As a backpacker and cyclist I have traveled several times to many places and also hosted a lot of people at home, but here I find it is a great opportunity to do it through this awesome social network.

Therefore I will introduce myself:

I am blissfully caught in an endless search of meanings and experiences.

I love traveling, meeting, working and sharing with people, having deep conversations and developing friendships.

I studied Philosophy, Educational Psychology and later Human Sexuality. Been a teacher and a school principal for some time. I also write poetry, drama, short fiction, essays and translate literary texts.

The scents of an old book shop or a library are amazing, they inspire knowledge, awe, joy and treasures about to be discovered. I love reading, so I am a bookworm too.

I confess that I am a flâneur, I spend hours walking (and also cycling) the streets, roads and corners of my city and all the places I have the luck to visit. This opens my eyes, ears, senses, heart and mind to all colors, sounds, words, smells, flavors, emotions, people, buildings, rituals, experiences. This allows me to transcend traveler or wanderer status and become a conscious witness that envisions and really embraces the spirit, charm and mysteries of a town and its people.

I adore Languages, Arts (specially Literature), Science, Humanities.

I cherish nature and pets. Love walking my dogs, cycling, hiking, trekking, swimming, camping and of course stargazing.

I am fond of cooking and embrace street gourmet wanderings. I am a fan of specialty tea, coffee, infusions, all gastronomies, gourmet and exotic food, wine tasting, craft beer, spirits... you guessed, I am a die hard gourmand, a bon vivant!

*I don't follow any food ideology, I prefer eating fresh and healthy, but I find myselfI more identified with flexitarianism.

Most of all, I value wit and humour (specially black). Spontaneity is also worthy and always welcome.

Skeptic and freethinker, practice Mindfulness Meditation (Vipassana and Zazen approaches), Taijiquan (太极拳) and Qigong (氣功), Seitai and Yin Yoga.

As a Freethinker and Non Believer I respect religion, faith and spirituality - nevertheless I am aware of the dangers of irrational beliefs and the excess that leads to fanaticism, so I tend to move away from it and also from obnoxious bigotry, sexism, racism, xenophobia and classism.

I am also feminist and LGBTQ friendly.

I enjoy sports both practising and watching them: football, basketball, baseball, swimming, cycling, american football, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, etc.

When we hang out, you will discover more about me. Let's share together and enrich our lives.

* I do not seek in here any kind of couple or flirting (CS is not Tinder or Match.com).

CS is a space for meeting, traveling, learning, sharing, collaboration, solidarity and friendship. Building a world community of nurturing and caring people regardless of borders, nationalities, races, languages, socioeconomic status, education or genders.

We are all friends, acquantainces and amiable strangers that help each others, defying the darker vision of a world as a doomed Babel Tower, a place of fear and hathred with arms, borders and walls (the xenophobe, narcissistic and self-destructive humanity).

Friendship and kindness are what Our World and Lives need more than ephemeral or selfish relationships.

I say farewell echoing some words Rod McKuen once wrote: "Strangers are just friends waiting to happen".

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I crave to travel as much as possible (an ailing of Wanderlust disease) to: expand my horizons, meet new people (places, colors, flavors, rituals, customs, languages) and capture wonderful experiences. I yearn to learn, share and grow as a person: living fully and not only surviving!

Let me share with you a slice of my Philosophy of Travel:

Traveling is defying the notion that Earth is not as huge as we can imagine, that people and places await for you. Traveling is a minimal migration, through it you meet people you were not supposed to meet under normal circumstances... you are defying chance, stillness, sedentarism: adventure arises.

These strangers then become special and through sharing they help you to fill this life with warmth. Our globe is a mirror, so I explore myself at the same time I meet other cultures and beings (assimilating, understanding, non judging and cherishing them). Therefore I cradle the world to share it with others. By exploring towns and countries I am open to experience both serendipity and sinchronicity - and being amazed by them.

"Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life ― and travel ― leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks ― on your body or on your heart ― are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt." Anthony Bourdain.

