CURRENT MISSION

Meet other language geeks and practice my French, German, etc.

ABOUT ME

I was born in Peru but raised in the United States. I've been back in South America since 2004, and I am never leaving! LOL — I mean, OK, I do occasionally miss my English-speaking home, and wish I had access to cheap technology and a developed-world infrastructure like I did back in the States; but then again life in Peru is so relaxed and full of surprises, not to mention the fanciest US restaurant doesn't even come close to the humblest mom & pop joint in my mom's home town. And let's see, what else? Well, I share a house with my family — it's old but strategically located, and allows us to have dogs, birds, and crazy people hehehe... um... my family is bilingual in English and Spanish, with a little French thrown in for good measure. We are very shy at first but obnoxiously friendly once the ice is broken. We are also very messy, but like others of our species we clean up like crazy whenever a guest is coming hahahaThat's a little snapshot of my life off the top of my head. Feel free to ask if there is anything specific you would like to know.Visited 26 states (52% of the US)Create your own US mapVisited 6 countries (2.66% of the world)Create your own world map

PHILOSOPHY

Take it easy. I mean, work hard, but take breaks often and talk to those around you. Make them laugh.

Be honest with yourself, even when it means feeling ashamed or having to face an awkward conversation. And while you wait for your ship to come in or for that "big break" to come along, keep the focus on your life's work — your job, your schoolwork, your hobbies, and your talents.

Enjoy the simple things in life: a cup of hot tea, a warm blanket, and watching a movie with your sisters. That's what my mother always says, and life has shown me she is absolutely right.

On Love

« Enamórate de quien te quiera acompañar cuando estés desarreglado y no le importe si engordaste o adelgazaste, si la hiciste o si fracasaste. De la que te dé la mano delante de sus amigos. De la que te diga de la nada todo lo que le importas y que, cuando te presente a sus amigas, les diga: “Es él.” »

— Unknown, Expanded by Me

On Fairness

The moral basis of the social contract is the degree to which the advantaged in society consider the position of the disadvantaged fair. The litmus test is whether the advantaged person would consider his or her lowly circumstances legitimate if the roles were reversed.

―John Rawls

On Patience

“I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke

On Courage

“Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it’s cowardice.”

— George Jackson

On the Value of Time

“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”

— Margaret Thatcher

On Integrity

Watch your thoughts for they become words. Choose your words for they become actions. Understand your actions for they become habit. Study your habits for they become your character. Develop your character for it becomes your destiny.

— Unknown

On Honesty

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.”

— Spencer Johnson

On Loving Mankind

“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

— John Donne

On Respecting Children

“When you’re in a relationship things tend to be all about those two people involved, obviously. But when there’s a child involved it can’t be that way, or at least it shouldn’t be. Kids in these situations can become an afterthought when it comes to the hard decisions — breaking up vs. staying together. What I think couples often fail to see is that, no matter how young the child, kids are perceptive. And regardless of how many fun trips to the park, or how many times they get taken out for ice cream, the same ‘adult’ situations that affect the two involved in the relationship affect the kid.”

— Phoebe Mach, 5/19/2010

On Being Honest with Myself

“To thine own self be true.”

— William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet'

On the Importance of Knowledge

“Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.”

— Sir Francis Bacon

On the Importance of Trying

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

On Self Reliance

“Su esperanza no la cifren
nunca en corazón alguno;
en el mayor infortunio
pongan su confianza en Dios;
de los hombres, sólo en uno;
con gran precaución en dos.”

