My dear Austrian friends have quite a problem to find my website because they write my name with many different spellings: “Atamaika, Atamaica, Adamaika, Maica, Mayka, Maika, Adda, Ata, Atika, Atica, Atyca…” And if we count all the nicknames I’ve had my entire life, it would add up to a ridiculous amount of ways people will try to find me in the internet.

My mom meant well, she loved the name Atamayka. I’m named after the daughter of Venezuelan writer and humorist Aquiles Nazoa. What she never knew is that I would have to spend my whole life spelling my name to everybody, including banks, schools, at courses, etc. And that was not such a big problem until I started living abroad: I lived in the USA and I actually live here in Austria. Now, I not only spell my first name but also my two last names (in Spanish speaking countries people use both parent’s last names).

The funniest thing is that I’ve been called the most incredible names also throughout my whole life, including Tamara, Jamaica (yes, like the island nation), Jakarta (yeah, that too), Attaka, and curiously “Ata” happens to be a very strong household detergent here in Europe.

All that said, today I’m happy to be also called mami, mama, darling, honey, and my love.