Hi! I grew up in northern New Mexico and did my undergrad and master's work in California. I was an exchange student in Scotland and France and used to work as an environmental engineer and public health specialist in South America. Now I'm a Ph.D. student (chemical engineering, specializing in electrochemistry) and my life is pretty consumed by research, so I see CS as a way to keep up my backpacker spirit, meet other travelers, and hopefully provide some hospitality to those who are exploring the world.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Back when I first started travelling, you had to charm people you met on the train/bus/museum/escalator/bar/etc in order to find a place to stay. Now you can just go online!!!!! Wow, how things get easier all the time......

Interests

I play guitar and sing. I also play soccer and I love skiing, climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, etc.

• singing
• traveling
• guitar
• backpacking
• mountaineering
• skiing
• rock climbing
• soccer
• engineering

Music, Movies, and Books

I play guitar so I love all those virtuoso guitarists that only other guitarist players have heard of (Michael Hedges, Pierre Bensusan, Tony McManus, Doc Watson, Dan Crary, Pat Kilbride, Joao Gilberto, Joao Bosco) and anything with good strong guitar (SRV, Allman Brothers, Santana, Classic rock). I did an informal music minor as an undergrad so I love classical music, especially early renaissance music (Josquin, Palestrina). Brazilian music is a big fave too. Now that I live in Austin I've been exposed to a lot of great new music through ACL and SXSW - you find good music wherever you look and listen.

I lived in Brazil and learned a lot of bossa nova and MPB...Brazil is probably tied with the US for the richest modern musical culture in the world.

I sang in gospel choirs and wrestled with jazz improv

Teach, Learn, Share

as a grad student I get to do all three.....

What I Can Share with Hosts

good stories, lots of laughing, South American travel tips, a good jam session (hopefully)

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Brazil, France, Scotland