crusty *5*

i am fitting in quite nicely due to the fact i respond to more than 3 names. these are not names that i particularly like, but they are the what some locals believe i am called.
the best came the other day, as i was walking home from the clinic.

"crusty!" someone yelled out.

7 more voices chimed in.

"crusty, crusty!" they screamed.

when i realized they were calling me, and that they thought my name was crusty, i had to bend over and laugh. this egged them on, as they thought i really liked it.

"crusty, how are you? crusty how are you?"

crusty?

i looked down at my feet.

yes, i looked like a crusty.

how unsexy i felt. not that that is an aim of mine, but somehow all my feminine energy, everything that propels me as a woman drained out when i started to be referred to as "crusty". luckily it only happens in one small section of the village, and i try to say hi to all those people right when they call me, so they can stop beckoning me by that hideous name.

i was reading the other day about the naming process in the Ghanaian culture. the Ashanti's will in fact give their children overtly unattractive names due to the belief the gods will not come after a child with a disgraceful name.
if a woman has lost a child and wants to protect herself from having this happen again, she will name her next born something to the equivalent of the english version "i am so rotten". i wonder the long term implications that has on a persons psyche? or maybe i am just too sensitive.

i was just informed by a man in the internet lab that they also might name a child "god is great" or "god is so good". i would much rather prefer that.