CURRENT MISSION

Live and love everything

ABOUT ME

The basics:

I was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and raised all my life in Southern California, specifically in Cerritos, CA - a suburb in Los Angeles. I just finished a great 4 years as a full time undergraduate at UC Berkeley where I studied Economics and Industrial Engineering & Operations Research. I'm about to travel to South America for about 2.5 months, and then India after that for another month and a half. In January (2011), I'll be moving to New York and starting work in professional services (specifically, management consulting) in New York City - though I really I´m anything but the corporate type haha

A little bit more...!
I love to be adventurous, and equally love to just hang around and take it easy. I love to share my thoughts on just about everything, and even more so to hear other people's thoughts. I love meeting new people, and also treasure forming deep relations. I consider myself very easy going, open minded, and generally able to (or least trying to) get along with just about anyone.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm still very much in the process of figuring out my life philosophy. A few ideas I try to stick to are to always be open minded and empathetic, to stay adventurous and young and heart, to be the best person you can be to those around you, and to always find a way to have a good time.

Advice I try to live by:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfq_A8nXMsQ

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I joined the CS community right before a trip through South America back in 2010, initially participating as a Surfer (both there, and in random cities in the States). Have never been in a living situation that has allowed me to be a host, but love meeting new people and joining activities whenever possible!

I love CS because everyone within the community is open minded, friendly, and generally awesome

Interests

There are very few things that I don't find interesting. I really love sports, traveling, music, good friends and learning/exploring new things. I especially love having and getting to know people through drawn out conversations about anything even remotely interesting!

• dancing
• cooking
• traveling
• music
• drums
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• scuba diving
• sports
• basketball
• american football
• soccer
• tennis
• economics
• engineering
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES:
- I generally enjoy a mix of good drama or suspense movies (e.g., Dark Knight), fun comedies (e.g., Love Actually), or sports related movies (e.g., Remember the Titans), and most anything by Pixar (Toy Story 3 was amazing!). Other than horror, which I never developed much of an interest for, I like most movies that are widely considered as well made

MUSIC:
While I love most types of music, I´ve never been very good at actively seeking out music to listen to - and therefore end up with mostly mainstream music in instrumental, hip hop, soul, mainstream rock, and recently electronic and house:

- I really enjoy improvised instrumental music - i.e. classical Indian music, jazz, etc. and actually play the tabla (classical Indian drums) myself. Some favorite artists include John McLaughlin, Miles Davis, John Coltraine, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma.
- I also really like neo-soul music - i.e. John Legend, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, India Arie...
- Hip hop artists include Lupe Fiasco, Kanye, Jay Z, Kid Cudi, etc while "rock" includes John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Coldplay, the Fray, Yellowcard...
- Recently I´ve been getting more into electronic music with DJs like Armen Van Buren, Tiesto, Deadmau5, MSTRKRFT, Above & Beyond, Groove Armada...

Books:
I honestly end up reading many more pages of articles than pages of books these days... and for no particularly good reason. Currently attempting to take on the beast that is Infinite Jest haven´t read much of anything recently for no good reason... but I´ve always enjoyed reading the classics, books like Freakonomics and Tipping Point that make interesting social observations, books conveying a philosophy or way of thinking like Obama´s Audacity of Hope, and thriller´s like Sherlock Holmes or Grisham novels.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef... breathing underwater is one of the most surreal and mind boggling experiences I´ve ever had, and something that I recommend to everyone willing to try!

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:
Just a few things off the top of my head...
- I play the tabla - a set of classical Indian drums
- Indian style cooking
- Hindi and English
- A basic level of tennis, basketball, American football

Learn:
Anything you want!

Some recent fancies include:
- Dance! I don´t know much, but can attempt to carry a rhythm and am interested in all sorts of dance! (previous exposure includes Indian dances, one random Somalia dance lesson, a couple loose ball room lessons)
- Any outdoor activities - i.e. camping, hiking, biking, etc. at a more technical level to be able to have some expertise in the area.
- Random interesting cultural tidbits - I enjoy history, but much more so I like learning about cultural nuances (like how to greet people, what´s
proper etiquette, what is appropriate vs. what isn´t, etc.)

Share:
All that I can! Not sure what all I can offer... but ask away!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Senegal, Singapore, Thailand, United States, Venezuela

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

• 

•