I am from Armenia, Colombia. As you can see there's a lot of green.
This is my cousin Luismi, or more formal Luis Miguel Hoyos. During one of our Quanta Coffee commercials.
I lived in Armenia, Colombia until the age of 5. I left Colombia because of an earthquake that occurred on January 25th, 1999. It devastated the city and left thousands homeless. I was one of those. My mother and I received help from our family that lived in the US. In February 1999 we moved to Newport, Rhode Island; we arrived to my uncle Mike's house (Tío Mike). Here I met my cousin and person I consider my brother, Tony.
The first winter in the Northeast hit my mom and I hard; mostly my mom because she quickly decided to move down to South Florida. It was the best decision ever. I still go to go every summer until I was 17 years old to Newport for the summers. Check out the video in the GIF every summer is amazing there.
My mother and I moved around quite a lot in the beginning and finally settled down in a one bedroom in Boca Raton, Florida. Boca, how everyone whose from there calls the town, was one of the best places to grow up. As a teen I had lots of friends and we did everything imaginable in South Florida. Whenever I think of my teen years I think of a modern Ferris Bueller.
With hindsight I can see how beneficial it was for me to grow up in South Florid and experience the United States at a young age. I was fortunate to skip a grade and finish an entire year of school in half a year when I arrived from Colombia originally. This allowed me to finish High School at 16 turning 17. I completed a year and half of College in South Florida before I was called on by my dad to help him with his businesses in Colombia. He was feeling bit ill (he's fine) and knew that if something were to happen he wanted me to understand different business he had developed through his vast 80 years of life.
One of my best friends Nigel a few weeks before my departure to Colombia
Thank you!