When you return home, you appreciate your space, privacy, family, friends, places, the sky, the trees, the streets of your hometown. It is not just meandering the planet, but broadening your culture and frontiers. Paraphrasing Wittgenstein: “The limits of my world are the ones of the steps taken, people and cultures I have shared with”. The journey then is more important than the destination.

Nevertheless, travel is not a panacea or a product to consume and brag about it. You can learn and improve as a person with knowledge (reading, studying, practicing), living, being kind and open, self exploring and sharing with your neighbors, friends and family.

The time spent on traveling is a treasure because it lasts a little, but bonding and friendship never wither even through miles or years until you stop watering them.

The adventure of throwing your arms around the world!

Alejandro Jodorowski once said: "What you give, you give to yourself; what you do not give, you give up." And this means that whatever you do in the world, you do to yourself; and whatever you do not give to the world, you lose.

Interests

• arts
• books
• literature
• poetry
• architecture
• photography
• concerts
• cooking
• wine tasting
• meditation
• traveling
• watching sports
• jazz
• opera
• cycling
• swimming
• art history
• teaching
• entrepreneurship
• history
• languages
• neuroscience
• philosophy
• psychology
• visual arts
• mythology
• linguistics
• craft beer
• mindfulness
• museums
• deep conversations
• contemporary dance
• making friends
• flea markets
• live concerts
• agnosticism
• skepticism
• translating
• critical thinking
• nature lover
• art galleries
• spirits
• gourmet food
• specialty coffee
• art cinema
• dogs and cats
• black humor
• flâneuring
• social projects
• reading and writing

Music, Movies, and Books

Admitting it might look like a long list... even so, I still think I am falling short. Here I go...

Musicians I cherish:
Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgski, Mahler, Satie, Mozart, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Schönberg, Shostakovich, Kurtag, Poulenc, Messiaen, Pärt, Glass, John Cage, Gorecki, Preisner, Reich (Celibidache); Miles Davis, Mingus, Coltrane, Nina Simone, Ella, Dinah, Sarah, Billie, Etta, Mahalia, 'Bird' Parker, Monk, Gillespie, Satchmo, Ellington, Tatum, Reinhardt, Medeski, Kamasi Washington, McFerrin, Elmore, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Muddy Waters; Morricone, Sakamoto, Mertens, Kurt Weill; Maria Callas, Caruso; Dead Can Dance, Madredeus; The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, The Who, The Doors, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Velvet Underground, U2, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Talking Heads, REM, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Tiger Lillies, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, The Killers, Interpol, Weezer, The Strokes, The Cardigans, The Hives, The Franz Ferdinand, Blur, The XXs, Woodkid, The National, Bon Iver, Gorillaz, ABBA, The Cure, Chuck Berry, Hendrix, André Williams, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, John Cale, The Smiths, Morrisey, Reznor, Sting, Beck, Dave Matthews, David Sylvian, Scott Walker, David Byrne, Bob Marley, Andre 3000, Miike Snow, Prince, Bowie, Mike Patton, Joni Mitchell, Björk, Janis Joplin, Dua Lipa, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Eva Cassidy, Diamanda Galas; Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Accept, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Alice in Chains, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Rammstein, Mr. Bungle; Nick Drake, Elliot Smith, Florence, James, Travis, Sufjan Stevens, Jose Gonzalez, Angus and Julia Stone, Amy Winehouse, Jessie J, Lana Del Rey, Adele, PJ Harvey, St. Vincent, The Weeknd, Kings of Convenience, Peter Bjorn and John, Sam Smith, Bruno Mars, Mika; Massive Attack, Tricky, Fatboy Slim, Moby, Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin, Röyksopp, Daft Punk, Air, Portishead, The Prodigy, Underworld; Serrat, Sabina, S. Rodríguez, Kevin Johansen, J.A. Jiménez, Javier Solís, Agustín Lara, Chavela Vargas, Juan Gabriel, Bosé, Juan Luis Guerra, Pérez Prado, Bola de Nieve, Gardel, Piazzola; Gainsbourg, Celentano, Piaf, Brel, F. Hardy, Mina Mazzini, Battiato, Ramazzotti, Dolcenera, Veloso, Vinicius de Moraes, Jobim, Buarque, Elis Regina, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cesaria Évora, Khaled, Bregovic, Youssou N'Dour, Fela Kuti, Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Myriam Makeba, Zap Mama, Ravi Shankar, Mano Negra; La Barranca, Caifanes, Café Tacuba, Jaime López, Lila Downs, Julieta Venegas, Mecano, La Casa Azul, Nacho Vegas, Mercedes Peón, Bunbury, Vetusta Morla, Babasónicos, Amigos Invisibles, Bomba Estéreo, Santaolalla, Cerati, Fito Páez, Spinetta, Charly García, Calamaro, Soda Stereo, Tonino Carotone, Les Luthiers, Virulo.

