"Mahrjan" can roll over!

Well, just when you thought you had "mei-mei" down, we have another new name for Maranatha! That's right. It is very common here for Americans to be re-named (given a Chinese name) by someone here (the same way that a foreigner in America will often take on an American name, for ease of introduction, spelling, and pronunciation). In the area where we live, there is also the likelihood that foreigners will be given a minority name as well, if they interact frequently with the minority groups here.

Here she is showing off the trick she's gotten so good at-- rolling over. (Look at her great tights that are all one piece but makes it look like she's wearing ballet slippers--what fun!)

This semester, Doug switched over from learning Mandarin to learning Kazakh. So, in Doug's language class the other day, we learned (I was listening in) that the Kazakh word for pearl is "Mahrjan" (I can't really think of how better to spell this... it includes a sound that we don't really have in English.) Try to make an "rrr" sound, and then add in a J/ZH sound with your tongue held up at the middle-to-back of the roof of your mouth, and you'll likely be pretty close. (Go on, try it!) Then try making that sound in between the two different syllables: "ma" (R/J/ZH) "awn" (as in dawn). Since Maranatha's middle name is Pearl, and the Kazakh name that means pearl is quite similar to the first two syllables of Maranatha, we decided with Doug's teacher to make it official: her Kazakh name is now Mahrjan.


MeiMei, Maranatha, Mahrjan--confused? Yeah, well, just wait until she gets a Chinese name! ;)