Hey there, my name is Marie, and I live in Johannesburg, South Africa. I love living in Jozi (as it is known around here) because we have one of the best climates in the world (think warm summers, mild winters), it is modern and prosperous and it is also one of the greenest cities in the world, with hundreds of parks jotted around the city and an estimated 6 million trees in and around the city.

I work and study at the University of Johannesburg where I am busy with my Master's Degree in Development Studies. Development Studies is all about poverty, economics and politics, with a little bit of history thrown in. Speaking of history, my favourite time period to read about is World War 2. I have read dozens of books about WW2, Hitler, the Nazis and the Holocaust.

In my spare time I love reading, cooking and baking. I also love long-distance running (think marathons) and cycling. I also adore dogs and I have 2 dogs, a Staffordshire bull terrier called Gaia (named after the Greek goddess of the earth) and a German Shepherd called Otti. Both are females and being a fan of Cesar Milan, I make sure to take them along on my daily runs and walks to make sure they also get lots of exercise.

I stumbled upon Wiki-Answers quite by accident and now I have to force myself not to spend the entire day answering, editing, organising and questioning. Most importantly, what I love about Wiki-Answers is that it is such a collaborative effort to make it what it is and because of that I am here to help.