Films I adore:
Bleu, Ikiru, Persona, In the Mood of Love, Le Mari de la Coiffeuse, Ivan's Childhood, Leólo, The Big Lebowski, Wild Strawberries, Landscape in the Mist, Dekalog, The Life of Brian, Little Miss Sunshine, Cinema Paradiso, A Clockwork Orange, La Strada, Les Quatre Cents Coups, Lost in Translation, Requiem for a Dream, Tangerine, Groundhog Day, Manhattan, The Lord of the Rings, Naked, Zero de Conduite, The Secret Life of Veronika, Das Leben der Anderen, Into The Wild, Citizen Kane, Alphaville, Baraka, Prospero's Books, Amélie, Magnolia, The Last Emperor, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Happy Together, Boyhood, Apu Trilogy, Torrente, Los Olvidados, Mary and Max, Dancer in the Dark, Les Amants du Pont Neuf, Irreversible, Cidade de Deus, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Life Aquatic, Alice in der Städten, Deconstructing Harry, Rocky's Horror Show, The Room, Chunking Express, Blue Valentine, L‘Auberge Espagnole, The Grave of the Fireflies, Paris-Texas, Pulp Fiction, The Thin Red Line, La Vie d'Adèle, Brokeback Mountain, Un Coeur en Hiver, Freaks, Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru, Happiness, Hable con Ella, Midnight Cowboy, Zelig, Metropolis, Faraway So Close, The General, Fight Club, The Mission, Modern Times, A Bout de Souffle, A Night Before Christmas, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Eternity and a Day, Nosferatu, Un Chien Andalou, Tokio Monogatari, The Seventh Seal, Santa Sangre, 8 1/2, Martin Hache, Raging Bull, Superbad, Goodfellas, Singing in the Rain, The Godfather 2, Akira, Casablanca, The Passion of Joan of Arc, Nostalghia, Häxan, Donnie Darko, American Beauty, Juno, Blue Valentine, Memento, 12 Monkeys, Reservoir Dogs, Kono Sekai no katasumi ni, Malena, Slumdog Millionaire, My Life Without Me, As Tears Go By, Rosetta, La Grande Bellezza, Eddie Scissorhands, Gegen Die Wand, Kill Bill, The Straight Story, Latcho Drom, Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, El Día de la Bestia, Acción Mutante, Amores Perros.

Although I do not watch much TV, all my beloved programs: Monty Python's Flying Circus, Seinfeld, Mr. Bean, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Anthony Bourdain, The Wonder Years, El Chavo del 8.

