1. I was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan till I was five years old then we moved to Woodhaven, NY located in the borough of Queens. My mother is Cuban and my father is German-Peruvian. Below (on the left) is the apartment we lived in till I was five years old (315 W 72nd St. NY, NY 10023).
2. I learned Spanish at 22 years old, when I moved to Miami. Although my parents are Hispanic, Spanish was not spoken at home in my youth.
3. I learned Italian at 27 years old (upon discovering how easily I acquired Spanish) at Miami Dade College.
4. I would love to go to Italy someday and perhaps retire there.
5. I got into weightlifting at the ripe age of 35 years old and continue to enjoy it on a weekly basis.
6. I love cycling and used to ride my bike 16 miles a day four times a week for a good 14 years. However, I have not ridden since 2012 for fear of those who may be texting and driving. I miss it.
7. I am a non-traditional student who entered FIU five years ago to finish my undergraduate degree in Public Relations with a Minor and Certificate in Social Media and E-marketing Analytics.
8. I believe in continuous improvement and need intellectual stimulation to feel happy.
9. I have two pets: a Dwarf Hotot rabbit named Houdini and a cat named Simba.
10. I watch Italian movies on YouTube often and Italian radio everyday. I stream Italian radio stations via an app named TuneIn.
11. I enjoy cooking and eating foods from all over the world. My favorite cuisine is Thai followed by Peruvian and Italian. I love spicy food. Ginger Chicken, pictured below, is one of my favorite Thai dishes.
12. I have been to Havana, Cuba and the Inca Ruins at Machu Picchu in Peru. You can view a three-minute video of Machu Picchu here: Amazing Machu Picchu
13. One of my hobbies is genealogy. I have 761 family members in my family tree of which 361 are blood relatives. I am in contact with third cousins and go back to my great-great grandparents on my maternal and paternal sides.
14. In 2017, I quit sugar and artificial sweeteners. I get my carbohydrates from fruit, whole grains, and root vegetables.
15. I stopped drinking soda, fruit juices, and consuming beef back in 1996 (during the Mad Cow epidemic).
16. I smoked for twenty years but quit ‘cold turkey’ in 1999 and embarked on a healthier lifestyle.
17. I work at the Wolfe University Center as a Guest Services Associate at the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University. I enjoy working on campus because it permits me to go to classes without a long commute, there is a gym on campus, places to eat, and plenty of activities to participate in after work or classes.
18. I love social media and volunteer for a 501(c)3 non-profit pet rescue organization named Pet Partners Rescue Home. I manage the Pet Partners Rescue Home Facebook page for seven years now.
19. I enjoy singing but I am also very shy. In my free time, I use an application called SMULE which allows one to sing solo or join others on its social network using headphones and a smartphone or tablet.
20. I worked at Norwegian Cruise Line for six years as a Guest Relations Coordinator. I started and managed their social customer service initiative on Facebook and Twitter.
21. I was 13 years old when I took my first job as a stock boy at a newspaper shop in Richmond Hill, NY (Queens) followed by a bus boy job at St. John’s Diner next door.
22. I feel that breakfast is the most important meal of the day; as such, I wake up early every day and make myself a breakfast of eggs, uncured ham or organic chicken sausage, a bagel, café con leche, and espresso.
23. I do not watch television. I prefer to read, listen to music, go to the gym, social media networking, or just daydream.
24. I came out to my mother as gay when I was 16 years old. She didn’t take it well but she accepts it more now. My father was more accepting when I told him in 2004. I had an 11-year relationship that ended in 2000. I am currently single.
25. I will graduate with my BS in Communication (Public Relations track) in August 2018 and would like to go on to obtain a Masters in Strategic Communication if I can find a way to finance it.
Arminius ponders... 