Hello!

My name is Clare Elena. I was mostly raised in the Midwest - although my parents spent 10+ years teaching abroad, so I was actually born in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, where my family lived until I was 4 - but since 2011 I've spent a lot of time in the Western US doing a lot of different things.

I've worked as a legislative services page at the Iowa State Capitol, an archaeologist's assistant in AZ, a seasonal wildland firefighter in UT and as a Spanish Language Cultural Presenter for an international exchange non-profit in Portland, OR.

I've just moved to Spain to pursue an MA in International Education at the Instituto Franklin-Universidad de Alcalà de Henares - and I'm really excited to get to know Madrid!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've always liked to go beyond the surface of things when I travel (i.e., not just be a tourist doing touristy things), and I think couchsurfing offers travelers the ability to connect on a deeper level with the place they are visiting. My good friends in Salt Lake City host couchsurfers frequently, so I've gotten to experience how it works. The couchsurfers who stay with my friends are really lucky! They learn about the community, get to have great conversations and experience the city in a really interesting, personal way. Which is how I like to travel!

Interests

I like to climb, run, hike and bike. I'd like to be a writer someday (someday), and I find languages fascinating.

• writing
• education
• running
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• swimming
• archeology
• teaching
• languages
• climbing

Music, Movies, and Books

Los libros:
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

During my first fire season, I had to trek out of the High Uintas Wilderness in Utah with an 80lbs pack on my back. It was the end of our assignment, so we'd already worked the previous 14 days, a lot of those 16 hour days, and we finished up with this 10 mile hike. Normally 10 miles does not really even register, but carrying more than 1/2 my own body weight was a brutal test. It rained, it hailed, I fell over multiple times - but I did it, and that was a pretty fantastic feeling. Nothing like a death march to bring a crew together...

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love discussing literature and film. I'm particularly interested in creative nonfiction and how writers convey "truth," however you choose to define that.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Saudi Arabia, United States