CURRENT MISSION

www.cowboykevin.com

ABOUT ME

My name is Kevin and I am from New York. I just finished Williams College where I studied Anthropology and before then I went for two years to "Cowboy School" a.k.a. Deep Springs College, a two-year school in the high desert of California/Death Valley. It admits only 10 students a year, and all of them are males. We lived in a little oasis studying classical literature/philosophy/geology/math/music and working on a ranch (milking cows, riding horses, fixing cars, etc...) We were not allowed to leave our small valley and see the world beyond it. Now Desert isolation is behind me, and I am ready to live my dream and see Europe. To do so, I am taking a year off before I resume my studies at Williams College. The only way to see Europe is through the eyes of the people who live here, who know the ways of the culture and like to have fun. To get that experience, I am willing to climb Mont Blanc!

PHILOSOPHY

Observe, Accept and Adapt.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In my two years of Cowboy School, I have worked many jobs and have seen many things. I can cook - I've cooked for 60 people 3 meals a day. I can fix things - for 6 months I have worked as a mechanic of cars, fixing electrical problems, heating, etc... I can clean - for 2 months I was the cleaning lady for all the indoor facilities of the College which are not small. *I am by no means an expert, but the things I fixed in the desert stayed fixed until I left*. If you have dogs or kids - I can fix that too! And I will do it with pleasure!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

In my year Abroad I have basically lived through Couchsurfing and have met fantastic people! In Spain I was in company of Engineers that loved to Party and new the in's and out's of the entire city. I owe my entire trip to them. In France I got to spend time with the top poker players in Europe and the debauchery continued when I had a chance to use Couchsurfing in Greenland as well as Guatemala. I like that our nights always end in adventures and for me that is what Couchsurfing is all about!!!

Interests

I am very interested in Magic and Hypnosis, and how the two can work together to create something impossible; Cognitive Science (how the mind works, body language, etc...); Exploring (whether that means walking through a new city or travelling across the Arctic ocean in a small boat); the feeling when you´re walking by yourself on the street and you remember something funny, at which point you begin laughing to yourself more and more and can´t seem to stop; a good Party Night (always up for that); Running (mid-distances); and finally, spending time with the cultures that can be found above the Arctic Circle, like in Greenland or in Nenetsia (Northern Russia). I took part in the Polar Passage Expedition with my mentors from UPI (uummannaq Polar Institute) and am planning to return to Greenland next February. I have more interests, but I believe this is already a random enough list.

• dogs
• horses
• culture
• literature
• acting
• dancing
• cooking
• running
• walking
• partying
• boating
• traveling
• cars
• magic
• poker
• music
• piano
• swimming
• anthropology
• geology
• mathematics
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Lost in translation, Vicky-Chirstina-Barcelona, Vanilla Sky, Prestige, Primal Fear, 7 years in Tibet, American Psycho, and numerous Felinni films.Music: Dance Music - if you can dance to it, if it has a good beat and if it sounds like a remix from the 80´s, chances are my shallow brain will love it. Anything is good though :-)I play piano and saxophone.Books/Authors: Haruki Murakami, Borges (Labyrinths), Chekhov Plays, Dostoevsky, Plato Republic - I hope I don´t sound like a jerk for liking these books - I like the "fun" stuff too!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1) Getting to see the sunset and sunrise every single day for 2 years.
2) Trip circumnavigating the Russian Side of the Arctic Ocean in the summer (the only time the ice is thawed) in a boat the size of your room and seeing many hungry polar bears!
3) At the age of 10, being the youngest person to conduct a full interview of President Gorbachev.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: How to swim in cold water, how to write formal/informal essays, how to ride horses. There is really not much else that I know how to teach.

I can entertain: as I said, I play piano and sax. I graduated as an actor from Fame School at Lincoln Center in NYC.

Learn: I want to learn Everythying! Especially things that deal with how people interact in different cultures (aka, local life); the language of the Country I am staying in (In this case Spanish) and I want to learn to dance.

And I can make you smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRbQg5SOaHI&feature=related

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Greenland, Guatemala, India, Italy, Norway, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Greenland, India, Norway, Russian Federation, Spain, United States