Names, names, names

The Dinka people really struggle to pronounce some of the sounds we use in English. For instance, Dinka often mix up the 'f' and the 'p' sounds, as well as the 'r' and 'l' sounds. You might hear a Dinka man say, "Let us crap for Jesus!" from the pulpit of his church. Or you might hear a Dinka woman talk about the great "farty" that she attended the other night. Basically, any time a Dinka tries to speak English, you will frobably know immediately that they are not a native English speaker.
When introducing myself, I ran into a number of difficulties with my name. The Dinka have few words where a consonant is placed right next to an 'n' where the consonant has to be sounded. Thus, many of the Dinka struggle to pronounce my name correctly. If I am not very careful to introduce myself as "Whi-ta-ney," they will always call me "Whinny." And then most of them giggle, laugh, and point at me because I have such a funny sounding name.
I was able to receive a Dinka name as well. So many of my new friends were struggling with my real name that they thought it best that I receive a whole new name. They named me Mary Ayen, because I favor the gray milk cow...obviously.
However, I much prefer these names to the one I hear most often..."Kwashja!" This means person with the white skin. And of course, it is accompanied by much pointing and laughing.
Perhaps by the end of my term here, I will have found at least one Dinka who knows my real name!