California native currently working as an Americorps member in an elementary school in Santa Rosa. I graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in public health. While I was in college, I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico and through some of Europe. I’ve also lived with international students from over 10 different countries. Since joining Americorps, I’ve mostly stayed put in Santa Rosa, but I haven’t lost my desire to travel, meet new people, and hear and make new life stories. I’m hoping, with the permission of my roommates to host some couchsurfers while I finish up my Americorps term in Santa Rosa.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am on couch surfing because from experience, living with a local when you are in a new place provides a much more enriching experience. I would have written off Geneva as a boring albeit beautiful city and Pisa as a tourist trap but because I stayed with friends I got a taste of what locals enjoy the most from their cities. Provided I can find the room I would like to host a couchsurfer. There are few joys greater than convincing someone else that your city is as great as you think it is.

Interests

I'm not terribly talented but I really enjoy
-art, especially art museums; my favorite artists are Gustav Klimt, Chardin, Marina Abramovic, and I've recently started to get into Vik Muniz.
-hiking
-running
-meditation
-learning languages

• arts
• dining
• cooking
• vegetarian
• running
• meditation
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• languages
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite music: Vampire Weekend, Kendrick Lamar, alt-J, Dr.Dog, Dom La Nena
Movies: Amelie, The Dark Knight, Russian Dolls, Inglorious Basterds, Wetlands
Books: East of Eden, The God of Small Things, One-hundred Years of Solitude, Anna Karenina, Like Water for Chocolate

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Taught 4th graders how to do long division lol

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: I can teach people how to cook vegetables so that they taste almost as good as a meal with meat in it

Learn: I really have a passion for learning languages. I am semi-fluent in Spanish (half of my family lives in Mexico) but I would like to increase my knowledge of Italian, French, Dutch, and Portuguese. I also really want to start to learn Russian because one of my best friends is from Moscow.

Share: fun times

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can cook really good vegetarian food, most of which has the flavor of my hometown region of the Southwest, specifically Southern California/Mexico.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands