CURRENT MISSION

To write as many papers on CS as possible...

ABOUT ME

This will be boring, since it's linked to from my other online sites, but I'm a graduate student of literature and digital humanities in the English Department at UC Santa Barbara. I study theories of hospitality and immigration and representations of migration and labor across various media in the contemporary age.

I love movies, books, music, and discussing all of these over a good beer with new friends in different environments.

PHILOSOPHY

Live each day with mindfulness...or in other words, don't be such a selfish jerk.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Hosting, traveling, trying new things, connecting, learning, meeting new people!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I couchsurfed through various countries of North Africa and the Middle East during the summer of 2008, and it was the most rewarding and exhilarating experience of my life. At one point my friend and I stayed with 9 college students in a one-bedroom apartment in Agadir, Morocco. It was all sorts of innocent chaos and excitement but we could not have enjoyed ourselves more!

Interests

film, literature, music, languages, food, games, pop culture, the great outdoors, animals

• animals
• culture
• humanities
• books
• literature
• dining
• beer
• movies
• traveling
• eating out
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• rock climbing
• communications
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Amelie, Anchorman, The Princess Bride, The Neverending Story, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Pan's Labyrinth, Secretary, Punch-drunk Love, Little Miss Sunshine, Mulan, Cinema Paradiso, Juno, El Orfanato, Iron Man, Kill Bill; Music: ABBA, The Ramones, The Cars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Juanes, Shakira, Cafe Tacuba, Tarkan, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Alabina, Jerry Springer the Opera, Avenue Q, Wicked; Books: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Angela Carter, I Capture the Castle, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Jane Austen

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hiking the Costa Rican cloud rain forests in Monte Verde... Climbing Mt. Sinai and surviving the night up there... Getting lost in the medina of Fez... Wandering around the trading floor of the Kuwait Stock Exchange...Getting lost in the lower east side of Manhattan...Connecting with family in Vietnam

Teach, Learn, Share

I've learned that sometimes, just taking that initial step of talking to someone, however scary it may seem (and I'm naturally really shy and socially retarded, so that's saying a lot), can lead to unexpected kinships. It's amazing the things I've bonded with people over, even if it's for as short a period as the line in the supermarket.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, Mexico, United States

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