ABOUT ME

Half my life I've spent around people who don't share my nationality, resulting in the riddance of my nationalism, and the melting away of most of any sort of national identity. I think I've come to like it that way. It's not that I dislike where I was born--rather, I feel most at home in a culturally diverse atmosphere. I'm just fascinated by people, regardless of what geographic, or socio-political boundary they were born behind (especially if they share that sentiment).

Here's my flickr, where I've got photos of some of my life experiences:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabezurita

PHILOSOPHY

Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've got an apartment in Chicago in West Ridge, near the Howard Station Red Line stop. I've got a comfy couch on which people can stay.

Feel free to add me on Facebook by searching for my name or through the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/gzurita

Interests

I enjoy any topic of conversation, from the mundane to whatever's beyond the obvious.

Sports:
Snowboarding, Surfing, Mountaineering, Hiking, Climbing, Horseback riding, Ultimate Frisbee, Soccer

Hobbies:
Photography, Board Gaming, Belegarth, Travel

I love going to different meetups and meeting new people, trying out experiences I haven't tried before.

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
As for movies or tv series, I usually check Rottentomatoes or Imdb before watching one. Once I find a director whose style I enjoy, I'll try to watch most of his/her movies. My favorites so far have been Hayao Miyazaki (Porco Rosso), Danny Boyle (Millions), Stanley Kubrick (Clockwork's), Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Pixar Studios (Toy Story 3), Yimou Zhang (Not One Less), Park Chan-wook (Oldboy), Joon-ho Bong (The Host). Blade Runner is my overall favorite flick.

Books:
I grew up with no cable tv or internet, reading anything I could get my hands on in my school's library, but my favorites were by J.R.R. Tolkien, (The Tale of Beren and Lúthien has stayed with me through the years ). The Silmarillion is probably my favorite book.

Nowadays, I read a book every one or two months. I recently read God is Not Great by Cristopher Hitchens. Before that I read Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy, Isaac Asimov's Foundation, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (became a favorite), Tina Fey's Bossypants, Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason, and Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion.

I'm working on books by Sam Harris, Carl sagan, and Bill Gate's recommended reading Better Angels of our Nature by Stephen Pinker. Besides traveling, I think that reading is one of the best ways to learn about the world, other people's perspectives, and to generally expand one's consciousness. Recommendations are welcome.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got to witness a volcanic eruption while back-country snowboarding in the Patagonia. Volcanic ash feels like your mouth, nostrils, and throat are filled with sand. It's all chewy.