M-A-R-I-E-L-A

When my parents named me Mariela I don’t think they ever thought it could be difficult for anyone to pronounce it. Being a rather popular name among women from my generation in my country, I actually never encountered any problem with it until I moved abroad. Interesting enough, I’ve had issues with both Spanish-speakers and non-Spanish-speakers.

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THE SPANISH INQUISITION

Just the other day I was on Skype catching up with a friend from Playa del Carmen I hadn’t spoken with in months. At one point she mentioned that a mutual friend recently confided to her that she will not comment on my Facebook posts out of embarrassment.  Apparently, she told her I write so nicely and correctly that she feels bad about her poor grammar/spelling. My first reaction was to laugh about it, of course, but then it actually made me think.

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