Photo by Alex ’16

1. Arroniz-Jones was born and raised in Alicante, Spain, which is on the Mediterranean coast.

2. She left her home in Alicante to attend the University of Valencia. While attending the university, she lived in a beach house with her friends and would take the train to the university.

3.While she was vacationing in Germany and looking for a book at the University of Cologne, she was hired to teach Spanish to graduate students at the University of Cologne. She was 22.

4. During the Cold War, she traveled to Berlin and was separated from her friends while they underwent lengthy interviews. After her friends were cleared to enter Berlin, they all went to a restaurant where no one would talk to them. “They were scared to initiate a conversation with us. It was strange,” she said.

5. Arroniz-Jones originally met her husband in Spain and then immigrated to the United States because of him.

6. Her favorite restaurants are Chaya in Venice and the Brentwood Katsuya.

7. Arroniz-Jones prides herself on her ability to read people’s minds. “I have very good intuition and perception,” she said.

8. She loves to work out, whether training with a class or on her own.

9. Her favorite place that she has lived is Paris, France. Although she only lived there for two months, she loved it.

10. She has an eclectic taste in music. Her favorite artists are B.B. King, Miles Davis, Eric Clapton, and Arnold King.

11. Her husband works in the entertainment business, so she gets to see a lot of movies. Her favorite last year was Birdman. “I’m very happy [that it won an Oscar for Best Motion Picture]. I think it was a great movie because… it’s about magical thinking. It’s really about … reality, magic realism, and creating an alter ego in order to survive,” she said.

12. She used to play the piano but doesn’t play anymore.

13. On the weekends, she loves to go to restaurants and meet with friends in Los Angeles.

14. Her favorite place to travel is the South of France. “They have beautiful beaches. The weather is really nice. It’s quiet and I like to lie down there at the beach, read my book, and enjoy the French language. I like the lifestyle there. [The lifestyle] is very relaxed and sophisticated,” she said.

15. Before teaching at Marlborough, she taught Spanish courses to undergraduate students at USC while studying for her masters degree.=

16. Her favorite saying in Spanish is “el silencio es oro,” meaning “silence is golden.” “I think it’s better to listen to people before speaking. I live by it. I prefer to listen to people,” Arroniz-Jones said.

17. When she was in Montana five years ago, she swam in a lake with her dogs. “It was freezing, but I had the most beautiful experience. It was gorgeous and really quiet,” she remarked.

18. She has two rescue dogs — a small female dog, named Astrid, and a male Great Pyrenees, who is 117 pounds and named Igor.

19. She has been teaching at Marlborough for 28 years.

20. During her time at Marlborough, she has noticed many positive changes, such as the introduction of technology in the classroom and other innovative programs; however, the one that strikes her the most is the increasing diversity of the School. “We have a great diverse body that really represents the city of Los Angeles. I like that,” she commented.