I: aim to do at least one truly ridiculous thing every day; am a damn good cook but hate to follow recipes; love the New York Times crossword puzzle more than could possibly be healthy; can be seriously silly - and so serious it's silly. Someday I will make it to every country in the world. I'm clumsy beyond belief. I'm also a really, really, really, really big nerd. I "dress optimistically" (my mother says, fondly), which means that I don't put on warm enough clothing for the current weather. You might not have heard of most of the languages I know anything about.

Me aburro de escribir todo lo mismo en dos idiomas, así que los monolingües van a conocer a otra persona. Me encanta, o más bien me parece bien chistoso, escuchar una canción que conozco en inglés que se ha traducido en español.

En français, je suis un peu plus sérieuse -- c'est ma troisième langue, donc vas-y doucement avec moi!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've put up friends, friends of friends, and random conference and festival attendees for the last mumble-mumble years. My ex and I have hosted a handful of folks from here together and stayed with some lovely folks.

It's wonderful to meet people from all over the world, and it's wonderful to find a home in another country and see what everyday life is like.

Interests

languages and how we use them; food, especially if it requires a fieldtrip or an adventure; punctuation marks; self-presentation (from clothing to things like verbal tics); bright colors; oatmeal; the Weather Channel; religion and belief systems; crossword puzzles; public transportation; inequality and privilege and how we end up where we are; Muppets.

los idiomas y como los manejamos; la comida y lo que puedo hacer con ella; la puntuación; los colores fuertes; la avena; la traducción; la migración; las caricaturas; cruciverbos; la religión y los sistemas de creencias; transporte público; los Muppets.

• festivals
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• clothing
• socializing
• puzzles
• hiking
• canoeing
• swimming
• languages
• religion
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

A partial list:

One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Westing Game, Intrusions (or anything Ursula Hegi touches), Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, She's Come Undone, anything Henson, Up, Annie Hall, Labyrinth, Some Like It Hot, As Good As It Gets, The Pink Panther, Iron Chef, Jorge Drexler, the New Pornographers, Sondre Lerche, the Perishers, They Might Be Giants, ...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The Mekong is as red as they promise, and the ferry to Laos is a canoe with an outboard motor. On a three-day trek, my hiking sandals become a liability: I discover that I am terrified of leeches, and everyone else has closed shoes. Our guide announces "Adventure!" at intervals, which signifies that he's about to hack a new trail with his machete. At lunchtime, we swim in waterfalls and eat cold sticky rice with the fruit we've picked: red fireberries with sour fruit and small, sweet figs.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to make perfect fluffy rice every time, why language is important, how to speak Spanish, how to dance like nobody's watching.

I always want to learn more languages.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories. Piles and piles of them.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Laos, Morocco, Peru, Poland, Spain, Thailand, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Mexico, United States