Hi! My name is ______ and I’m from NYC!
Oftentimes, I find it hard introducing myself. My name is Adriana, but that’s rarely the name I give. Growing up in New York, Adriana is a harsh sounding, foreign-ish, almost intimidating name. I would shorten it to Adri, which gave it a more approachable and universal feeling. I was no longer a Polish-Cypriot tween that was immersed solely in her almost impermeable communities, but rather a gal around town who made conversation with anyone who would entertain it. I tried everything, explored anything and wanted to know everyone. I started teaching yoga in the morning, going to work in the day and filling my night with adventures. The name Adriana was a constant reminder of the one bedroom apartment I shared with my mother and grandma. Adri was a girl making it happen for herself in the big city.
As Adri got older, her reputation preceded her. She wanted a name with powerful anonymity. Something that would turn heads, but also never reveal any true identity. Deedee was born out of an evaporated cultural identity, a wind of artistic whim and a narcissistic need for self realization. She spent her time performing at and attending NYC nightlife events and immersed herself in the dense, diverse performance art scene. After spending her entire life in the fast paced and ambitious city of undying aspirations, the restlessness of it all became too obvious to keep ignoring. It never dawned on her that people live any other way, and find fulfillment in it. At my ripe age of 21, she decided it was time to look outside of the center of the world for lifestyle advice.
Having almost burned her familial roots to nothingness, she decided the best place to go and introduce myself next was the Eden-like island of Cyprus. However, Deedee is not the easiest name on Greek tongues, nor did she want to go back to her one bedroom name. She decided to go by the most common name in the country: Andrea. If you call it loud enough, at least 20 Cypriot girls will come running. The island is covered in groves of juicy fruit trees lining dusty highways and barren fields. The beaches are indescribably beautiful, for anything I could say has already been said more eloquently and clearly. In the summertime it’s pure paradise, with people coming from all over the world to explore my paternal home. However, once winter came around, Andrea had second thoughts about her expedition. With tourism being the main source of income for Cypriots, it seems like the whole country falls into a depressive episode after the season ends. Months are spent with stores boarded up and recreational areas empty. For someone who was used to everything happening always, nothing ever happening was almost a self made purgatory. Stuck in the country because of the pandemic, Andrea was brainstorming her escape plan back into society.
After spending a few months looking at myself, my relationship with my paternal culture and the vastness of the Mediterranean sea, I stumbled upon a listing to teach in Warsaw. I quickly made up my mind and decided to come to Poland to not only try and explore my teaching practice, but also to explore my maternal culture as an adult, not a girl running away from herself. And here I face a predicament. Growing up my mother and grandma would call me Ada, and that’s what most people tend to call me here. I tend to introduce myself as that, but it feels so heavy and thick on the tongue. Like the “a”s are pushing against the natural levitation of my tongue. I’m still trying to figure out what name I should give myself. For now…
Hi! My name is _____ and I’m from NYC. So happy to be in Poland!
