CURRENT MISSION

To photograph places I've never been to

ABOUT ME

Hi! I’m Eli, photographer, photography teacher, music lover, dancing admirer.

People consider me outgoing, but I consider myself a middle-point between introverted and extroverted, as I can be a bit shy at first, but I'm friendly and easygoing! I enjoy to spend time with people and laugh. I laugh A LOT, even because of the silliest stuff. And I love it when people laugh, too.
I relish the randomness of the world and I enjoy talking and listening to different opinions about anything.

I am an eager learner and thrives to improve skills. I’ve started to study Korean on my own, and I totally fell in love with the language.

I have four dogs rescued from the streets or shelters. So I will be happy to meet your pets.

I find joy in any kind of stuff. I will have fun playing board games at home, singing karaoke, just laying in the grass at a park, sitting and chatting in a roof terrace while drinking something, dancing and having a night out, or just watching a movie. To sum up, I think there’s no bad plan if you are with the right people and positive vibe :)

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If you are bored enough to read about how I ended up here, read on:

“I'm not sure if I like to travel; I don’t have so much interest in that”. – Yes, that crossed my mind when I was a teenager. I never imagined myself traveling.
However, I remember myself as a little child wishing I could visit the Southern part of my country and Asia, I was very interested in other languages and cultural differences intrigued me a lot.
I always loved English classes at school – I think my classmates hated me because I was such a nerd, like… PLEASE, TEACHER, LET ME READ, GIVE ME HOMEWORK TO DO, I wanted to learn as much as possible –.
But that was all. I just imagined myself growing old in the same city. However, when I was 18 years old, I went to Buenos Aires (Capital city) to attend a concert with a friend; it can be considered as my first trip. Since then, I’ve made lots of friends via the Internet and traveled from time to time to visit them, and those experiences always added some kind of refreshing feeling to my life. So every 'not-so-interested-in-travelling' thought I once had, faded away.

Eight years after, I decided to spend 8 days travelling alone. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Being all by myself in San Martín de Los Andes, 1300 km away from everything I was used to, was extremely mind-blowing. As we say in Spanish, “me picó el bichito” – which means that when you have experienced something you found awesome and pleasant, you feel the need to keep doing it.
I can't travel as much as I would like to, but every time I do it, it is a super enriching experience.

PHILOSOPHY

Always smile. Say thank you, excuse me, and ask for things politely. Be respectful. And don't forget to smile again, it's free!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Currently, I would like to have meetings. Sadly, I can’t host right now due to the Covid-19 as I am part of the risk group.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Before traveling to South Korea, I’ve just stayed at some acquaintance’s places. After trying it in other countries meeting complete strangers, I found out Couchsurfing could make you experience incredibly intense emotions.

I had my first "real" experience as a surfer in Ulsan and it was an incredible one, I had so much fun and learned so many things in just one day and a half!!! I can't imagine how great would have been to spend more time with that lovely family. Thank you so much, Dongbin!!

The second experience was as much as interesting as the first one. I stayed for four days at Fumi's place in Japan and even though we couldn't spend a lot of time together, I totally enjoyed (and I will forever treasure) every moment with my host. She is adorable and such a nice person. I feel I found a new friend, I even shed tears when I left! I'll be always thankful, Fumi!!!

After these unforgettable experiences, I'm definitely looking forward to getting more involved :)

How I got to know about CS:
Some friends of mine told me some great anecdotes, and it really caught my attention. I will love to start hosting in the future.

Interests

Music, Photography, Art, Languages, Dancing, Cultures, Cooking, and now I can add the obvious one: TRAVEL.

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• culture
• photography
• concerts
• dancing
• cooking
• recipes
• board games
• traveling
• music
• live music
• sports
• teaching
• languages
• study abroad
• language exchange
• cultural immersion
• mountains
• korean food
• korean

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:

People tell me I overcome the limit of randomness when it comes to music, and I guess I’m proud of that. I don’t like to shut myself in one kind of music and it surely helped me to be more open-minded and get rid of prejudices.

I'm more into specific artists or bands of (waaaay) different music styles instead of just one or two. I particularly find “acknowledging” great artists of each gender amusing. I can be happily listening to alternative rock, grunge, and nü metal, mixed with gregorian chants, classical music, instrumental versions, and k-pop.
For example, I've attended concerts of Apocalyptica, Incubus, Linkin Park, 30 seconds to Mars, Muse, HIM... and Mika (yes, the one that sings Grace Kelly and Love Today).
On the one hand, I totally relish bands as Nell or the legendary Pearl Jam. On the other hand, I also love some k-pop bands such as SHINee and VIXX and some k-hiphop artists.

Movies:
As it happens with music, I enjoy several types of films, to name some: The secret in their eyes, The last Elvis, Pompeya (2010), Requiem for a Dream, Pi, Dead Poets Society, A clockwork orange, Blood Diamond, Lord of War, Chapter 27, Artificial Intelligence, Butterfly Effect, Mr. Nobody, Dread, The Exorcist, Estigma, Animation movies (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Shark Tale, Madagascar, Tangled, Shrek, Despicable Me, etc.), comedies as Pirates of the Caribbean, Meet the Parents and Analyze me…

Series:
Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Anne with an E, Signal, Itaewon Class, It's ok not to be ok, Save Me, Descendants of The Sun, etc.

Books:
I don't read as many books as I could, I'm usually reading texts about anything on the Internet haha, but I can say that Harry Potter Saga is my childhood.
Recently read: Camera Lucida (Roland Barthes). Currently reading: “Look” and "And our faces, my heart, brief as photos" (John Berger)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

_ The whole trip to San Martín de Los Andes (traveling 1300 km by myself for the first time, walking alone between mountains, watching the snowed summit of Lanin Volcano, having conversations with locals).

_ Having the opportunity to photograph people I admire.

_ Teaching photography to people around my age and older than my parents at the same time. I found fascinating how people will forget about their age gap when they share an interest.

_ Travel to Japan and Korea on my own (I usually get lost in my own city hahaha this was a real challenge)

Teach, Learn, Share

I find language exchange as one of the funniest and worthy experiences, so I gladly will be teaching you Spanish or helping you to practice it if you want to!

My English skills need to improve (mainly speaking) so I will appreciate it if you help me practicing too.

I’m also learning Korean on my own, I would love to have more time to study, I find it amusing. I would also like to learn some Italian, Arabian and Finnish, and your native language too, probably haha.

Oh! And I can give you tips about photography, of course!

What I Can Share with Hosts

. Photography tips
. Language exchange
. Some food (I'm far from being an expert, but I know some recipes)
. Smiles! :D

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Chile, Japan, South Korea

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina