Hello, There! आप कैसे हैं? (aap kaise hain?) ازيك؟ (izzayak?) ¿Cómo estás? How are you?

How are you? I love this question, and I love being able to ask it in a multitude of ways. I’m a learner, and a lover of languages, and those two combined means that I love learning languages! But, the primary purpose of languages is to get to know people, so the primary question is always, How are you doing, other person that I could learn so much about?

But, this is about getting to know me. I’m an American, originally from Oklahoma, though I consider Vermont to be a second home, as I spend a lot of time there with family. I’m a student, pursing an International Security Studies degree from the University of Oklahoma, after a long and windy road to get there. I like long and windy roads, and I’m usually pausing conversation to ask people more detail about how they wound up where they are today. I think it’s important to know a little background of how they came to be here. 

(Myself and My son, Personal Photo, June 2016 at Soda Lake, CA)

My background is that I graduated high school, and jumped out of land-locked Oklahoma, bound for India. I stuck around there, and Nepal, for 2.5 years before voyaging over to Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia (though the apartment was in Indonesia, so we were based there). I visited Dubai, Istanbul and Amsterdam along the way, and finally routed my way back to the states. I traversed Guatemala and Mexico for a time, and am currently learning Arabic at OU with the hopes to get to the Middle East eventually. The fascinating thing in all of this, is that no matter where I go, my American name never seems to work: Danielle. It’s masculine, it’s odd, it doesn’t sound right to the ears, they all tell me. Try Dani, or Daniella, or just pick something else close to it, are the suggestions that I get. So, inevitably, my name changes, and I adjust. My most recent name change has been to that of Mama, as I now have a 10 month old son who is an absolute blast. Although, he can’t say my name just yet, so my husband, Jacob, and I just practice it over a hundred times a day with him, it seems.

Personal Photo of our dog, Dax, from Christmas 2013

Rounding out our little Oklahoma home, is our extra needy, 90 lb Velcro dog, a weimaraner named Dax. 

So, AaJao, or come over here! (in Hindi), and explore a little bit about me and tell me a little bit about yourself as well. And, let's enjoy our stories along the way!