CURRENT MISSION

to become an above average cook and dancer

ABOUT ME

I am graduate of Fordham University in the Bronx, former employee of both the U.S. and Swedish government, former MBA student at ESADE in Barcelona, now a corporate worker bee here in Madrid. I am an obsessive traveler, spending money on traveling over new clothes, new music, etc. I'm working on finding a balance with that. I prefer tea over coffee, beer over wine, and meat over veggies. I have itchy feet according to the English (whatever that means), and am very spontaneous if someone has an idea that piques my interest.

PHILOSOPHY

As I get older, I've discovered summarizing a personal philosophy in a sentence or two is damn near impossible. As I near 30, I realize that even piecing it together coherently is challenging. However, I've got my opinions and feel I can articulate them somewhat intelligently

SMALL HOSTING REQUESTS

Administrative Stuff

1. Use the Request Couch Button: This makes my life so much easier as it keeps me organized. If you write me a regular message, I may lose track of it.

2. Please be patient. I have gone hiking for a weekend and come back with 42 requests/messages. Between that and a full time job oscillating between 45-60 hours a week, its a struggle to keep up. I am trying my best but please do cut me a little slack here

The Art of Requesting/Being a CS Member

1. Write a thoughtful request - always a great starting point and I will try my best to write a thoughtful response in return whether I can host or not.

2. Fill out your profile - I will be a lot more comfortable if I know a little bit more about you and why you want to be on CouchSurfing. In short, I want to get to know you before inviting you into my home

3. Don't say you are ONLY doing this just to save money, if a place to crash is your only motivation, I hear hostel beds are still pretty cheap these days.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Getting coffee, going to CS events, and making the most of my time in Madrid with anyone who is willing to join me. Hosting whenever I can, getting back into surfing when exploring new places.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Stayed with Meg, Charles and Ben in Nashville for a few days with my girlfriend. Had a great time, they were the most accomodating, cool, interesting people I have encountered, made me a believer in couch surfing.

Kicked back in SF with Erik and Eva, gave the kind of hospitality you give to old friends, which made us so comfortable. They also gave us a bus pass to get on the cable car for free ($5 bucks a ride, no thank you)

Spent a night with Leonid on his clandestine bed at his dorm. Stuck it to the man by violating guest policies. Great time

Surfed and socialized my way through Central Asia, would not have made my through without CS

Hosted many a surfer, always a good experience, always worthwhile.

Interests

talking in a civil manner about politics and life, hearing great stories, making new friends trying as many different beers as possible, all Chicago sports teams + Atletico de Madrid, collecting postcards and coins (if you have exotic postcards or coins, please share).

Also, 100 countries, all 50 states, I am pretty hellbent on getting to both those milestones.

Current Stats
36 states
45 countries, 2 colonies

• arts
• dancing
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• cocktails
• coffee
• partying
• clothing
• politics
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• surfing
• sports
• track and field
• teaching
• statistics

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: The Departed, Some Like it Hot, The Shape of Things, Wonder Boys, American Beauty, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Hurt Locker

Music: Wilco, The Velvet Underground, Otis Redding, David Bowie, Beck, Kanye West, Hank Williams, The Olivia Tremor Control, Postmodern Jukebox. I really don't dislike much, except death metal...and Robin Thicke

Books: Invisible Man, The Great Gatsby, Oh!The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss, What is the What, A Cricket In Times Square

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I saw the sunset over the atlantic while looking at the Mediterrenean Sea, the coasts of Spain and Morocco, and the Rock of Gibraltar, all at the same time, it was a religious experience

Teach, Learn, Share

A 'cocktail party story' as my professor put it:

The Washington Monument in DC has 193 stones donated from all U.S. states and most countries that existed in the world at the time it was built (mid 1800s). It was supposed to have 194. The Pope's Stone was taken out of the Vatican and donated to the U.S. Government for the monument. Unfortunately, the American Party, an anti-immigration, anti-Catholic party was in power. In order to not besmurch the name of our greatest founding father's monument with "papist donations" they sank the stone in the Potomac River, where has been ever since, never seen again.

Not sure if the Vatican is bitter, we Catholics are good at forgiving, but bad at forgetting though so you never know.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my relatively good, aforementioned cooking skills. I usually like bringing little trinkets along from Spain to my international hosts if you would like. I also bring good stories, a sense of humor, and a boatload of resourcefulness born from years of travelling alone.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, North Korea, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Spain, United States

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