Hello, My Name is Mejda.

If any of you have ever taken a foreign language, it's quite likely that you have received a new name. Maybe if you were learning Spanish you became "Pablo" or "Maria." During my first semester of Arabic, I was "Farah."

Here, in Morocco... I am Mejda.

During the first couple of days, my host family sat down and told me that I needed a Moroccan name. So they took turns throwing names out there to see which one the whole family liked. Finally, my host sister suggested "Mejda" and everyone oohed and aahed. I had been named. I was told that it meant "glorious." I could handle that.

So from then on out, I've been known as Mejda at home and at the big house. Turns out, however, that another team member was also named Mejda. So, I became Mejda Wahed (one) and she became Mejda Djudsh (two).

Sometimes I hesitate when I'm I ring the doorbell and am asked, "Shkoon?" Right. I'm Mejda. Say Mejda. But other than that, I've learned to respond to the name. I've even used it with some of the kids we volunteer with so that they can use an easier name. Viviana is a bit difficult, I've learned.

However, one of our teachers here is horrified that many of us have received Moroccan names. He's mortified. How could we have been stripped of our identities and simply have another one slapped on over us?

I've never felt stripped of any of my identity. But its made me think. Is it simply a matter of convenience? Is it another form of cultural immersion? Is it something else?

How bout you? Have you ever been given another name while learning a language?