Originally from Spain, I spent a few years in Indiana pursuing a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at Purdue University. After graduation, I moved down South, to join the University of South Carolina.
When I am not working, mowing the lawn, or hanging out with my family, I spend my time developing any of my multiple hobbies.
- I am crazy for the outdoors: swimming, hiking, camping, some rock climbing and bouldering are my favorite activities while at the mountains. I met my wife in a climbing trip to the walls of Looking Glass Rock, in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, in North Carolina. We married a few years after that adventure.
- I practice Shotokan karate.
- I played tennis competitively in high school. I played racquetball and handball for fun when I came to the States.
- In school and college, I played competitively soccer, rugby, and less seriously, basketball.
- I don’t watch much TV but when I do, it is mostly soccer or movies. I have a decent collection of movies in DVD—about 500 titles.
- I enjoy growing plants at home, and aspire to build a decent nursery where I can bring some exotic ones from Asia; and Central and South America.
- I devour all Science Fiction (let it be a good book, a good movie, or a show on TV). I aim to finish a list of about 2000 science fiction books.
- I played chess competitively during college, and at the same time taught this discipline in different middle and high schools in Madrid. I lately learned some go, but realized that one must devote long hours of study to become decent at it. I am fond of other board games, although I am not very knowledgeable in this area.
- Not too crazy about computer gaming, although I have a soft spot for civilization games.
- I thoroughly enjoy cooking, especially Spanish cuisine, and learning new recipes from other cultures.
- Occasionally, I create origami animals for fun. I learned the basic folds from my father long time ago, and some more complex shapes from a few books. Sometime in the near future I will find enough time to get to learn the pinnacle of Spanish Papiroflexia: a bullfighter with a bull from a single rectangular piece of paper!
- I thoroughly enjoy learning new languages. I am only fluent in Spanish and English. I have a decent reading comprehension of French, Italian, Catalan and German, although I cannot speak those with confidence, or follow conversations all that well. I have recently started to learn some Chinese, and I find it fascinating. At some point in the past I attempted some Korean (when I had the luxury of Korean office mates) but I didn’t get too far, unfortunately.