CURRENT MISSION

Explore the world

ABOUT ME

I'm a student at the University of California, graduating May 2009. I'm very easy going, fun-loving, and adventurous. Love meeting new people, going to new places, and trying new things. I know Northern California quite well, especially the San Francisco bay area.
My parents are from Mexico, so I speak Spanish fluently. I've taken two semesters of college French, so I can read it and speak it in a limited way.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe that the root of social problems stem from the concept of otherness. The idea that there is a distinction from one subjective experience and another. This allows us to reduce others to non-human status and to treat them as such. I find that when real dialogue is made on equal terms, then the line between self and other blurs. I've spent years studying global social problems. The world seems so dire, so hopeless, and yet when I meet complete strangers and a mutual respect and love emerges, I find myself hopeful. Really, it's stuff like couchsuring.com that keeps me going, that gives meaning to my existence in this seemingly impersonal world.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've had a few surfers and they have been amazing. We've had impromptu jam sessions, made feasts and just shared euphoric moments where our mutual love for humanity is so beautifully validated. I also enjoy going to couchsurfing events and have finally done some couchsurfing myself.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have hosted people. Now I am in Europe couchsurfing myself. It's been better than I could have imagined. I fucking love people.

Interests

I love reading and writing. Also love food, whether going out (we have amazing restaurants in Berkeley) or cooking (particularly good with vegetarian, Mexican and American style food.) I love to hike or bike and there are many many awesome trails within a few blocks of my house. I also love music to listen to or play (trombone, baritone, trumpet, some keyboard/guitar.) Movies are great, we have the Pacific Film Archive two blocks from here (very good strange hard to find screenings.) Perhaps my favorite interest is learning, especially by socializing. Love to go out, stay in, talk, smoke out (yes, Berkeley is very green,) dance, party, etc.

• writing
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• vegetarian
• partying
• movies
• reading
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• trumpet
• cycling
• hiking

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Amadeus, all of Pedro Almodovar, Waking Life, Amores perros, Turtles Can Fly, El callejon de los milagros, Guillermo del Toro, Angels in America, American Beauty, David Lynch, Short Bus, la vita e bella, and way more stuff.
Music: Radiohead, Slint, Neutral Milk Hotel, Mana, Cafe Tacuba, Coco Rosie, Brian Eno, Velvet Underground, the Beatles, Charles Mingus, Olivia Tremor Control, Grandaddy, Doug Marsh, Built to Spill, Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Devotchka, Beirut, Blond Redhead, Pram, Arto Lindsay, Caetano Veloso, Andrew Bird, and way too many more to list.
Books: Tolkien, Herman Hesse, Ursula Leguin, Frank Herbert, Alduous Huxley, Tony Kushner, Peter Shafer, Toni Morrison, Kundera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Silvia Plath, The Giving Tree, and many more.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Mexico, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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