Nicknames on the Race

Hey! 

I thought it would be fun and silly to make a list of all the nicknames I’ve had in my Gap Year and how they came about. Some have come from ministry hosts, my squad mates, or random people on the side of the street. All of them make me smile and I just thought it be fun to share some of the origin stories with you guys 🙂

1. “Dsue”- this one is a classic here. It started at home, a combination of my first and middle name (Delaney Sue) My mom was the creator of this one when she got tired of writing out my full name on letters and things. I told my team about the nickname pretty early on in the race and now almost everyone on my squad calls me Dsue. Definitely the most commonly used, can never go wrong with this one.
2. “D”- my team leader Kaylin Stanley started this one, and now this is all my squad mate Hayden calls me. It’s simple and easy. 
3. “DeDe”- Our ministry host in Puerto Viejo started this nickname for me, and by the end of our time there everyone on the YWAM staff there called me DeDe. 
4. “Lahney”- This is my Central American name. Everyone I introduced myself to had such a hard time pronouncing “Delaney.” So I tried to start going by the shortened version of “Laney” that was pretty common back at home in the states. It worked pretty well, but the hard “a” sound ended up sounding like an “ah” due to the Spanish accents. So I just went by the name Lahney to anyone and everyone for 5 months. This nickname will always remind me of Costa Rica and Guatemala. 
5. “Suga”- my team leader for the first three months Marissa (love u lots, Mama M) was notorious for referring to everyone as “suga” or “shawty.” A classic Georgia nickname that just carried over into the rest of the race. Super fun. 
6. “Ze An Duh”- My seswati name here in Eswatini. Our first week of ministry our bus driver pulled over the bus to pick something up. A Swazi woman smiling ear to ear walked up to our open door and began speaking with us. She asked me if I wanted a seswati name and of course I said yes. She gave me the name “Ze An Duh.” I hastily wrote it down in my notes app so I wouldn’t forget. I later found out it means having more, like gaining more people into your family. Now the kids at our care point call me Ze An Duh and it never fails to make me smile. 

And those are the many names of Delaney Sue on the World Race! Hope you enjoyed and smiled a lil at these stories that make my heart soar thinking about them. 

Sending you all the love from Nsoko Eswatini! 

In Him, 

Delaney Sue aka D, DeDe, Suga, Lahney, and Ze An Duh