Say My Name, The Right Way Please!

If your name is as 'diverse' as mine, i.e. can be pronounced and spelled in one or more ways, then you can definitely relate to what I'm going to say next (unless you boycott Starbucks).

My name is Dutch derived (don't quote me on this) and usually pronounced like 'Sita' but it's written as 'Sieta'. Most people get it right (in the Netherlands).

In the UK when I moved here (and even now until this day), I've gone into this habit of saying it's 'Sieta' when people call me 'Seeyeta' (that's the only real way I can write it so that you understand how they mispronounce it phonetically). So imagine that when people do pronounce my name correctly, I let them know they pronounced it correctly because it's a rare occurrence.

This continued mispronunciation and even misspelling of my name became too much at school and even during my undergrad, so I just allowed people to call me whatever they wanted to call me. To some people I made it quite clear that it's Sieta but some still chose to go with 'Seeyeta' (memory of a gold fish or something?).

The people at Starbucks aren't any better either. They struggle with my name the most. This is the dialogue that usually ensues when I ask them for a caramel macchiato or just a cappuccino;

Starbucks barista: what's your name?
Me: Sieta.
Starbucks barista: *in doubt on how to spell my name on the cup, looks confused as hell*
Me: *waiting awkwardly as it's taking the barista ages to start write my name on the cup*.
Starbucks barista: - two minutes later - Ok thanks, drink will be at the end.
Me: *annoyed as hell and clocks that it is misspelled*.

Sometimes I let it go but other times I get so annoyed when the Starbucks baristas are in doubt on how to spell my name. Their hesitation and the number of question marks they get on their face just infuriates me. I want my coffee and I want it now.

I know people who have quite complex names and use really standard and common names to put on their cups. I guess it works for them but I can't keep going to the same Starbucks and forget that one name and use another one. They'd wonder if I have an identity crisis or a split personality.

Anyway, since then I have changed the spelling of my name to 'Sita' for Starbucks purposes. It causes no issues, but that is not how my name is spelled. And no, I am not the Indian goddess Sita.

Procrastination is real.

So we are now three months into 2016 and I didn't make any update, summary or plans for 2016 on my blog.

I just don't know.

I used to kind of blog about my life, and then I blogged about thoughts and musings, and then I ended up writing a little bit about South Sudan. I'm not sure what direction this blog is heading into. And I'm not sure why I am mixing politics with my personal life.

I have to be really honest though. My blog began to take a different direction since I went to Africa - different direction as in, I stopped sharing so much about my personal life. I stopped writing about my thoughts. The reason why is because in the past few years I really began to value my privacy.

Since becoming more and more involved with my community, I've become sort of 'known.' It isn't bragging, just a highlight of facts. South Sudan is a small country. South Sudanese community worldwide all know one another thanks to social media and relentless gossip. I guess that's why I have just taken a backseat and not blogged on things I wanted to blog when I was first starting - travels, personal life etc.

I will still blog. And maybe less of the politics. I just posted them all here because I didn't really bother choosing a platform to write them on. I haven't published in my alternative blog in years (http://modernemeidwrites.blogspot.co.uk). I also don't know if I should revive that and write all the politics there and just keep this blog for thoughts, musings and some acceptable personal life things.

Anyway. I am occupied. Too occupied. But it's enjoyable. I'm excited for 2016 and beyond. I am now 24. Not so much a kid anymore, and not that much of an adult (I'm a young adult I suppose). Things have changed drastically between this time last year and now. But I am grateful for all those changes. Life is positive. I have the right people around me. I am motivated and pushed. I've always worked hard at everything I do and this time it's no different.

I have my moments, but I am certainly blessed.

The Tipsy, The Drunk And The Sober.

The Drunk: His birthday is next year.

The Tipsy: It's actually this Thursday.

The Sober: What if... what if our birthdays, weren't actually our birthdays? What if we were born and our parents lied to us about our birthday? We don't know when we were born, we only know what we've been told.

The Drunk: Yeah, what if we were lied to!

The Tipsy to the Sober: You're the sober one here and you're acting like the drunk one!

The end.

I Got My Upper Second BSc Hons Degree!!!

I made it!!! I got my 2.1 Bachelors of Science with Honours in Biological Sciences... I made it alive!!!

I'm currently on cloud ten (cloud ten because I already had a good week with great, great opportunities, and eye-opening and awakening experiences)...

I'm so pleased because my year has been a roller-coaster ride!! This bit of happiness despite what I've had to endure over the past ten months, has been a long time coming! 

I'm truly, truly happy right now. I can't really describe it. 

I told my immediate family and a lot of them were happy for me but were unsurprised... I suppose they expected that of me. I honestly didn't expect that of myself... second semester wasn't the best semester, but I still managed to get some good modules here and there. 

The only thing left regarding university is my graduation ceremony in November! November is so so far... so I won't get that cap and gown pic until then. However, this will leave me with a lot of time to decide what I'm going to wear and how I'm going to celebrate it. 

Life is so good right now. ^^ 

All Done.

Today was my last exam and I'm incredibly happy. 

I feel like this weight has finally been lifted off of my shoulders. 

This past week has been hectic. I had a lot of fights with myself about studying. Procrastination is that real. 

I was also on 'Twitter silence' for like three days but I ended up breaking the rule twice (I really need to become less addictive to Twitter but it's so much fun!). However... I did quit Twitter from February until early May (this was a really hectic time for me emotionally and academically). 

But it's the end. The end of all my assessments. The only thing I'm waiting for is my results and my graduation day which is in November. I'm proud of myself. I pat myself on the back. I've risen above all the challenges that I have faced over the past few years. I have come out alive.

This summer will be an exciting summer for me. I'll be doing a lot more blogging, I will become better at it and I will also do some fun stuff in real life (i.e. traveling). I'm not so sure what the future holds for me, but I am thankful for coming this far unscathed and I am thankful for the supportive friends and family in my life (they really made this journey a whole lot easier).