1. The beginning
I was born in Paipa, Colombia. When I was four, and had barely just learned to speak Spanish, we moved to the US, the DC area to be exact. That move marked me deeply, in a good way. 

2. The formative years
 I grew up in the DC area, with field trips ranging from the Smithsonian Museums to pumpkin patches in rural Maryland. My classmates were diverse in their beliefs, cultures, and world views. The way I am today is rooted in that experience. It's why I value language, cross-cultural communication, and empathy. I was fortunate enough to grow up with that. 

3. The rebellion
I decided to move back to Colombia on my own after graduating high school, and chose to go to college in Bogotá. There wasn't just one reason, but one does stand out: I wanted to be different. I didn't want to go to the University of Maryland like all my cousins, and I wanted to try something new. 

It was a culture shock, to put it nicely. I always felt Colombian in the US, but when I was actually living in Colombia, I no longer felt I fit. I knew no one, and my "gringo" accent in Spanish set me apart. I dedicated all my efforts to improving my accent and to actually learning to write in Spanish (I had learned to read in Spanish by following along the Sunday readings in Church, but I never learned to write properly). Home eventually called and I moved back to do a Master's in Sociology at George Mason University in Virginia.

4. Now
Jump ahead quite a few years, and here we are! It's 2026, and although my essence is the same, there are different tints of color. I've been living in Colombia (again!) for the past 9 years (you can read about it on my blog). In that time, I've discovered new things about myself: I'm an animal lover who dreams of rescuing every kind of animal; I've become vegetarian, with the hopes of making it vegan; and I'm learning to establish my boundaries of who I am and what I like and don't like. This year, I decided to work on what I like and go back to doing it. So I picked up art and writing again, and finally took the risk of starting literary translation. My art, blog, and literary translation are all expressions of every stage in my life, so I wanted a place to organize every endeavor. I wanted to give my life a home: Local soul | Global heart.