Salut! I'm an 18 year-old student with a hunger for a first-hand experience of the world's offerings! As the son of a diplomat, I have spent my life travelling from country to country, coming into contact with different cultures and getting on with people from all around. While I was born in Lima, Peru and have resided there for the largest fraction of my life, I've lived in Los Angeles, Chicago and Montevideo (Uruguay) as well.

As adulthood begins to permeate into my life, my desire to keep the ball rolling down the trail of unknown adventure continues to burn as bright as ever. Life is beautiful, and I believe we should demonstrate our appreciation of it. I think that the pursuit of new experiences and an overall enjoyable existence is one of the best ways to do this. The Couchsurfing platform is an amazing aid in this pursuit!

I'd describe myself as an open-minded, friendly, proactive guy with a penchant towards learning and good humour. I'm currently finishing my last year in the International Baccalaureate at school and would be enrolling in university as a freshman in 2016. I'm stoked about joining this great community!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Simply put, I love to travel and meet new people. New experiences are profoundly thrilling to me. I believe that one's planetary exploration (heh!) and acquaintance with strangers has the potential to cultivate you as a person. Add to that the awesome friendships that must emerge from Couchsurfing experiences, and you've got yourself one heck of a social website!

Also, living in a foreign country with a native allows the visitor to immerse him or herself in said country's culture and language more deeply (and cheaply!) than he or she otherwise would by staying at, say, a 4-star hotel with the conviction of offering guests a comfortable and pleasant residential experience. In my opinion, dwelling within an idyllic bubble (such as a high-end hotel) inhibits one's ability to witness the true nature of a foreign location and thus to expand one's horizons by learning from said location's nature. In other words, travel is not about concocting a falsely-pleasant image of a place, but about absorbing the reality of a destination (the good and the bad) and undergoing a sort of catharsis from it. This is one of the aspects of travel that I personally seek: an authentic cultural experience.

In case you are wondering, I unfortunately can't offer to receive guests at my house at the moment because I myself am a guest of my residence - I am living with a friend's family.

Interests

Some of my interests include:

- Meeting new people & travelling (clearly!)
- Being in the moment
- Pennyboarding (serenely cruising through town)
- Strolling around
- Being outdoors
- Film (Both watching and scripting / producing / directing / pre-producing)
- Reading (Newsreading, Literature on increasing productivity / efficiency, Literature on countercultures, suspense fiction, apocalyptic fiction, dramatic fiction and fictional fiction)
- Writing (e.g. Short stories)
- Learning (Languages and just about anything)
- Buddhism / Meditation (I'm a Buddhist)
- Calisthenics (Bodyweight-only exercises)
- Dancing (whichever genre really, I just thoroughly enjoy dancing)
- Partying (YEEEEEEEEAH)
- Stand-Up Comedy
- Debating / Thought-provoking sunset discussions
- Efficiency / productivity

• culture
• writing
• literature
• dancing
• meditation
• partying
• reading
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• buddhist
• languages
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
- EDM / Deep House / Lounge music (E.g. Vintage Culture)
- Indie (E.g. Peter, Bjorn & John, Kanaku y El Tigre)
- Rock (E.g. Los Enanitos Verdes)
- Hip Hop
- Rap
- Pretty much anything except death metal and similar music.

Movies:
Oldboy (Original Korean Version), City of God, Whiplash, Pulp Fiction, Warrior, Fight Club, Forrest Gump, Inception, Les Intouchables, Probably "Interstellar" (Haven't seen it yet!), The Toy Story trilogy (boy is it poignant), Wall-E, Trainspotting, and the list goes on.

Books:
- The Cherub series, The Passage (Justin Cronin), The Doors of Perception and A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to name a few. I sincerely cannot recall the rest off the top of my head.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Through meditation, I have begun to appreciate my time alive much more fully. The fact that I am gaining this outlook of life at such a relatively early age is something I hold as a blessing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have developed certain skills throughout my 18 years of age to the point that I am comfortable teaching them. These are those skills:

- Video Editing on Sony Vegas Editing Software (Confidently up to version 11)
- Calisthenics
- Computer Efficiency and Organization (Keyboard shortcuts for specific programs, keyboard shortcut configuration, desktop and folder organization tips)
- Vipassana Meditation (The mindful breathing technique)
- English (Written, Spoken, Read)
- Spanish (Written, Spoken, Read)

As for learning from my hosts, I am open to pretty much any area of knowledge! I am particularly deeply interested, however, in perfecting my French (Written, spoken and read).

What I Can Share with Hosts

Aside from what I have already mentioned in the previous section, I offer my hosts attention, respect, kindness, appreciation and a great partnership for partying. I admire and deeply thank the goodwill of travellers that put themselves out there and offer fellow Couchsurfers the warmth of their home.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Peru, United States, Uruguay