— José Hernández, 'La Vuelta de Martín Fierro'

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I like the idea of making someone's first trip to Peru a safe, memorable experience. I'm not an expert or anything, but I try really hard to make every day a fun experience for my guests. I also love French everything, am obsessed with Portuguese and Brazilian anything, and seriously do plan to become fluent in nine languages — so what a better place to meet people I can talk to in all of the above than CS.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted two wonderful French siblings in 2009 — brother and sister — who spent their time between expeditions cooking and hanging out with my family, and became the cornerstone of my CS experience. Then in July of 2010, we hosted a French intern for a month who my mom and dad have officially adopted as family. That same year we also hosted a French mountaineer who came highly recommended by the 2009 siblings, and who went on to explore Bolivia while we safeguarded his gear; I also had a chance to attend a CS get-together in São Paulo, Brazil — my first time being a "surfer", given that my experience until then had been only as a host :)And I'd say by that point CS had pretty much become a part of my family life, as routine as my job and my schoolwork. In fact, barring visits from family or trips abroad, my family and I genuinely look forward to having our life enriched by our summer visitors every year. It's our little window to the world.

Interests

Languages, culture, history, people, nature, geology, botany, zoology, geography, literature, computer programming, organic chemistry, theoretical physics, calculus, quantum mechanics, cosmology, and so many other things this box isn't big enough to list 'em all...

• animals
• dogs
• birds
• culture
• books
• literature
• cooking
• technology
• cars
• socializing
• knitting
• mountaineering
• boxing
• biology
• chemistry
• engineering
• geography
• geology
• history
• languages
• mathematics
• medicine
• nursing
• physics
• linguistics
• world history
• big history

Music, Movies, and Books

Let's start with movies. Here's a representative though by no means complete sampling of movies I like and can watch over and over again, in reverse alphabetical order 'cause it looks prettier that way for some weird reason: When Harry Met Sally, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Wayne's World, V for Vendetta, The Wedding Singer, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Shawshank Redemption, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Matrix, The Man in the Moon, The Departed, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Pulp Fiction, Over the Hedge, Old School, Office Space, Music and Lyrics, Mean Girls, Master and Commander, Lost In Translation, I Am Sam, Hotel Rwanda, Good Will Hunting, Full Metal Jacket, Forrest Gump, Fight Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Eurotrip, Dead Poets Society, Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), Chasing Amy, Braveheart, Blood Diamond, American Beauty, Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amlie Poulain), Almost Famous, A Walk to Remember, A Beautiful Mind, 50 First Dates, and 28 Days Later.

Next would be music. I love music, and enjoy pretty much anything that doesn't sound dissonant to Western and Middle Eastern ears—except for songs with stupid lyrics that can't be justified as good-natured silliness, songs that sound ridiculous in the cultural context in which they are played, and obviously songs that trigger negative feelings or bad memories (although I will, occasionally, masochistically subject myself to a few of those in the interest of drama lol).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Made a name for myself in a strange country I knew very little about when I arrived. Watched my baby sisters grow into clever, fascinating young women. Made my mom and dad proud.

Teach, Learn, Share

I guess I know a trick or two I could teach my guests. Obviously I can help you with your English and/or Spanish. Umm... I know how to knit, LOL—learned it from a very pretty girl, so that's my excuse hahaha... I was also a chemistry/biology major once (don't ask—I have ADD), so I know a lot about the human body, biological processes, and common pharmaceuticals—I am usually pretty communicative with doctors, LOL; I think in a parallel universe I would be a doctor or a nurse, I don't know... I also know a thing or two about cars, Peruvian pre-history, mud sculpture (fun!!!), world history, mammals, birds, frogs, fish—oh, and lately I have been really into trying to understand the math behind general and special relativity; this has obviously led to much frustration, as I consider myself a naturalist and a man of letters, but never in my wildest dreams an engineer or mathematician... but if anyone out there is a physics or math major, and happens to stay at my place, then that is definitely a subject that would come up at some point. I'm also really into botany and taxonomy in general, so I can tell you a lot about the local wildlife—if not the exact genus and species, at least what order/family a plant or animal belongs to... what else? Well, I can help you with your grammar in any of the languages I speak, I suppose. I am good with computers, too—a "power user", I guess you would say, although I wouldn't say I'm an expert by any means; I hold my ground (used to be a computer major before switching to linguistics; I seriously do have ADD, LOL). I guess that's all I can think of right now—I'm sure there are things I can learn from my guests that I can't even imagine right now! :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Peru, United States

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