CURRENT MISSION

No idea, to find it out?

ABOUT ME

I don't really know what to say, I'm definitely not the best person to write something about me. I'm very responsible and reliable (but I'm probably not the most suitable person to say this). I love reading, travelling, languages (in fact, I studied modern languages and literature at University).

PHILOSOPHY

What do I live my life for? I don't know. But for me the contact with people is really important. Helping and talking to people help me to find out that there's still a chance.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have no idea, what should I do? Just tell me, I'll do all I can. I really love this project!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've been hosted by friends and also have hosted friends, both: Host and be hosted are great experiences, man lernt sehr, on apprend beaucoup, uno aprende mucho. I have totally forgotten how to use the impersonal in English!

Interests

Travelling, cultures, languages, literature, nature! Meeting people who also enjoy travelling, reading, meeting and getting to know people all around the world! I'm a passionate of cultures. I tend to be pessimistic about people, however people always amaze me, and make me change my mind.

• literature
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• cycling
• cartography
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

There are too many to be named. I love all kinds of music (from folk to rock, classic to salsa, from tango to punk, Venezuelan music, cumbia, ska, bossa nova, chanson française, funk, jazz, fado, candombe, reggae, bolero, Latin, African sounds, jpop, blues, country, and so on). Movies? I love Almodóvar, Fellini, Kieślowski, Kubrick, Varda, Chaplin, Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Burton, Xolan, Fassbinder, Solondz... but I consider American Beauty my favourite film. "The room" also deserves a special mention. Books? Cien años de soledad, Das Parfum, El túnel, Mascarada (from a Venezuelan writer named Liendo, great writer), Le petit prince, Piedra de Mar (from Francisco Massiani, a Venezuelan writer too), Círculo de los 3 soles (by Rafael José Muñoz, a completely unknown Venezuelan genius), Désert (Le Clézio). I love Cortázar, Sábato, a Mexican writer not very famous named Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Maupassant, Miguel Hidalgo Prince, Víctor Hugo Viscarra (a Bolivian crack), Camus, García Márquez, Süskind, Celan, Prévert, Mishima, Giardinelli, Neruda, Salustio González Rincones, Ahmadou Kourouma, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Shame on me! There's only one woman on this list! Let's try to make up for this. However, I must admit I just haven't read enough women. These films and artist have strongly touched me: Violeta Parra, Cecilia Todd, Jane Austen, Lost in translation, Aterciopelados, Yva Las Vegass, Miyó Vestrini, Mercedes Sosa, Edith Piaf, Vete más lejos Alicia (by Elisa Miller), Natalia Lafourcade, Mariana Rondón, The Cranberries, Emiliana Torini, Mae West (he he), A room of one's own (by Virginia Woolf), The golden notebook (by Doris Lessing).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Wow, this one is a really difficult question to answer. I've seen people who have nothing but smile. In 2006, I met a little girl (she was about 5) who had lost one of her eyeballs cuz when she was 2 years old a bullet had entered into her house (horrible fact, there are places in the world where a bullet can just enter into your house) and pierced her skull. Miraculously, she didn't die (she told me this as it was the most natural thing in the world, I was completely moved, ashamed and amazed). This marvellous child was really sweet and smart. She gave me a lollipop and looked happy. I don't know if what I've written answered somehow the question, but I must say that for me it was amazing to discover that such a beautiful girl exists.

2014 hit me in so many ways, that it took me really long to get back on my feet. In June 2015, in the middle of my struggle, feeling totally vulnerable and lost in the merciless world we live in, moved by a promise that somehow I felt I needed to fulfil, I set forth on an incredible bicycle trip from Leuven to Berlin. With no training (at all), no bicycle knowledge nor tools or spare parts, I started my journey with two kilos of carrots. Given the circumstances, it was, no doubt, a very irresponsible decision.
After the first day of intense cycling, with all the likely and unlikely losses of my way, the goal of reaching Berlin, even the need to fulfil the promise, transformed into a mere excuse for the most beautiful and meaningful trip I've ever done. Wonderful encounters and re-encounters, generous fruit trees and poignant landscapes were motor and source of inspiration. A lot of things were left behind, yet I'm convinced that I took with me the most important ones.
I survived to the harassment of an exhibitionist in a lonely neck of the woods in Germany, and to threatening deer (I swear they were really scary!). I survived an electrical storm and to the highest temperatures recorded in Europe in the last three decades. I survived to exhausting uphill climbs and to the deathly Belgian cycleways. I survived to google maps' mistakes and to my infinite blunder. But above all else, I survived to a 1600-kilometre cycle ride.

Teach, Learn, Share

All I can learn, teach and share!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Venezuela

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