CURRENT MISSION

Too many missions. One general mission: To be happy, and help those around me to be happy as well. One specific mission: To finish my PhD soon

ABOUT ME

... Later... in a hurry! [actually, that says a lot about me *sigh*].
:^)
It's better if whoever is interested in anything specific just asks me. I'm not about to write my entire biography here. Plus, the whole profile itself lets others know a lot about you (provided that you've taken the time to fill in all the slots, and that people read them!).

PHILOSOPHY

For most people, there's no ultimate goal in life other than happiness, whether they are aware of it or not.
After all, we set other 'minor-goals' with the conscious (or unconscious belief) that they will enhance our happiness. Or I should say, that's the way we take 'decisions' [happiness should be an every-day 'decision', not a 'goal' that we will reach who-knows-when].
You'd be surprised though at how few people answer the question "What do you want most in life?" with "To be happy".
Answers like "I don't know", or "To be successful", "To be rich", "To get married and have a family", "To become this or that", "To win this or that prize", "To find the love of my life", "To be famous", "To be good in my job", "To lose weight", etc, etc, are MUCH more common...
And yet, what are fame, success, money, qualifications, and all those things worth for IF they don't make you happy?
If they do, great, you're lucky.
But really, none of those things can guarantee happiness, specially if you don't consciously strive for it.
The world is full of rich, famous, successful, skinny good-looking people, who still feel very lonely and unhappy...

I'm not religious but I do sympathize a lot with Christianity's PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE (the TRUE one, not the one that fanatics and institutions have managed to distort).

There are many things I value and that I 'believe' in, but there's little point in writing an entire essay here, which would probably remain unread for the most part.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Barely new. Haven't done anything at all.
Update: Not so new anymore, but still, haven't participated much :/
Latest update: I've been a member for quite a while yet really haven't traveled that much nor received many request :( ... I guest Houston is just not very touristic?

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None other than chatting with nice people, who either back out or cancel plans in the end
:)

Interests

---Reading
---Activism/politics

---Science:
--Professionally: Physics, biophysics, math, biology, structural biology, programming.
--For amusement: Astronomy, genetics, pseudo-sciences (psychology, metaphysics, mind-body alternative medicine).

---Art:
--To practice: violin, painting/drawing, writing (poetry and short stories).
--To spectate: All the previous, plus opera, ballet, concerts, theater, cinema, etc.

---Sports:
--To practice: Swimming, jogging, gym.
--To spectate: Swimming/diving, gymnastics, tennis.

---Languages:
--Already speak: Spanish, English.
--Speak some, or a bit: German, French, Japanese
--Would like to speak: Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian.

Other interests: watching movies, eating out, boardgames, video games, debating.

• arts
• writing
• poetry
• theater
• concerts
• ballet dancing
• politics
• movies
• video games
• reading
• eating out
• painting
• drawing
• guitar
• piano
• violin
• opera
• scuba diving
• christian
• sports
• gymnastics
• tennis
• swimming
• astronomy
• biology
• genealogy
• languages
• mathematics
• medicine
• physics
• psychology
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Too many :p

--Books:
'El extranjero' - Albert Camus
'Demian' - Herman Hesse
'El amor en los tiempos del colera' and 'Cien años de soledad'- Garcia-Marquez,
'The lord of the rings" - JRR Tolkien
'His dark materials' - Phillip Pullman
'Los Pardaillan' - Miguel Zevaco
'Gloria y esplendor' - Taylor Caldwell
'The Catcher in the rye' - JD Sallinger
'Mal de amores' - Angeles Mastretta...
ETC, etc...

--Movies:
The matrix (1,2,3)
My best friend's wedding
Brave Heart
Mouline Rouge
Forrest Gump
Legends of the fall
Edward scissor-hands
Lord of the Rings (1,2,3)
Kill Bill (1,2)
Fight Club
As good as it gets
Disney's 'The little mermaid', 'Mulan', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Hercules'...
Mambo Italiano
Boys don't cry
Titanic

--Music:
The Cranberries
Jose Jose
Yuri
La 5ta estacion

[And many individual songs and pieces from many singers/composers; I don't really have a favorite artist...].

Bach
Vivaldi
Mozart, etc, etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

0) Fallen in love

1) Neuschwanstein Schloss, in Schwangau/Füssen, in Germany.

2) Il Duomo, in Milan, Italy.

3) Michaelangelo's "David", in Florence, Italy.
4) Florence Cathedral (Il Duomo - Santa Maria del Fiore).

In Rome:
5) St. Peter's Basilica.
6) Church of San Ignacio de Loyola
7) Pantheon

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:
-Spanish
-English
-Violin for kids and/or complete beginners.
-Physics, Math, general science...
-Drawing
-Swimming for beginners.

Learn:
-Improve in any of the things I can teach, and learn the following:
-Piano
-Cello
-Guitar
-Any language. Specially wanting to improve in German, French and Japanese, and want to eventually start with Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Mandarin, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Norwegian and Swedish).
-Tennis

Share: Anything I teach or want to learn, or any activity I enjoy. Willing to try new things. No taboos as for conversation topics.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Mexico, United States

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