CURRENT MISSION

bringing the spirit of "buen camino" to the world

ABOUT ME

Call it the DC syndrome, where I lived for a few years before moving to Poland: I can tell you in two sentences why you should hire me but filling this thing out is hard.

I'm originally from Seattle, which means I love music, microbrews, and the great outdoors. I read endlessly - while making coffee, while brushing my teeth, while walking to work -- it's become a problem. I consider myself kind of a foodie. I wish I lived further from work so I could bike there. I work in a high-profile position with a lot of public contact, which I love, but I also like to get out of the country sometimes and just be an unknown again.

My favorite writers are Bohumil Hrabal, Milan Kundera, Lev Tolstoy, and Ryszard Kapuscinski. And Hendrik Hertzberg, for whatever that's worth. My favorite country that I've traveled in was Georgia.

PHILOSOPHY

You become the things you do.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

My couch is getting surfed constantly, sometimes by people I just met, sometimes by mom & dad, so whether I can host depends totally on the timing.

Warsaw has a lot of hosts, many of whom are better at partying all night or arranging large gatherings than I am. My little piece of Warsaw is made up of bookstores, coffee shops, galleries, theater, concerts, and, in the summer, quirky outdoor bars. I bicycle everywhere when the weather permits. I usually only take someone if I can show them around, so if you're looking for a place to crash or just party, this isn't it. But if you're into the arts or want a dose of literary Warsaw, I'm your girl.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

CSing with the king of Madrid was a great start. Hanging with any of the CSers in Warsaw is a blast. My couch has recently been surfed by: Poles from outside Warsaw, a Polish-American friend from the U.S., a long-lost friend from junior high, a girl I went to college with... but that's just Warsaw.

Interests

Live music, books, specialty beers, bicycling, picnics, yoga, periodicals, painting (as in my apartment walls, in various colors). When traveling, I'm either looking to get outdoors and just hike/bike/explore, or I'm wanting to explore the texture of a given city, or I'm looking for something abstract -- I'm obsessed with monuments and the stories they tell about collective histories and the way we choose to remember things as societies. I consider myself a closet anthropologist a la Kapuscinski, and wish I could write the world like he did.

• arts
• books
• theater
• concerts
• beer
• coffee
• yoga
• walking
• partying
• traveling
• eating out
• painting
• music
• live music
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• anthropology

Music, Movies, and Books

It's hard to list favorites, so I'll share what I've been listening to recently:

Music: Treasure Fingers, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Joni Mitchell, The National

Books: Trans-Atlantyk, by Witold Gombrowicz; Nawrocony, Isaac Bashevicz Singer; still trying to get through Swann's Way, and just picked up King Leopold's Ghost

Movies: Someone just loaned me Persepolis (I have the books), but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Last watched at home: Sex & Lucia. Last watched in theaters: The Reader, 33 Sceny z Zycia.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Puerto Rico, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Poland, Russian Federation

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