My heritage seems to confuse many people. When someone sees me, they cannot pinpoint exactly what's my ethnicity or my heritage. Many guess Middle Eastern or Northern African. I get Brazilian very often, Egyptian, Lebanese or Palestinian... But I was born in Lloret de Mar, Catalunya. My mother is Cuban-Sardinian, and my dad is Catalan. I didn't get to live in Spain for long before my family moved to Argentina, where I lived from age 3 months until I was 13 and moved to the United States. I have tried to learn Catalan, since most of my father's side of the family are fluent and still liven Catalunya.

My most memorable experience was the time that I became stranded in Budapest, Hungary. This is a crazy story, but the summary of this is that I was vacationing in Hungary alone, as I sometimes like to do, and decided to visit Budapest after a week in Vienna with friends. When I arrived to Budapest, I stayed in a Hotel not too far from the Hungarian parliament, and the bridge that crosses into the more historic part of the city.

One of the mornings I was there, I took my camera, my backpack and left to explore the city by foot, as I often like to do. I visited the parliament building, a few gorgeous churches, the Buda castle, and the church of St Matthew near the fisherman's bastion. It was a great day, but as the night began to fall, I was ready to head back to my hotel... except my phone was dead, and I did not remember the name of my hotel... just had a vague idea of where it was. Long story short, I roamed all over Budapest at night looking for my hotel. It was a great experience to get lost and find my way in an unknown city, being unable to speak the language (not many people speak English in Budapest).

I’ve been told by many that I have a very energetic, expressive, and approachable face. They tell me that it’s very easy to talk with me because I submerge myself in the topic and I try to fully understand the conversation by asking questions, making comments, and even giving my own take on things. It really helps that I’m very knowledgeable on many things, too!

I have also been told that I have a very pretty and inviting smile, and the more excited I get, the more I smile and wave my arms. Apparently using excessive hand gestures is not common for Americans, but I grew up using my hands as props to illustrate a point lol. Expect plenty of that!

I have several areas where I absolutely excel and shine like a supernova.

I shine brightest in areas of political science, political philosophy, history, and literature.

In political science, my passion lies in comparative government and politics. I have Cuban heritage, so the study of democratic transition as well as electoral politics in post-authoritarian states is a big interest of mine. I love to study the former Soviet Union, and Latin America. I also am cursing my Masters in International Security, so I take a lot of interest in matters of insurgency and state fragility. I am a student of the British school of realism, and a big Machiavelli guy. History, politics, and philosophy are intertwined in ways that are very subtle yet important to the understanding of these disciplines.