CURRENT MISSION

To eat at least one dish, learn one phrase, song or dance, from as many nationalities and cultures as possible! To continue to learn and teach, always bettering myself and my environment with knowledge, creativity, artistic and culinary greatness

ABOUT ME

A caucasian cocktail, I'm an international mix addicted to travelling with a thirst for new experiences and adventures.
I grew up surrounded by people from all over the world. My friends are an international crowd too.
My family are spread out between the US, Belgium, and Scotland.
I'm talkative, friendly and open. I can be entirely funny, random and bizarre, but equally I have times where I am completely reserved and private. I guess I'm a balance of everything!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have been an active host in Glasgow over the past year and met some incredibly varied and interesting people. I have danced, talked and eaten the night away, enjoyed conversations that were generlised, philosophised, brain-exercised, and generally spanned every corner of the imagination and the universe, right-way round, upside down and back to front! I have also been the lucky recipient of the kindness, openness and generosity of the hosts that have opened their homes and their lives to me. This is an awesome project and one that I am so pleased to be part of!

Interests

I love food, both eating and making- especially if it's spicy! I love dance (everhthing- salsa, rnb, techno and drum'n base) and music (if you put my ipod on shuffle, every genre is represented to some extent!), art (i love drawing and painting, and enjoy going to exhibitions, especially portrait photography) and theatre. I love meeting people and talking late into the night about everything and nothing. I like shopping (doesn't every girl?)

• arts
• photography
• dancing
• environment
• dining
• chocolate
• cocktails
• baking
• partying
• boating
• shopping
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• painting
• drawing
• music
• sailing
• swimming
• golf

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I know it says one, but here's a few...Climbed Adam's peak (also known as Sri Pada in Sri Lanka) on New Years day and watched the sunrise on the 1st of Jan.
Delivered food and medicines to sick people with HIV and TB in a slum in Kenya, and was offered cups of tea by some of the poorest and most generous people in the world.
Hung out at a reggae party with some guys and girls from Lamu island, then took the dhow-boat on a moonlit tour and went night-swimming under the stars, learning to sail as the sun came up. Heavenly!
Trusted a stranger in Berlin, who showed me a decrepit old bombed out building, which was actually an art gallery, tiny cinema and funky, intimate bar inside- truly beautiful- thank you!
I have been blessed with the means and the opportunity to have traveled and seen quite a lot in this world, even more so for the people I have met along the way who have more often than not become friends, and shown me places I would have been unlikely to discover as a tourist. Everywhere you go there are beautiful and amazing places, sometimes you need to be with the right people to realise it, and other times you just need to be patient. Mostly, it's luck!

Teach, Learn, Share

PERFECT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin. Yuuuuum!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Spain, Thailand, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, United States

•