In his native Panama, Jose Benito Rodriguez played a form of baseball as a youngster with many of his 17 cousins. They'd play under the mango trees, with a stick as the bat, no gloves and hand-stitched balls made by his aunt.
The number of players determined the number of bases—one, two or the traditional three.
"Back then when I was 5- to 9-years-old, playing in an organized baseball [ or softball ] league, with real umpires and team uniforms, was not even on my radar," Rodriguez said.
Flash-forward to the present, and on any given Sunday in the spring or summer, Rodriguez is playing outfield for a D-Division team in the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ) league.
"I'm having a blast," said Rodriguez, in his second season.
Rodriguez moved to Chicago about four years ago for an architecture job and he loves his adopted home, even during the winter. In fact, during his first winter in Chicago, Rodriguez admits he snapped photos of countless people, places, things and events all impacted by Mother Nature.
During the summer, or whenever the weather is warm enough, Rodriguez rides his bicycle to work—and admits he still prefers the metric system. From home to work, the ride is about eight kilometers ( or about five miles ) , he said.
"I work as a sustainability specialist, responsible to provide green building consulting and advice to architects and developers to facilitate sustainable and environmentally-friendly buildings," he said.
Rodriguez has been working on high-profile projects for the last three years, particularly new skyscrapers and with projects in Asia and the Middle East. He is now working on carbon-footprint accounting for buildings and developments in the Americas and Asia.
Rodriguez came to the United States for the first time when he was 15, as an exchange student, and he spent two months living in Centerville, Iowa. It was his first time out of Panama, his first time on an airplane and most in Centerville spoke limited Spanish, at best.
"I had to force myself to learn English in order to survive," Rodriguez said.
His journey to Centerville was a comical one, at least as he looks back on it now, years later.
"I wanted to [ be an exchange student ] so badly that, well, I wasn't completely accurate on the application form. I said that I like everything that they asked, such as sports, which I didn't like [ then ] . I also said I had ridden horse, which I hadn't. I just did that so I would qualify quicker."
Iowa truly was Rodriguez's field of dreams: "I treasure that experience, but it really was a hard time."
STATS
Name
Jose Benito Rodriguez
Age
35
Relationship status
Dating
Hobbies
Traveling, going to the beach and spending time on the computer—"I'm addicted to Wikipedia."
Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook. He posts once a day on average, including posts on other people's pages.
Self-defense
Has been taking a twice-a-week class, with a combination of different martial arts
Accent
Admits it bothers him, but he's often told it is sexy—to which his standard reply is to he rolls his eyes.
