I was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1972. My parents were excited that my siblings were going to have a new brother, but they sure were surprised when the doctor said that they will have not 1, but 2 brothers. Yes, that's right, I have a twin brother. He is virtually the opposite of me. We have opposite interests and different taste in pretty much everything.

In 1975, as Alex would know, Lebanon went into the bloodiest civil war the Middle East had seen in centuries. We were living in the middle of it all. Even though we were Armenians, living amongst Arabs, that did not protect us from the war. People all around us were getting killed and there was not much anybody could do except flee the country.

My dad was able to leave Lebanon for the United States to visit family in Los Angeles. He checked out LA living, but did not like it, so he traveled to Vancouver, BC, Canada, to visit a friend and loved it here. After 4 long years of trying to get us out of Lebanon, we finally got out. The day that we snuck out of Lebanon in a Taxi cab through the battle fields of Lebanon, Israel was entering Lebanon through the South.

In 1981 we got to Vancouver, Canada. Wow...what a different world. I was only 10 years old and I had to learn everything all over again. New language, culture and customs. No problem...got into the system, learned a lot and made a lot of friends.

1988: I got the opportunity to go to an Armenian private school in Nicosia, Cyprus. I didn't want to forget my Armenian heritage and language so I enrolled and studied there for 3 years. I fell in love with the Mediterranean all over again. I got to make a lot of friends from around the world. After graduation, I came back to Vancouver and studied at local colleges and universities.

I've worked at many jobs...I did the retail thing, selling men’s clothes and also did some work in a retail shoe store (regular Al Bundy). One of my favorite jobs was working at an exotic car rental agency.  We rented Ferrari, Porsche, Benz, Viper, Lotus, etc. Got to learn a lot about exotic cars, including what are good buys and what are bad, how each car drives and handles.

After doing all these jobs, I finally settled down three years ago with my brother’s company, Graffico Printers. I became the MIS (Manager of Information Systems) and I take care of all the computers in the company.

I'm also a musician. I'm currently in a project called Jliness. We will be doing final mixes to a five song CD the weekend before I leave for Grenada. I play the bass. I've been with the band thing for about five years now. Hope to get some sort of exposure one day!

As Alex explains in his bio, a war brings a family very close. Our family is definitely very close. I have a twin brother, an older brother, plus, one sister. We all still live in Vancouver. My older brother and sister are married, while the twins (me and my brother) are single.

I'm doing this trip because I love to travel and I also love to sail. My older brother and his wife turned me on to sailing last summer. Thanks to them, I will be taking it to the next level by going sailing with an experienced crew on a kick ass sail boat.