It would be helpful if you could tell me why it would be interesting for me to host you. In general, I am interested in pushing my understanding of almost any issues. If you can help me do this, that would be a good reason to host you. In particular, I am interested in challenging the deeply-rooted "rights and wrongs" (religions, political systems, human rights/obligations, freedoms, etc). I am also interested in learning more about different cultures and thoughts (in any field) from people who have a strong interest in them; i.e., people who have spent time thinking and rethinking about them. Also, I enjoy outdoors and sports in general. If you just want a free place to stay or spend a lot of time on smalltalk... then probably I am not the right host. CURRENT MISSION Bridging ethnic, cultural, and religious gaps to allow for a more constructive and smoother social interaction ABOUT ME In my teens, I used to mountain-climb, do extreme skiing and ride off-road motorcycles ... In my twenties, I set off to discover the world and I traveled for over 15 years, crossed desserts and mountain ranges by bicycle, discovered hidden cultures and religions, learned languages, worked as a guide in the jungle of Borneo, as a manager of a agricultural project in Saudi Arabia, for an oil company in Japan, construction company in Spain... interesting, fun and enriching Later in my thirties I decided to satisfy my intellectual curiosity. Studied Civil Engineering at Berkeley Uni, worked for a year in Egypt, India, and Vietnam... and went back to graduate school at MIT, where I specialized in dynamics and earthquakes. Then, I did research on landslides in Chile (on a Fulbright) for a year and went back to graduate school. This time at Harvard, to study development and conflicts. Meanwhile, every time that a major earthquake happened in the developing world, I spent at least a month training local engineers in proper construction practices. I did this in India, Iran, Pakistan, Morocco. When the Wenchuan earthquake happened in 2008, I volunteered my time and skills, training Chinese engineers and officials for 8 weeks. This is my website about this work: http://www.know2do.org After that, I taught engineering at Yanbian Uni (Jilin) and taught workshops in Nepal on earthquake issues... Recently I completed a PhD at Cambridge University, Politics and International Studies, exploring tensions between Muslim minorities and governments, and China was one of my case studies. Then, I taught engineering and international business at a university in Pyongyang, DPRK and last year I taught and conducted research at ETH Zürich (structural engineering) and Peking University (Middle East and Islamist groups), Muhammadiyah University Yogyakarta/Indonesia (teaching and research on the tensions in the South China Sea). I currently plan to do research at UMY again. Currently, working on my second PhD, this time in Psychology at the University of Barcelona, but living in Sitges, a beach town 30 minutes from Barcelona. PHILOSOPHY We don't find answers... we just stop questioning.