About Me!

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Previt (Hi in Russian)!

I’m Marina K. Villatoro and I am so excited to chat with you about all the odd things that happen to my multicultural/trilingual family and all our traveling escapades. Plus, life as an expat, education, parenting, motherhood, working and marriage. If I forgot something, that just goes to show how much we women have to juggle!

I’ll start by filling you in a bit on who I am so you’re not totally like: What in the world is SHE talking about!

I was born in communist Russia. When I was six years old, Russia was extremely happy to wash her hands of most Jews, so my parents did all they could and we migrated to New York. I led a pretty normal, predictable, almost boring suburban life. I talked on the phone for hours on end with my girlfriends, fit the mall rat stereotype to a tee, indulged in occasional five finger discount adventures, hobbled home from one too many keg parties, and discovered marijuana and other substances at an age most people call ‘under-age’ or illegal!

My college years were mainly a blur, since I chose to transfer in total to 5 universities all for the ultimate ‘college experience’. Yet I still managed to graduate on time with a BA in something useless. And I’ve got a diploma to prove it!

However, one miraculous thing did happen during my undergrad years. I studied abroad in London and have been permanently bit by the travel bug. Right after graduation I hit the road running and haven’t stopped yet. I’ve lived in over 10 US states, 6 countries and have visited 35 countries and counting!

When I was 28 years old, tired of living the ‘Sex in the City’ (but no where near as glamorous or fun) single life in Manhattan and envisioning a slow and painful future of spinsterhood, I took my backpack and hopped on a bus going south. My original plan was to see the world, but I kind of got stuck in Latin America.

On a so-called normal traveling day I crossed the border from Belize to Guatemala and camped on the grounds of Tikal, the ancient Mayan ruins, next to a young Latino boy who spoke perfect English and made it his mission to follow me until I caved in and fell in love with him. Since then, I’ve happily become an Expat first in Costa Rica and now in Guatemala. Next stop Santiago, Chile. I have two boys that are raised in a multicultural, trilingual household. Needless to say, it’s never boring!

Since my travel addiction needs its constant fix, I drag my family with me ALL THE TIME!

My Cast of Characters:

B Boy – my adrenaline Junkie, hyper active, climb-on-everything, amazingly adorable 8 year old