Hi! I'm a native of Colombia, and I've lived most of my life in the United States. I have a BFA in Theatre and I just completed my MA studies here in London. My degree is in Transdisciplinary Creative Practice, which I chose because I practice many disciplines. I am an actor, a dancer trained in Polynesian dance (Hula, Tahitian, Poi) and Brazilian samba, I write poetry, and I make objects. As a person, I am friendly and curious, and I love to read, create and explore. I love sites of stunning natural beauty, and locations drenched in story, both fictional and historical.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am taking this opportunity to visit Europe before I move back to Colombia very soon! Growing up, my family would always travel by staying with friends, and I think it is the best way to learn about the real culture of a place. I tend to think that hotels are the same no matter where in the world you are, but all homes are different and people are different, and meeting them is the real point of travelling.

Interests

• writing
• poetry
• performing arts
• acting
• salsa dancing
• reading
• art
• dance
• theatre
• arte
• sewing
• samba
• brazilian music
• felting
• arts & crafts
• samba dancing
• tahitian dance

Music, Movies, and Books

These are ever changing depending on the moment, ask me in person and we'll both discover what they are that day!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A few years ago, I went to Bali for the Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar and I performed in an Indonesian language adaptation of Shakespeare's As You Like It which was produced in collaboration with the Institut Seni Indonesia. I was the lead character, Rosalind, and one of the only two non-Indonesian speaking actors in the production. In three weeks, I memorized the entirety of my lines in Bahasa Indonesia. It felt like an insane feat of mental athleticism, every single morning I would look at my lines and think: This is impossible. Indonesian is not a latin based language and therefore none of it was familiar to me, none of the words gave me any subconscious clues whatsoever as to what they were. I did not have enough time to learn the language properly, so it was like memorizing strings of unknown sounds, almost like music. I worked with the other Indonesian actors, who helped me annotate my script so that I knew what each line meant, even though I was not truly learning the language in such a short amount of time, I needed to be able to act the story appropriately, which required an understanding of each moment. I also had to memorize my cues in Indonesian, in order to know when it was my turn to speak. I was memorizing up until an hour before show time, at which point I only did not know the final scene- so I cut the last page out of the script and glued it on the back of a hand-held fan which I held during the scene and cheated, old-school style.

Teach, Learn, Share

This year I took up felting, which is where you essentially make sculptures out of wool by stabbing the wool repeatedly with a special barbed needle. Wool fibers themselves are covered in tiny barbs, so this motion tangles and interlocks them permanently, creating a sort of dreadlock that becomes firmer the more you stab. In this way you can make any number of creatures, so far my favorite creation has been a baby unicorn! I often deal with heavy subjects in my other artistic practices, so it's refreshing to make something sparkly and cute just for the sheer joy of it. I'm going to be bringing my current felting project with me on the journey with some extra needles, if anyone would like me to teach them how to do it I would be very glad to do so!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can also show you how to dance samba! Or salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia, hula, tahitian, etc :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Scotland, Spain, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Colombia, England, Scotland, United States