CURRENT MISSION

To spread the gospel of giggles

ABOUT ME

I am a laid back person who enjoys meeting new people, making wonderful connections, exchanging interests, and being kind to others. I also love learning about interesting places, things, ideas, people (nouns in general).

I have lived all over the U.S. I landed in Portland about 6 years ago when I came here for college and now I am living the dream of retiring young in Portland ;) I live in a great house with my boyfriend and our cat, among others.

PHILOSOPHY

As the Beatles sing it, 'the love you take is equal to the love you make.' I believe in energy. What goes around comes around - that which you put out into the universe is ultimately what you'll receive.

Compassion and understanding are essential elements to making the world a better place. We are all equals who deserve love and respect. We all need a little help sometimes, so pay it forward.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I believe that you can learn something from everyone, and CS is a fantastic venue for that. By making cross-cultural and unlikely connections, I hope to develop a greater understanding for the world we live in and the people who participate in making it a better and more interesting place.

I love to share my knowledge and interests with others, and I am delighted for my fellow CS-ers to do the same with me. Also, I enjoy demonstrating the varied culture that the U.S. provides and showing off the city that I am so proud to live in: Portland, OR!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have couchsurfed across both Spain (in Cadiz, Granada, Murcia, Valencia, Barcelona and Madrid) and Portugal (Lisboa) with so many unique and wonderful hosts. Each experience has been entirely unique and unforgettable, and has led me to consider the home and family unit to be the most distinct of cultures.

Currently, I continue to host many a CS-er in my lovely home in Portland, OR.

Interests

People, cultures, accents, beliefs, experiences and opinions that are different from my own. I like learning about you - who you are, where you've been, what you're doing and what makes you tick. You don't have to share that much if you're not comfortable, but I believe that true connections are reached when we can be comfortably vulnerable with each other.

I love learning about nature, gardening, and hiking. Dogs and kittens. Prosecco. Great story-telling. Making delicious food and cocktails for people I enjoy. Getting tipsy. Watching good movies / series. Riding my bicycle, passing sunny afternoons sharing pitchers of margaritas in the yard with friends. Picking fruits and berries, laughing, singing, people watching. Running and discovering new things.

• cats
• dogs
• culture
• singing
• make up
• dining
• cocktails
• running
• walking
• gardening
• boating
• movies
• violin
• hiking
• swimming
• beaches
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Love in the Time of Cholera, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, In the Eye of the Sun, The Giving Tree, American Foreign Policy Since WWII, All The King's Men, many others...

Music: I prefer to listen to music from my parent's decades, as well as some foreign music. Portland has kind of worn out my interest in obscure bands / popular music / talking about music. Hopefully it will come back one day.

Movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Almost Famous, nearly anything by Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her, All About My Mother, Volver, etc.), Frida, Dogma, Clerks, The Big Lebowsky, Fight Club, etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

* Boating beneath the falls at Foz de Iguazu, from the Brazilian side.
* The blue and white city of Chefchaouen, Morocco.
* The temporal oddity that is Spain and how it is possible that more people are out at 1 am than 1 in the afternoon during the heat of the summer months.
* The call morning prayer in Morocco (at 5 am and startling the beejeebys out of me!).
* Powdery white beaches, swimming or walking to islands during low tide, hurricanes, lizards everywhere and swimming with wild dolphins in Florida.
* A beautiful hippie island city in Brazil.
* The beautiful moist greenery that make up the forests and meadows of Oregon.
* Lisboa from St. Jorge's Castle.
* The magically sunlight redwood forests of northern California, where sunlight trickles through the trees and a violin punctures the silence.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would be happy to teach you about my culture (American, Portlandian) and locale, as well as the best bars, restaurants, parks, etc. to visit while here. Maybe there are other things I can teach you that will come naturally and surprise us both (making cocktails? gardening?) - depends on what your into.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Spain, United States

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