I have always been interested in geography – maps decorating my teenage bedroom with the goal of memorizing all the capitals of the world. Names like Ulan Bator, Ascension and Bhutan-Sikkim bringing pleasure as they rolled off my tongue. But what I never expected was that knowledge of geography could show my age.
I started off my explorations of the world in a Canadian school located in Japan. (Too complicated to explain.) There was a class entitled The Geography of Africa, Australia and the British Isles. Maps were carefully drawn each week in which we noted such places as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Rhodesia, and the Belgian Congo – all now in the dustbin of history.
My geographical brush with Africa went through an updating when my Marine husband was assigned to Beirut, Lebanon. From there he traveled extensively through Africa and l relearned the geography of that continent. It was now just the Sudan; the Belgian Congo had become Zaire; and Rhodesia had become Zimbabwe. I was now up to date.
But not really. There are no laurels to rest upon in the world of geography. Those pesky states that made up the Soviet Union (now gone, although Putin is working on that) are currently separate countries. Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan all have a seat at the United Nations, and I am still catching up. Terrorists attacked Mumbai and it was a moment before I realized we were talking about Bombay. I made a comment about Burma to a puzzled grandchild whose frown relaxed when I corrected myself to say Myanmar.
Certainly, I understand the power of a name. Why else do parents agonize so over what to call their children? And one would certainly not want to turn that decision over to a random neighbor. But have a little pity on me. I am willing to change, but I have three quarters of a century of ever-morphing names behind me, and I am panting slightly to keep up. In the spirit of the times, I am now considering changing my name. How about Sianne-Marie or Charmayanne or Vin’nyla? (I did not make these up!) And what is more, I can always change them again next year if they do not turn out to be what I hoped.