Hello there! I'm Marilou from Toronto, Canada. I found myself surfing through jamaicans.com about three weeks ago (O7/26/02) out of curiosity. The story was ... one Friday night, I bumped into an old high school friend whom I haven't seen in 8 years! We exchanged contact info and she had a jamaicans.com e-mail address. I checked out the site and I've never seen such a wholesome place on the net before like this one! I thought it would be great to be a part of it by contributing my skills in interactive design and at the same time, have the opportunity to learn about the Jamaican culture in more depth.

Now for some background ... As I mentioned before, I'm from Toronto. I'm not Jamaican nor have I been to Jamaica, but I've always heard great things about it through friends. I'd definitely visit the island one day! I love learning about different cultures and places. I'm just fortunate to have been blessed with the opportunity, in the past and present, to travel and experience different places in Europe, Asia and Africa.

I'm Philippine-born, but moved to Toronto when I was 11. I've always loved to paint and draw, but had refused to take Fine Arts or go to an art college after high school. So instead, I stuck to my nerdy instincts and specialized in Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Toronto. But then, around my final year of school before exams, I realized that I didn't want to be a mathematician/statistician and decided to pursue my first love: Art. I went ahead with no hesitation and studied multimedia design immediately after getting my Degree.

I've been working as a multimedia designer for the past two years with a year of teaching/tutoring interactive design. I also have experience developing children's e-learning materials for non-profit organizations. I am currently working as a creative director for a European design company developing CD-ROMs, web sites and print collateral.

It's a privilege to be a part of jamaicans.com. I'll try my best to share with you my skills and the gifts that God has blessed me with to make your visit at this site an enjoyable one!

Interests: music (all sorts), math and art, gardening, doing crafty stuff, naturopathic medicine, the beach, the water, scenic places, learning new things, teaching kids, sharing ideas

Favorite escape from reality: playing the piano

Favorite sites: aside from jamaicans.com ... www.linkdup.com, www.odb.org

Strangest personality trait: : Whenever I see a number with more than one digit, I'd add up all its digits in my head until it is reduced to a single-digit number.

Ambition: to be a philanthropist, live a simple life and teach and help out underprivileged children