Hi! I graduated from college this past June (with a double major in biology and comparative literature), and I will be moving to Vigo, Spain in September to teach English for a year. I'm really excited to meet tons of new people, improve my Spanish, and learn more about Spanish literature and culture.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

What better way to get to know a city than to explore with the help of some locals? Everything becomes more real and personal when it is discovered with someone else, especially if that person can share their own stories and memories associated with those places. I like to think of myself as a gracious host, as well - I love welcoming people into my home, cooking for them, introducing them to a piece of my life and my city. It's a great way to break routines that can ossify our everyday experience.

Interests

• arts
• books
• literature
• street art
• dancing
• cooking
• coffee
• running
• hiking
• skiing
• soccer
• art history
• history
• languages
• food
• tea

Music, Movies, and Books

Some favorites: Juan Rulfo, Ben Lerner, Claudia Rankine, James Baldwin, Jorge Luis Borges - writers with impeccable style, stilted language, and truly original insights into the functioning of our everyday world.

Musicians: Leonard Cohen (for his lyrics), Vampire Weekend, Beirut (for their instrumentation), Paul Simon, Serge Gainsbourg, Electric Guest, Beach House, Big Thief, Fleet Foxes.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

So much depends upon one's definition of amazing... I've done some stupid things (competed in a half-marathon without any training at all); some outdoorsy things (hiked the West Highland Way, 100 miles of Scottish wilderness); some intellectual things (won a grant to study medical art in Western Europe last year). In the end, forging real and intimate relationships is probably the most meaningful thing I've done. No matter how long they have lasted - the duration of a single afternoon; over the course of a passionate fling and its abrupt end; as part of a lifelong friendship - they have all fundamentally changed the person that I am today.

Teach, Learn, Share

Stories! I love listening to them, I love participating in them, I love analyzing them to death. I love nothing more than sitting around a table or a terrace to chat and to listen to others.
I always love learning new recipes or techniques in the kitchen.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Two languages and two cultures (French and American), good cooking skills, good company.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bolivia, England, France, Iceland, Italy, Paraguay, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Tanzania

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States