I grew up outside of Philadelphia and have spent most of adulthood in Philly, Central America and DC. I think that I might be a mix of all three places: I curse a lot and am blunt (courtesy of Philly); I place a great emphasis on family and friends and on being warm to people and secretly love chaos (Central America); I own more than one power suit, am over scheduled and I may have forgotten how to dance (DC). I've reluctantly joined 'ok cupid' because I've sworn off getting together with friends and, well, I spend most of my time with my friends which leaves me needing to broaden my circle a bit.

Figuring out how the world works and trying to learn how to make it better. Learning other stuff too.

I've worked in community development for most of my twenties and have spent the past year and a half doing policy work/organizing around fair trade.

asking good questions; remembering random things about people; hugs; communicating well in a variety of cultures; enjoying good music, food, theater, movies, people.

well, my grandma, who suffers from dementia, notices (and comments loudly) every time she sees me that one of my teeth is a bit crooked - no one else seems to mind though.

crooked tooth or not, i think my smile is probably one of the first thing people notice about me.

food: salvadoran and puerto rican food are probably my favorites - i don't think i could live without beans. i LOVE avocados. and sweet potatoes. and pumpkin soup. and really want to learn how to cook ropa vieja.

movies: I'll start with the ones that sound cheesy -- "You Can Count on Me" and "Steel Magnolias" -- they are both great films and I'm willing to explain why at length. The Royal Tenenbaums, Favela Rising, Magnolia.

music: gillian welch, bob dylan, jarabe de palo, julietta venegas, mexican ranchero music that blares in the salvadoran campo at 5:30am, bonnie raitt (and not ashamed of that), otis redding, sam cooke, ryan adams' heartbreaker, belle and sebastian's lazy line painter jane, neko case, jill scott, neil young, velvet underground, jolie holland, Leonard Cohen, Vandaveer.

Books: The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao; Yo!; The World According to Garp; Catcher in the Rye;

craving a beer or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. or both. but not together.