Paulo Otávio

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Planning on scuba diving and snorkeling in Florianópolis, and doing at least 3 of the hikes I haven't yet done in FLN the last time I was there. If time allows, will visit the northern beaches, too.

Description

I'm fairly new on the site, but in case you're on CouchSurfing, you can see my references here:
- https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/paulotaviodr/references?type=friend%2Cother
- https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/paulotaviodr/references?type=host

When stuck at home, sometimes a highly contemplative philosopher, kind of computer geek — who will def be there to help when your router decides it needs a break right in the middle of your Netflix movie — and restless bookworm (50 books this year).

When out and travelling, the kind of person who will always be looking to go off the beaten path and get to know not only the popular touristy spots, but also get to talk to locals, understand how they live and their social context. Food is part of such cultural 'research', too, and I'll confess that my highly-acclaimed-by-friends travel money saving skills go down the drain when it's time to try new foods I have never seen before.

After all, how else could I have done things like:
– Convinced a friend who had never hiked for more than 30 mins to go on an overnight 7-hour hike with me to the top of a mountain in Panama (where you can see the Atlantic and the Pacific at the same time). She hated it at first, but loved the whole experience so much that she went back twice on her own (and even took her family!), haha;
– Gone to a costume Halloween party with fellow workawayers using mostly the hostel bedsheets in Copenhagen;
– Spent the night at fire stations and schools instead of hostels (or even camping sites) when doing long distance bike trips with friends;
– Started (almost!) always eating dessert after lunch in Spain (and having lunch at 2 pm instead of noon!);
– Biked to the supermarket in temperatures under zero in Canada;
– Learned that I should be (a lot) more grateful of Brazil's long-distance bus routes after I had to take 4 buses (3 really bad ones) to go from Panama to Costa Rica and had as many inconveniences as possible;
– Tried empanadas from 11 Latin American countries (my absolute fave was in Argentina, and the #2 was in Costa Rica... made by an Argentinian!);
– Explored almost all of my hometown's 80+ neighbourhoods, no matter how "boring" they might look, just for the sake of getting to know new places;
– Gotten all the leftovers from a small party with other workawayers in Malmo, Sweden, put them in a bag, and walked for an hour throughout the streets of Copenhagen looking for a homeless person to give it to (it was surprisingly hard to find one that day! Had to go to Freetown Christiania to find one);
– Almost had to practice naturism during a CouchSurfing stay in France (my friend and I have retold the story so many times now that it's almost as if he had relived it, lol);
– Ordered sushi 'by mistake' in Barcelona (I wanted to try the Meal of the Day blindly), a food I had always said I absolutely "hated", and ended up actually enjoying it! So much so that nowadays I have it once or *thrice* a month, lol;
– Had the best chocolate I've had in my life in Quebec, not in Switzerland;
– Took photos of a tropical Brazilian plant in Switzerland at the height of the winter;
– "Got caught", along with a friend, trying to "steal" our own food at a supermarket in Lyon;
– Learned in Mexico that hot chocolate is a lot better with cinnamon.

Did I also mention I absolutely love cycling and swimming?

“Life without endeavour is like entering a jewel mine and coming out with empty hands.” Japanese Proverb

Interests

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
Catalan: Beginner
German: Beginner

More details about my language interests
I'm planning on reaching B2 German by the end of 2024. I'd be forever grateful to someone who could help, and am willing to teach Spanish, Portuguese, or English (5 yrs. experience as a teacher, btw!)

Find a language buddy

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Helping around the house

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Eco Projects

Life at a Farmstay

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Some knowledge of:  

General Maintenance

Hospitality/Tourism

DIY and building projects

Art Projects

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Able to teach about:  

Helping with Computers/ Internet

Teaching

Languages

More details about your skills

– I speak Spanish (fluently; I have an official DELE certificate), Portuguese (my native language), and English (C2, with a native-like accent part of the time, as I have been told by some American and Canadian friends). I have 5 years of teaching experience, including in corporate settings at a Forbes 500 technology multinational. It would be my pleasure to help you become able to order that delicious paella in Spain, or understand the lyrics of that Carnival song in Brazil.

I also know some Catalan (B1-ish), understand written French somewhat well, and am learning German (~8 months and counting).

– I have some marketing knowledge and little experience, and just finished a Master's program in Psychology of Marketing at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ranked #2 in Spain).

– They say I'm a computer whiz ever since I was a kid. (Imagine my cousins' and friends' faces when I told them I wanted to study Psychology — and not Computer Science — in college.) I don't like it as much as I used to, but I know that I do know enough that I will be there to help you when that Blue Screen of Death from Windows suddenly shows up. I mostly know about Macintosh and other Unix-based systems, networking, some web-design, hardware, etc.

– I love re-organizing and re-structuring things in a new, well-structured (and fairly strategic) way. Like re-organizing cupboards, bookshelves, and the like!

– I also know quite a bit about photography, know my way through video production and related areas.

Age

30

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  Only certain types of medicine, like Cefalexin. No food allergies.

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  Special dietary requirements
  Although I am no longer a vegetarian (which I was for years), I try to avoid red meat as much as possible and mostly eat fish when I do have meat, but it is not an actual "requirement".