I was born in Minnesota but have spent over half my life in South America (lucky me!). At age 4 my family moved to Cuenca, Ecuador where I learned Spanish for the first time and attended an international bilingual school. After a two-year furlough in the U.S. our family was stationed in La Paz, Bolivia and I've been moving back and forth ever since. I've also worked and lived in Mexico, Texas, Miami, New York, and California, and have traveled in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Panama, Peru and others.

During my over 10 years in Santa Cruz, in the tropical region of southeastern Bolivia, I began working independently as a translator and interpreter, and eventually set up my own company, VPO Bilingual Services.

In 2005 I returned to the U.S. for two years. It was during this time that I began creating BoliviaBella.com as my personal attempt to ensure Bolivia is viewed in a positive light despite its growing pains and current political instability. Bolivia has been given a bad rap all around and is a country worthy of better attention than it receives in the news.

I'm now back in lovely, growing, ever-expanding Santa Cruz! I'll keep my biography short so as not to detract attention from the real reason you visited. My other personal passion is writing poetry. I invite you to learn more about me through my published poetry.