Books I love:
Macbeth (Shakespeare), Rubaiyat (Khayyam), In Patagonia (Chatwin), Pedro Páramo (Rulfo), L'Étranger (Camus), El Aleph (Borges), Quan Tangshi (Li Bai/ Du Fu), Physiologie du goût (Brillat-Savarin), Mañana en la Batalla Piensa en Mí (Marías), In the Country of Last Things (Auster), Aura (Fuentes), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Kundera), Discworld (Pratchett), Le Città Invisibili (Calvino), Waiting for Godot (Beckett), The Omnivore's Dilemma (Pollan), Ulysses (Joyce), Of Human Bondage (Maugham), Leaves of Grass (Whitman), La Cantatrice Chauve (Ionesco), On the Road (Kerouac), Perorata del Apestado (Bufalino), Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro), Muerte de Narciso (Lezama Lima), The Waves (Woolf), Précis de décomposition (Cioran), Fadren (Strindberg), Seta (Baricco), A Doll's House (Ibsen), Les Fleurs du Mal (Baudelaire), Rayuela (Cortázar), Alphabet (Inger Christensen), Une Saison en Enfer/Illuminations (Rimbaud), Yukiguni (Kawabata), Cantos (Pound), Les Nourritures Terrestres (Gide), El Otoño Recorre las Islas (Becerra), Written on the Body (Winterson), Mohn und Gedächtnis (Celan), Trilce (César Vallejo), Mileposts (Tsvetaeva), Oku no Hosomichi (Bashō), Epic of Gilgamesh, Mahabharata (Vyasa), Crime and Punishment (Dostoievsky), Farabeuf (Elizondo), Love Is a Dog from Hell (Bukowski), Diccionario Jázaro (Pavic), Tao Te Ching (Laozi), Also sprach Zarathustra (Nietzsche), Das Unbehagen in der Kultur (Freud), Essais (Montaigne), The Art of Loving (Fromm), Sein und Zeit (Heidegger), Les Mots et les Choses (Foucault), Ethica (Spinoza), Sphären (Sloterdijk), Poems (Dickinson), Cathedral (Carver), Odas Elementales (Neruda), The Waste Land (Eliot), I Dialoghi con Leucò (Pavese), The End and the Beginning (Szymborska), The Seagull (Chekhov), Temblor de Cielo (Huidobro), The Sound and the Fury (Faulkner), Cuando Ya No Importe (Onetti), A Confederacy of Dunces (Toole), Le Livre des Questions (Jabés), Die Verwandlung (Kafka), El Fuego de cada Día (Octavio Paz), In Cold Blood (Capote), O Livro do Desassossego (Pessoa), L'Être et le Néant/Les Mouches (Sartre), Diálogos (Platón), Das Passagen-Werk (Benjamin), Cosmétique de l'Ennemi (Nothomb), Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (Musil), The Power of Now (Tolle), Comments On Living (Krishnamurti).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I am not sure if I have done anything sort of amazing but... friends and family, experiences, conversations, places, warmth (words, smiles, sights, gestures), learnings... for sure have made my life incredible too many times!

Let's have a conversation for a while and... perhaps I might share a couple of anecdotes or more (please do bring out yours too).

Teach, Learn, Share

If you become my guest you will have a small place you can call HOME during your stay - a warm bedroom with a cozy bed or a sofa surrounded by books.

We will share laughs, anecdotes and why not converse among a joyful, spontaneous and also deep conversation about philosophy, arts, culture and life around a cup of tea or coffee (or a chilled beer) that I shall brew for you.

Although I live in Zapopan (Atemajac), my place is less than ten minutes away from Guadalajara Downtown.

I can help you improve (practise) your Spanish or English, teach you about tea or coffee culture. But also about mexican ferments (wine, craft beer, pulque, tepache, tejuino) or spirits (tequila, mezcal, raicilla, charanda, bacanora, sotol) and our heritage.

I shall become a sort of a 'tapatío' Virgil to lead you throughout the corners and mysteries of my hometown Guadalajara and its surroundings. I know the best places in town for sightseeing, shopping, eating, chilling, drinking, partying and learning about our history and legacy.

Guadalajara is the heart of Mexican Culture, Land of Tequila and Mariachi music (and also tortas ahogadas, pozole, tacos, birria, carne en su jugo, tostadas, mariscos [fish and seafood], jericallas, tepache, tejuino).

The company of this gentle host and his family, three small friendly and educated dogs: Schnauzer, Pug and English Bulldog - all of them rescued or adopted by me.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can help you practice (or learn the basics) and improve your Spanish or English.

I can help you with some home chores or cook something for you.

We can talk about whatever and share our outlooks of life.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mexico, United States