To-may-to, To-muh-to, Pa-jam-ma, Pa-juhm, ma

Our school celebrates Spirit Week this week, and the kick off was Pajama Day on Monday.  Taelyn, Justin, and I all had to prep our best jammies on Sunday night which brought on an interesting and funny conversation.  Taelyn insisted that Justin and I were saying the word "pajama" wrong, claiming that the word is pronounced "pa-juhm-ma," sounding a little like a British accent.  She then went on to make fun of our American accent, telling us that the word isn't "pa-jaaaam-ma" (stressing the middle "a" sound just like our overseas friends do when they make fun of our accent!), but that it's "pa-juhm-ma."  I simply told her that we say the word like people do in the US, and that she is saying the word like South Africans.  So then I posed the question, "What are you?  US or South African?"  With a great deal of pride in her voice, she shouted out, "I'm South African!"  Conversations like this could get pretty interesting when we move to another country next year.  We'll see what she picks up in Qatar and what she identifies with most as time goes on.