Hi! I am so excited and honored to have found my way into this community. Last year I was a college student at a small liberal arts college in Massachusetts, USA, studying Philosophy and Math... but after the year finished I realized I was not happy with how I was spending my time and money. I returned home to live with my family in Portland, Oregon, and started working at the Indian restaurant down the road (I'll clear the table and do the dishes, but I'm still working on the cooking...).

Confronted with an open schedule I didn't think I would have until after getting my degree, I bought tickets to Spain for four months, sitting in the den with my dad as it rained. Though I work almost full-time, I am putting away most of my money for college, and need to travel cheap. I'm very easygoing and can manage for myself but also am always carrying a story, thought, or joke to share. Excited to meet you!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm landing in Spain at the end of February and would love to spend some time in Madrid or Barcelona. Unfortunately, hostels will probably be too expensive in the long-run and I would love to meet some people anyway! So I'm here hoping I can find some kind people who would be able to host me for a few nights and maybe show me their loved parts of the town/city/farm/street they inhabit.

Interests

• chess
• reading
• rock climbing
• soccer
• writing poetry

Music, Movies, and Books

Music! I love listening to Nahko Bear, Sufjan Stevens, Ludovico Einaudi, Manu Chao, Nina Simone, and more.
I have never been a huge movie-watcher but I took a course in Russian and Soviet film last year at college and loved the epic films of Tarkovsky and the animated shorts by Yuriy Norshteyn.
And books! I most recently finished David T. Courtwright's Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being, and I'm reading the Lonely Planet guide to Spain (though I'd rather be talking to you about Spain!).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was in high school (2 years ago), I was on the board of trustees for the biggest youth climbing group in the United States! I was the service coordinator, which meant that I was responsible for providing opportunities for the hundred-plus high-schoolers to do service related to the interests of our group: rock climbing, hiking, caving, and mountaineering. For my final trip, I organized a stay at Smith Rock State Park for a dozen students, where we would join a big cleanup for our first day, sleep out under the stars, and get up the next day to do two hikes through the beautiful park. The special thing for me was that I got to bring my mom, who took me into nature countless times against my will until I fell in love with it myself. She's 56, but she kept up with the pack on our hikes and we still talk about it all the time. We've planned another trip, just the two of us, out to Smith Rock when I return from Spain.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Rwanda, Uganda, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States