CURRENT MISSION

ABOUT ME

I recently became a stay-at-home mom to three fun-loving little boys. Adam is making the big bucks teaching HS English. Our family recently moved back to the US after teaching in the Philippines for 5 years. Before that we were in Denver. Before that I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru, studied abroad in Chile and went to college at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

PHILOSOPHY

Be open-minded and curious. And be kind.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

At the moment, we are participating as hosts.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Nobody has couches in Peru but I slept on many flea infested wooden floors and learned what hospitality really means. I've hosted lots of cool people and I've been fortunate enough to stay with some really cool hosts who made my travels much more interesting. I think it's a small act that means mountains: to give shelter to a wandering stranger.

Some friends gave us a Bhutanese children's story about an old woman who accommodates several weary travelers into her modest hut. The moral of the story is "as long as there is room in your heart, there is room in your home."

Interests

I love teaching teenagers, and participating in what's going on in the world. I am very interested in international development. Regional diversity and cultural microcosms fascinate me. I love other people's music recommendations because I don't have any interest in finding it for myself. Salsa dancing and speaking Spanish, hiking. Health care reform in the US; public health in general. Finally starting to try my hand at gardening. Love to ride bikes. Parenting.

• dancing
• salsa dancing
• education
• dining
• cooking
• gardening
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• teaching
• emergency services
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I used to always say Hustle and Flow for my favorite movie. But if I left it at just that, I may turn some people off. I love Beautiful Girls, Notes on a Scandal, Muppets Christmas Carol, El Mar Adentro, Habla con Ella, Promises. And the documentary that has really impacted me most recently and gotten me questioning everything is "Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh". My husband Adam is an English teacher who is a terrible singer but loves music. If you surf our couch, he'll be sure to share his collection of vintage and modern record collection and play a few for you on his turntable.

Music - Latin music and then whatever my highly critical music-savvy friends send me.
Also check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60bTQfO__Xk
Books - Mario Vargas Llosa's Feast of the Goat (favorite), Luis Alberto Urrea, Phillip Roth, Ivan Doig, Michael Pollan,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In Peru, I once escorted two campesina women whose brother and husband were in a rural police jail and they were bringing him food from a village almost a half-day's hike away. They were afraid that the community watch/vigilante police would harass them for being out at night and so I accompanied them on their hike back to their village at 4 am in a torrential down pour. They kept telling me I was an angel sent from God and I think they really believed it. Education is an important career, but there is no feeling like helping someone in an immediate and desperate circumstance in a way that they could never do for themselves. I felt like superwoman.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a Spanish teacher by trade, but I also have a novice-level of experience in lobbying members of congress. I just made 140 up-cycled water glasses out of wine bottles for my wedding so I'm pretty masterful at that. I've since forgotten how to barter in Chinese, but I like to think that I've become a pretty decent cook.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Belize, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Virgin Islands, U.S.

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