These are my names in Uganda

So in honor of Ugandans having no less than 5 names to their name, here is a list of some of the names people lovingly use to refer to me:

1. Susan

2. Sue

3. Sanyu (pronounced San-yo)

4. Lister (pronounced List-ah)

5. Susie

6. Ms. Pretty Pretty Wow

7. American Queen

8. Prom Queen

9. Gwe, which just means "you" in Luganda, but which is how people get each other's attention, and is used so often that I included it

10. And, of course, "Muzungu!"

If you're not a family/friend/colleague from college or Boston, you might not know that some people back home in the US call me by my nickname Sue-Sue, which is prominently absent from this list.

The reason for this is because soo soo is onomatopoeia Ugandans use to refer to pee (or pee pee), e.g. a parent will ask a child "Do you need to go soo soo?"

I first encountered this while traveling in India (almost a year ago!) with Ming-Jay, his co-worker Ethan, and Ethan's girlfriend Shannon. We stayed with Tinku Ray (an amazing opinionated woman!) and her family when we were in Delhi, who is Shannon's former co-worker from when they both worked together at NPR, and as we were all talking one night it came up when she heard Ming-Jay refer to me as "Sue-Sue," and after she finished laughing, she explained to us that Indians likewise use the phrase for a similar purpose.