A Chilean bloke settled in Edinburgh for good. I've worked as an English teacher for over 15 years; first, at primary and secondary education, then progressed to adult teaching, and later became a lecturer at uni. I'm also an early music enthusiast who plays the recorders (SATB) and the renaissance/baroque flutes. I was part of two early music ensembles back in Chile: 'The Broken Consort' and 'Messa di Voce'. 🎼🎶

www.facebook.com/TheBrokenConsort.cl
www.facebook.com/Messa-di-Voce-286547844885822/

I ran Casa-Taller, a lodging house for international students located at Barrio Italia in the borough of Providencia, Santiago for 11 years. 🏡🏳️‍🌈
www.casatallerprovidencia.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/CasaTaller.Providencia?fref=ts

I also played an active role working at 'Chileno de las Artes' cultural centre for 6 years where plays and concerts were performed and exhibitions, fairs, and fundraising parties held. One of our missions was to provide support for emerging and independent artists to promote their work to the community.

Chile is what I call 'a superlative place'. It's the longest and narrowest country in the world and the most seismic and volcanic too. Along its 4,000 km of Pacific coastline and the Andes mountain range, you may find different climates and geographical features (desert, valleys, rainforests, glaciers) which are basically natural barriers. That's why we've always considered ourselves a little bit isolated from the rest of Latin America. We're friendly but reserved. We're also proud of our seafood and wines. Something curious is that Chile has the highest tea intake in The Americas. 🇨🇱☕

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'd like to make friends from all over the world to share experiences, cultural notes, food recipes, and languages. More than being just a tourist, I'm keen on mingling with the locals and learning as much as I can from their background.

My IG profile:
www.instagram.com/Pollux_Geminorum

I got a DNA test kit for my 34th birthday (10th June, 2017) and apart from some things I already knew from my Austrian paternal family, my Galician maternal side, and my South American background, I discovered other very interesting facts about my ancestry: 17.4% Irish, Scottish, and Welsh, 11.6% North African, 5.4% Iberian, 2.3% Eastern Europe, 1.1% Eskimo, 1.0% Amazonian, 0.8% Papuan.

So I'm basically an Earthling, a citizen of the world, and that has given me a new perspective about a basic human right such as migration. One has the right to move and settle down wherever home feels like either temporarily or permanently and make the best out of it. 🌎🌍🌏

Interests

Arts and sciences, history, astronomy, ecology, astrology (just for fun), reading, travelling, hanging out, watching films, playing and listening to music, cooking, doing housechores, learning languages, stargazing, and daydreaming.

• arts
• literature
• lgbt rights
• cooking
• reading
• music
• astronomy
• ecology
• teaching
• history
• films
• travelling
• astrology
• early music
• gayfriendly
• british culture

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: mediaeval, renaissance, baroque, ballad (Bing Crosby), blues, jazz, classic rock (The Beatles), glam rock (David Bowie, Queen), pop rock (Fleetwood Mac) new wave (The Smiths), britpop (Blur, Suede, Pulp), house, ethnic, folk (Shirley Collins).

Books: Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, William Blake's The Tyger, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Virginia Wolf, Sylvia Plath, Isaac Asimov's The Bicentennial Man, Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicals, Dan Brown, Gabriela Mistral's poems, Pablo Neruda's poems, Isabel Allende, Eduardo Galeano's The Open Veins Of Latin America, Jorge Baradit's The Secret History of Chile, Pedro Lemebel's LGBT stories, and Yorkshire writer Cliff James's Of Bodies Changed (whose main character's steps I followed on my journey around the UK, Jan-Jun 2018).

Films: Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen; Shakespeare in love; Tous les matins du monde; Farinelli, il castrato; Dracula; The Lord of the Rings; Harry Potter; Amélie; Cloud Atlas; A Fantastic Woman.

Series: Agent Carter, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, 13 Reasons Why, Stranger Things, American Horror Story, Pose, AbFab, Little Britain, Sex Education, The Politician, Hollywood.

Cartoons: Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, Thundercats, Silver Hawks, G Force (Watchaman), Lady Oscar.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Surviving the 27th February, 2010 earthquake and tsunami in Chile.

Going on a music tour to southern Chile with my early music ensemble 'The Broken Consort' in October 2017. We were awarded some funds by the National Council of Culture and the Arts to perform the music of Luther's time at different venues commemorating 500 years of the Reformation.

Visiting the Globe Theatre and Hampton Court in January 2018. I'm a great admirer of the history of the Elizabethan period.

Travelling around the UK for 6 months (January-June 2018) with a heavy rucksack and a huge suitcase.

Teach, Learn, Share

Always

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can help you out practising Spanish and English, being nice company, cooking, doing housechores (especially the washing-up).

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Chile, United Kingdom