I'm 21, a student of linguistics and computer science at Haverford College in Philadelphia. I love cooking, language, travel, and politics. I'm originally from the mountains of North Carolina, and I've done most of my Couchsurfing during a year off of school to travel through Europe, Morocco, and Nepal.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've met a lot of great people through Couchsurfing in my travels! I get fewer chances to use it now that I'm mostly settled, but it's still my favorite way to travel when I get the chance and I hope to be able to host surfers next year when I get my own apartment.

Interests

I like language in any and every form. In a formal capacity I've studied Dutch, Mandarin, Latin, and Spanish. I can also piece together some basic French, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, and I've learned insignificant amounts of many others.

Mainly though I'm interested in linguistics, the meta-study of language. Linguistics is a little bit niche but I find it fascinating. Related to linguistics in a way, I always like to read about history, sociology, etc. I'm fascinated with culture and humanity, a big part of why I travel.

I'm also into music. I always am interested in music theory or just listening to new tunes. Sitting down and learning an instrument hasn't typically been my strong suit, but I've slowly and painfully gotten decent with a guitar.

Being outdoors, hiking, backpacking, and kayaking are big for me. My home is the Appalachians first and foremost.

I don't follow pro football but I do have a love of the game so I'm always up to kick a ball around. I also do hip hop dance in college.

Cooking is one of my newfound favorite things, I pick up recipes everywhere! I make Dal Bhat lentils from Nepal, Moqueca fish stew from Brazil, Spanish omelette, or just mess around and try something new! Vegetarian when possible, but not picky and always wanting to taste new things.

It goes without saying that I love travel and meeting new people. New minds, new hearts, new tongues, all of these excite me.

• fish
• culture
• beauty
• cooking
• recipes
• wine
• vegetarian
• gardening
• traveling
• volunteer work
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• fishing
• hiking
• soccer
• swimming
• history
• languages
• sociology
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
anything by Ernest Hemingway
anything by Franz Kafka
Empires of the Word by Nicholas Ostler
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things
virtually any book about anthropology whose title consists of three noun phrases
Wikipedia

Music:
I'm a big fan of rap, EDM, rock, and indie pop. I listened to a couple French-language artists so now Spotify thinks I'm a French person and I've been listening to more and more of that at its recommendation.

Avett Brothers
Mac Tyer
The White Stripes
Led Zeppelin
Mos Def
The Who
Moby
Massive Attack
The XX
Capital Cities
Rubblebucket
Die Antwoord
Chance the Rapper
Camelia Jordana
Eminem
The Beatles
A$AP Rocky
Yona
Tyler the Creator
Dizzy Wright
Desiigner

Movies:
Pulp Fiction
Boyhood
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Grand Budapest Hotel
The Darjeeling Limited

TV:
Wilfred
30 Rock
The Office
Futurama

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I represented the U.S. in the International Olympiad in Linguistics in Bulgaria, and got a silver medal. I also successfully escaped an aggressive bear once

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, Latvia, Morocco, Netherlands, United States