Pregnancy is occasion for rollercoaster emotions, including flashes of insanity. This is especially true when it comes to picking the baby’s name. When I was pregnant, we chose a boy’s name out straightaway: Isaac, for his father’s paternal grandfather Isodore. As for a girl’s name, there was a new one every week. For a stretch, I was partial to Sidonie. Elena was another contender, Sebastiana, too. At an Ethiopian restaurant one evening, we seriously considered Tej. Tej is a sweet Ethiopian wine made with honey. Tej. It has a nice ring to it, but what were we thinking?
I wondered the same thing yesterday when I read an Associated Press story about procreation vacations, getaways for couples trying to conceive. (Another one from the What Will They Think of Next Department.) A woman named Lucinda Hughes claims she got pregnant the day after she and her husband partook of the conception package at Westin’s Our Lucaya Grand Bahama Island; if she has a girl, she is planning to name her Lucaya. To me, this is an odd-sounding name. Then again, when we were studying world geography in the sixth grade, I discovered the poetry of place. I decided if I ever had a girl, I would name her Tunisia. Years later, when I was pregnant, Tunisia did not come up.
Speaking of Tunisia, it’s a place I’d love to see. Sweeps to North Africa are far and few between. I did find one to Tunisia, on the Montreal Gazette website, but it’s only open to Canadian residents. Instead, here’s one to Morocco. That would much more than a consolation prize.
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Speaking of prizes, I won my first prize today. It came in the mail. I thought it was public relations swag. I’m guessing it was second prize. Grand Prize was a trip to the World Cup. First prize, if I remember correctly, was World Cup balls and jersey. What did I get? A key chain and a scarf with soccer players on it. The sponsor was Deutsche Welle. I wrote about my entry travails HERE.