CURRENT MISSION

I'm planning to see family in Detroit and New York and possibly see friends in Virginia and Alabama too. I'm thinking of doing some Couchsurfing for the first time this summer too. I'm thinking of visiting Chicago, NYC, and maybe some other place along the way since I'll be traveling by bus.

ABOUT ME

Hi my name's Ginger! Yes, that's my real name! No, I don't know where Mary Ann nor Gilligan are but I do have an uncle that's a professor! Also, my name's not short for Virginia. I published my memoir as an ebook in April. It's called "Wounded Hearts Heal". It's available through Lulu, the iBookstore, Nook, Kindle, and Kobo. It's listed under my full name which is Ginger Esperanza Castro.

When people ask me where I'm from I explain the place I spent the most time in life is Edinburg, but I was born in San Antonio, moved a few times at the age of 4, spent most of my early childhood to early adolescence in Alabama and have lived in deep south Texas since 1992.

I used to party hard but outgrew that and hope to travel hard this year, if possible. After some traveling I want to get on top of my educational goals to finally attain an Associate's degree.

I love the arts, visual and performance, especially the latter! I think technology is so interesting the way things are changing more and more rapidly. My favorite sport is swimming even though I don't know all the different strokes, but intend to learn them eventually. I think I'd like to get scuba diving certified eventually. My Dad's taking my youngest brother and I skydiving as a Christmas gift so I'll soon be able to scratch that off my bucket list.

I've done quite a bit of traveling within the U.S. and Mexico and have also been to parts of Europe and Brazil. Someday I aspire to step foot in the continents I've yet to explore at least once, as well as the oceans, and possibly even outer space just once. (With Virgin Galactic and other space tourism developments it could be a reality someday.)

PHILOSOPHY

"Judge not lest ye also be judged." "Let he who is without sin caste the first stone." "Love sees with the heart, not with the mind, therefore winged cupid is painted blind." "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." "Life is meant to be lived, so have fun with it." "Come away o human child to the waters and the wild with a fairy hand in hand for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Unfortunately, I don't have space to host but really want to explore much more of the world!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

N/A

Interests

cultures, languages, history, architecture, archeology, anthropology, accents, swimming, walks in the park or busy energetic cities or in nature, traveling, meeting new people, cooking, baking, barbecues, food

• arts
• performing arts
• architecture
• beauty
• dining
• cooking
• baking
• partying
• technology
• traveling
• scuba diving
• skydiving
• sports
• swimming
• anthropology
• archeology
• teaching
• history
• languages
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: A.I., American History X, Blood In Blood Out, Goodfellas, Casino, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original), Cyrano de Bergerac, Malena, Life Is Beautiful, Farewell My Concubine, Brave, Beauty and the Beast, Romeo and Juliet, Madame Butterfly, Heaven and Earth, Percy Jackson, Clash of the Titans (original), Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Friday, Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood, We're The Millers, Johnny Stecchino (in case you can't tell I REALLY love film and live theater!), any Bollywood film starring Shah Rukh Khan

Music: everything from pop to opera to country and in between

Books: the Holy Bible, Harry Potter, The Vampire Lestat, Wuthering Heights, Romeo and Juliet, Blue Bloods 1-3, the Dollanganger series (I'm currently on "If There Be Thorns"), Wounded Hearts Heal (my very own memoir I published as an ebook a few months ago, I can like my own can't I? hehe j/k), The Alchemist, The Pact, Where'd You Go Bernadette?

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

traveled alone to NYC in '04, gonna go skydiving before the year's over *crosses fingers*

Teach, Learn, Share

ways to learn a second language: watch foreign television, listen to others (eavesdrop lol), first of all learn the alphabet 'cause that's been a big help to me in the past

patience with others in life really is a virtue... no matter what life never goes as planned so enjoy the interruptions and spontaneity of daily life ^_^

What I Can Share with Hosts

My fun loving personality and the adventures I have experienced. I can also bring delicious authentic Mexican candies since I live on the Texas & Mexico border. ^_^

Countries I’ve Visited

Brazil, Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, Poland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States