On my way to the top...

My good friend and future bankroll, Josh Massingill, recently informed me that I was the world's worst blogger...So I'll see what I can't do about posting something now and again.

I decided to start with a name change...I thought "'round the world" was kind of lame since my plane flight was only about 3 1/2 hrs and I'm still in the same hemisphere as you all. So as I got to thinking about it "A big gringo named Shrimp" seemed a little more appropriate. While that may seem kind of weird, just bare with me will I explain...

Since "Cameron" doesn't really roll off the Spanish speaking tongue very well, my gringo companions suggested that I try using "Miguel" since my first name is Mikeal--pronounced Michael--but since I wasn't used to introducing myself that way, Miguel didn't stick...

I kept introducing myself as Cameron, only putting a little accent on it. But even then the people kept struggling with it, especially the campesinos (poor farmers...probably because they don’t have any teeth). There really is no equivalent to my name in Spanish, nothing like John=Juan or James=Santiago...the best I've got is "CamAron" followed by a few sheepish grins.

For those of you who don't know, CamAron translates to "Shrimp". So it has kind of turned into a joke...a 6'2", 200lbs gringo being called shrimp by a bunch of malnourished short people...its quite the ice breaker and I think I'm starting to make a name for myself.

Whether I'm in the jungle near our clinic or in the mountains near my home, its not uncommon to hear "Que tal, Shrimp?" or "Shrimp! Que pasa mi amigo?" There are even a few that refer to me as Shrimp (using the English word). Just the other day I was in the airport, 4hrs away, in the capital when the shoeshine boy, whom I had never met before shouted out (in Spanish) "Hey Camaron, you want to get your shoes shined?"...I'm on my way to celeb status...