Nosy Interview: Rodolfo Perez

Rodolfo in Messier 106, © R Jay Gabany 

Rodolfo and Sarah are making Nosy Girl history by being the first married couple to appear on the site. As the R in Sarah's S & R blog, he makes frequent appearances around those parts if you're itching for a Rodolfo-fix after reading his interview.

What do you smell like? 

It is hard for me to think about my own smell, I don’t know if I ever done so. Still, maybe due to the extent of my olfactory organ, I do think a lot about smells; I feel quite animalistic about them; a pleasant smell makes me happy and welcome, whereas the wrong smell in the wrong place puts me in a defensive mood, as if I were attacked by it and whatever puts it in my nose.  

Assuming some sort of cologne-dependency in my smell, then I smell like Dolce & Gabbana for men. I got it as a Christmas present back in 2008 (my mom used to give me a cologne every December 25^th), began using it around mid 2009 (After I finished the Tommy Hilfiger, gotten on 12/25/2007), but taking a big hiatus from it on 2010. It was too big to bring it in a backpacking trip, or passing it as carry-on in a flight… which brings me to my second smell: Playboy cologne. Back in late 2009, my wife Sarah and I realized, while doing some random shopping in Target, that we needed a small and cheap (~$10) cologne bottle for travel purposes. Playboy won our best smelling award, shining over stinky competitors. Comparing both aromas, Playboy feels earthy, definitely heavier than D&G, and lacking any of the fresh and subtle citrusy aromas that I've realized I like in cologne. Still, after any of those shower-less, stink-inducing displacements such as overnight flights or long rides in dusty roads, Playboy feels to me like a blessing, with its highly charged battery of tequila, vanilla, and coffee smells. 

About my body smell, I guess it’s quite neutral as far as I smell, excepting those hours when onion goes from my mouth to my pores, when even I have trouble standing myself. My wife Sarah says she likes my natural smell, good for me. And stealing her Aveda shampoo doesn't hurt either.

What do you like to smell?

I love to smell any spice I can find, as well as herbs. I register the smell, finding a compartment in my brain’s spice rack for a potential meal in dreamland. My other half disconnects from any cognitive process, just getting into the thing, happily wondering and begging for an extra sniff. Recently, I found myself in a fixation for rosemary, specially when added to a freshly made tomato-based broth. For some reason, tomatoness kicks rosemary to another dimension. I guess that’s the only thing I cook for purely smell purposes, although I love the taste as well. Feeling the rosemary explode in the mouth, releasing an aroma that somehow manages to go to the nose and from there… pure happiness. 

Walking through the streets of Stone Town in Zanzibar was one of the most memorable nosy times in my life. The spices come out of everywhere, sneaking in the nose in the most unexpected combinations. 

There is a bunch of other smells, usually involving a mix of fried food and some sort of earth (even dust), that feel just right in places such as street markets around the world. It can be a flea market, a county fair or an semi-established informal market. I don’t know if I can say they are always pleasant, but they smell so authentic that make me feel that the place is alive, filled with real people. I still remember walking in a very non-touristy part of Baltimore and suddenly feeling transported directly to my favorite flea market in Santiago, Chile, courtesy of my nose.

Back into the food… I love to smell coffee! There is nothing like the steam coming from a fresh made coffee cup. I guess this is why I love cozy coffee shops and I love to treat my guests with an espresso; maybe they’re not the best in town but I’m giving them a smell I really like, my nosy salute.