Geography: Today's Lesson
October 25, 2006
My gosh I was surprised today to find that Kinshasa was in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In middle school I knew a girl named Kinsasha, which was about the most confusing thing ever because it’s so close yet so wrong. I also knew a girl named Zaire; there seems to be pattern here, OK, so I knew a bunch of people with these names and they stuck with me. Except there is no Zaire anymore, which is where Kinshasa (not Kinsasha) was–err, is, but now it is the DR of Congo.
Important stuff to slog through as I dive into Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
And if you think I knew some people with some curious names in middle school, you’re right. I also knew a Cinnamon, Mercedes, Cinnamon and not one but two Porsches, and one Portia. The latter I prefer because it’s not a sports car but a name. Oh, and girl named Apple.
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Kinshasa also sounds suspiciously like “cachaça,” the popular Brazilian liquor. That I am more familiar with the latter than the former is mildly shameful.
And while you certainly have me beat in terms of the sheer number of interesting names from your youth, I’d like to point out that my first girlfriend in junior high was a girl named Karma Outhouse.
Was going to blag that i was in school with a girl called Demogratic Congo, and i was tempted, but it’s not true. Can i just say that the Demogratic Republic of Congo is probably the most undemogratic country on the planet(up till now, i heard they are having elections shortly, but when the country was renamed it was), or at least the most hypocritically named country on the planet. It’s not Demogratic at all. A bit like the GDR (as East Germany was knowm before reunification) – the German Demogratic Republic.