CURRENT MISSION

A few: An Independent Aymara State, an organic farm to host wwoofers, to summit Mount Illimani, etc.

ABOUT ME

My life has been pretty kick-ass so far,a global nomad since early on, born in Bolivia, grew up in Costa Rica and went to college/worked in the U.S. half of my life. I lived in Northern California, San Francisco Bay Area, got a lot of the eco/hippie culture from there. Love adventure sports: MOUNTANEERING / ROCK CLIMBING / BIKING /. I am also a CULTURE VULTURE and I'm very much into Aymara Nationalism and lucky to have lived in all countries that were our Aymara ancestral land: Peru, Chile and Bolivia.

PHILOSOPHY

"Aruskipt'asipxananakasakipunirakispawa" Longest word in Aymara that loosely translated means: It is important that all of us, including you, should make an effort to communicate. I also wish I could hike from Alaska to Patagonia the way my genetic pool got here.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted CSrs and very active in the Csurfing La Paz community, I created and host the CS LA PAZ LANGUAGE EXCHANGE GROUP:
http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=34014

which has been a very regular activity in La Paz and a great venue to meet locals and travelers, make friends and even find a couch.
I usually have lunch or drinks with couchsurfers and basically include them in my weekly routine so I have taken them to YOGA, ULTIMATE FRISBEE, SOCCER, ROCK CLIMBING and HIKING, as well as Environmental and Cultural Events and Movies.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I hosted a couple from France, some bikers from Chicago, a couple from California, and some great friends from NYC. La Paz could be a very transient city, but many times you meet amazing people from all over the world who are here for a few months up to a year, and I have made great friends that way.

Interests

ROCK CLIMBING, BIKING, MOUNTANEERING, HIKING, YOGA, ULTIMATE FRISBEE, JOGGING, Indigenous cultures, economic development, environmental/political activism, independent films, world music, ethnic food

• culture
• dining
• yoga
• drinking
• movies
• billiards
• music
• world music
• cycling
• hiking
• sports
• rock climbing
• soccer
• language exchange

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Jack Johnson, AudioSlave, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, the Chili Peppers, Jason Mraz, Dave Mathews Band, Greenday,Pearl Jam, Manu Chao/Mano Negra,Huayna Rap(aymara hip hop)Gotan Project,Thievery Corp. Bebel Gilberto, Seu Jorge, Mart´nalia, Jameroquai.
World Music: Ali Farka, Cesaria Evora Afro-Peruvian:Susana Baca
MPB Musica Popular Brasilerira: Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso,etc.
Movies:
On Bolivia:
"Quien mato la llamita blanca?" Who killed the little white llama? hilarious road trip through Bolivia
"Even the Rain" on the Bolivian Water War
"Our Brand is Crisis", on the last days of Neoliberalismo in Bolivia
Latinamerican:
City of God (Brazil), Amores Perros(Mexico) 9 Reinas (Argentina)
The Revolution will not be televized (on the Venezuelan coup), The Fall of Fujimori
Books: Naomi Klein´s books: No Logo,Disaster Capitalism, "1491" life before Columbus, George Orwell's Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 51, Galeano´s "The Open Veins of Latinamerica" and Galeano´s "El Futbol a Sol y Sombra"

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-Skinny dipped in Lake Titikaka,freezing!!!
-Hitchhiked the Atacama desert, hardly any car crossing from Chile into Argentina.
visited 13 states (5.77%)Create your own visited map of The World or Like this? try: Facebook test

Teach, Learn, Share

Quechua(The Incan language) is the 4th most spoken language in the Americas (just behind Spanish, English and Portuguese)
Although there are hundreds of indigenous nations in the Americas, the Mapuche and the Aymara are the most likely to form states/autonomous regions because of ethnic nationalism and demographics, 2 million Aymaras comparable to the country populations of Israel or Lebanon. Go Aymaras!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Mexico, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, United States

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