocate in a refridgerator?" " I have never been transported in a refridgerator, plus I have never crossed the border" "Did they piche americanos shoot at you?" "I never have been shot at, plus I was born in the United States. I am at least third generation American on my dad´s side and I think when my mother crossed she just came in a car, no refriderators, no guns, no coyotes. I am chido.

 Vecinito means little neighbor and this is what all my neighbors call me. It´s cool.

Joshep, is just a mispelling, but I think it´s funny.