The best laid plans of Fouad 'Jorge' Goodman

Regime change, political coups and warfare have have interrupted the best laid plans of Faoud 'Jorge' Goodman and his life experiences are a testament to his resilience. His mostly Spanish speaking friends refer to him as 'Jorge', rather than his birth name 'Fouad'- Arabic for 'heart'.

Born in 1951 in Potrerillos, Honduras, to a Greek father and a Honduran mother, Goodman travelled the world, witnessing world changing events of the late twentieth Century. After having lived in eight countries and learning four languages, Goodman, 60, is today a citizen of The United States and permanent resident of Louisville, Kentucky.

Goodman says it was his family that brought him to Louisville, after he spent many of his formative years as a worldly nomad, frequently moving for economic opportunities.

In 1962, when Goodman was sixteen years old, his father bought a new Mercedes Benz while they were living in Antwerp, Belgium- they drove five thousand miles to Israel, where his grandfather owned a postcard printing company. His father would often put Jorge in charge of navigation which took them through Holland, Germany, The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Turkey and eventually to his grandfather's home in Israel.

"My father would ask me; 'where do you want to go today?' and I would often pick the zoo, or the museum," Goodman said. "It was more like a vacation."

While living in a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem, he attended an Anglican affiliated British school. While in school he befriended the son of former Libyan leader, King Idris. In 1969, King Idris was overthrown in Libya by Moammar Ghadaffi and his son left the school, never to be seen again.

Goodman says he attended a British school in Jerusalem because his father wanted him to learn about the Bible, in accordance to his upbringing in the Greek Orthodox church.

"It was the only school in Israel where I could learn about the Bible rather than the Koran or the Torah," Goodman said. "My father wanted me to be raised as Greek Orthodox and it was the only school where I could do that."

The Six Days War between Jordan and Israel began in 1967 when Goodman was sixteen years old, living in east Jerusalem. He vividly recounts the war that broke out and the scenes of war and chaos that followed.

"The dead were left in the streets with no one to clean up the mess," Goodman said. "Jordanian Army tanks were abandoned by soldiers who fled the conflict."

Goodman's grandfather's business was destroyed in the war and his father made the decision to move his family to the Dominican Republic and eventually back to his native country of Honduras.

He eventually left Honduras for Peru, and he says he often misses the food and culture in that country. After leaving Peru, he moved to Venezuela, which he describes as his least favorite country. He lost all of his life savings after Hugo Chavez took power in the 1990's which forced many businesses to leave the country.

"Most Venezuelan men are lazy and their wives have to work to support them while they are drinking with friends," Goodman said." It's a welfare state with the highest consumption of alcohol in the world."

In 1994, he moved to Argentina where he met his wife, Paula Prassolo-Goodman, a native of Argentina, they live in Louisville, Kentucky where Goodman is a representative for Cricket Mobile Phones.

Goodman became a citizen of he United States in 2007 after moving in with his family in Louisville, Kentucky. He describes having difficulty getting his citizenship after 9/11.

"I would get screened by the TSA whenever I would fly," Goodman said. "The name Faoud sends up red flags for some reason, I don't know why."

Goodman says he doesn't have any regrets about his life and his relaxed demeanor conveys some of his attitudes about life.

"Life gives you lemons, you make the lemonade, as you say here in America," Goodman says. "I have always managed to turn lemons into red wine."