Rita

Travel information

I am currently

Description

I lived as an exchange student in Medellin, Colombia in 1976, and have traveled extensively for work and recreation throughout many different countries in Latin America. I have also traveled to France, England, Spain, Russia, Singapore, New Zealand and Iceland. I'm fascinated by foreign languages and different cultures.

I was an Airbnb host for 2.5 years and have met fantastic people through that experience. I obviously love to travel and especially love local experiences as opposed to touristy ones. I have also hosted 4 exchange students in my home. My daughter lived in Santiago, Chile for over 15 years and I visited her on an annual basis there. I helped her open her Crossfit gym there, painting the warehouse and unloading the 20' container worth of gym equipment. She recently returned to the United States and lives in a 140 year old house so I've been helping her on many home projects from putting up bead-board on the porch to completely re-doing the wood floors, tiling and lots of painting and other maintenance projects. I've also dabbled in refinishing small pieces of furniture. I'm overall pretty naturally handy.

Aside from that, I enjoy gardening (although I'm a novice) and my other hobbies include arts and crafts like art, embroidery, macrame and sewing and reading.

I do Crossfit and hot Yoga to stay in shape and stay grounded. I love rustic camping as well and, living in Michigan, my favorite place to go is Nordhouse Dunes, where I backpack in to camp.

I enjoy hard work, am energetic and hungry for new experiences!!

Interests

Yoga / Wellness

Self development

Plant care

Outdoor activities

Nature

Mountain

Languages

LGBTQ

Hiking

Gardening

Events & social

Drawing & painting

DIY & crafts

Cycling

Culture

Carpentry

Camping

Books

Beach

Art & design

Languages

Languages spoken
Spanish: Fluent
Russian: Intermediate
Chinese (Mandarin): Beginner

More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Charity Work

Art Projects

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Helping around the house

Hospitality/Tourism

Languages

Teaching

House sitting

More details about your skills

I enjoy physical labor; painting, yard work, cleaning but am very open to expanding that horizon. I'm well educated with a bachelors degree in Spanish and Russian Studies and a Masters Degree in International Business. I have taught English as a second language through a local program. My computer skills are decent but not my forte. I prefer operational and physical type of work, but also enjoy teaching.

Age

66

What else ...

I have worked the last 30 years at an office furniture manufacturer, Haworth Inc., in Holland, MI, started out working in international logistics (import/export), then moved into contract negotiations and for the last 12 year have been working in the information systems department. I love learning and the company has been great for that. Retirement is planned for August 30, 2024. I'm so excited for the upcoming chapter.

Some more information

• 

  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  No

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  Special dietary requirements
  No