ABOUT ME

i am fun and chill, love traveling, adore learning, like teaching even more. i aspire to be a professor of art and architectural history, and contemporary urbanism. i like to joke that i am man of the tropics; i prefer to stay away from cold weather, and i like to drink and have fun and dance. am also very cool with spending a chill evening with wine/tea/coffee and a book.

on and off vegetarian, as living in cuba is like living in porklandia.

PHILOSOPHY

keep pretty.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

i started couch surfing a few years ago while traveling a bouts the world. i had only awesome experiences and have loved everyone I met. Unfortunately I am in the process of finishing my degree and my life is crazy busy, so I am unable to host or even hang. But my generous couch will be opening to the public come summer 2014.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

i couch-surfed several times, including outside of montreal, in mexico city, throughout northern europe, and in beijing. it was amazing, whether it was a christmas night of wine with french expats in beijing or renegade harvesting with agriculture students in quebec.

Interests

architecture, urbanism, modern + contemporary art, art history, writing, music (from the bad to the esoteric), fine cuisine (cooking and eating), street food, traveling, el caribe, dance parties, reading about decolonization/postcolonialism/postmodernity/etc., meeting people all over the world.

• arts
• writing
• books
• architecture
• contemporary art
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• coffee
• vegetarian
• partying
• drinking
• clubbing
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• equestrian
• surfing
• agriculture
• art history
• teaching
• history
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

i have a secret crush on jónsi birgisson.

and a list of divas: la lupe, björk, madonna, pj harvey, erykah badu
(maybe there are a few pop icons you can add there).

musically my tastes vary. from old school caribbean music traditions to dance/pop to alternative. frankly, i pay more attention to art and architecture.

book-wise i'm all over the place too. love non-fiction. love books on urban space, architecture, politics and art.

also all over the place movie-wise. heart the eyes of tammy faye.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

booty shaking with angela davis in cape town!!!
was part of an amazing social theory workshop with her and many other brilliant wonderful people, traveling on the "thought bus" across southern africa's surreally amazing landscape, talking about race, society, and the history of each locale we visited. it was really mind blowing, challenging, intellectually edifying, intense.

also:
great wall of china after a bunch of special brownies, followed by the contemporary architecture of beijing and gay clubbing.
all of rajasthan, esp. [ziplining at] merangarh fort in jodhpur.
making out on havana's malecón.
the amazing views of rio de janeiro's skyline/seascape/everything.
horseback riding up a mountain to haiti's famed citadelle fort.
the hagia sofia in istanbul.

visited 40 states (17.7%)
visited 27 states (54%)
visited 7 states (20%)Create your own visited map of India or Triposo world travel guide for Android

Teach, Learn, Share

i am very knowledgeable about art, architecture and urbanism. my expertise is on the caribbean, and to a lesser extent latin america and the developing world.
many of my travels focus on urban areas - i am always interested in learning about each city i visit in depth.
i can also engage in more vapid fun conversations, though beware of my inner academic.

Countries I’ve Visited

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Germany, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Chile, Cuba, France, United States