CURRENT MISSION

I'm going to be in France until May 2011. Afterwards...I will take over the world!! Just the opposite actually. I plan to work with WWOOF and volunteer on organic, owner-run farms. I want to travel to learn about other people and other places.

ABOUT ME

I love exploring. I'm obsessed with Guy Debord and the Situationist International (SI) movement. I've been known to go on "Derives" (drifts) and my post-graduation goal is to volunteer with a non-profit program that is at least a year long and live in an intentional community with others in the program. After that, I'm thinking grad school. I'm currently double majoring in International Studies and Women's and Gender Studies with a minor in French. I love architecture, and I'd like to explore its radical potential to change the world. For the better.

In my free time, I am an intern with a non-profit, No Foam Chicago. We will ban "styrofoam" food packaging from Chicago. Believe it. I also want to do more volunteering around the city. Particularly in North Lawndale, because I feel the structural injustices in many parts of the city are atrocious.

PHILOSOPHY

This could vary by the day but my philosophy is that people are good. That being said, it's up to everyone to join together and work to make the world the stereotypical "better place". I really do believe that another world is possible.

As Assata Shakur said: "I believe in living". That's from her poem "Affirmation". It's one of my favorite things ever written.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am hoping to find people who will give me a window into their lives or at the very least give me a place to crash. After I come back from my travels, these people and others are welcome to stay with me. I'll hopefully be living in a community house on my campus that is dedicated to social justice, with 9 other people, but I'm sure they'd be cool with travelers staying with us!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm a newbie! But I was always a fan of sleepovers when I was younger.

Interests

Dance (used to do ballroom dancing...but it's pricey), art and architecture, social movement theory, feminism, biking/ bike commuting (sooo excited to bike in other countries!), exploring, reading Guy Debord's philosophy.

• arts
• architecture
• dancing
• ballroom dancing
• womens rights
• dining
• cooking
• running
• reading
• traveling
• cycling
• gender studies
• history
• volunteering
• wwoof

Music, Movies, and Books

Dirty Dancing, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Vertigo.

The Great Gatsby, The Autobiography of Assata Shakur, The Society of the Spectacle. I wish I had more time to read for pleasure. I also enjoy my books for class though...nerd alert.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I did the North Shore Century Ride this September. I rode 100 miles on my bike with some friends! It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. At the end, there was literally salt covering my face from the sweat. Sweet.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: About Chicago, feminism, college stuff, foods to pair peanut butter with (I hear it's mostly a U.S. thing...I eat so much peanut butter. It's delicious), biking.

Learn: Life in other places, other viewpoints, biking, social movement history/ activist theory, about your city, how to cook!

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, Honduras, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, United States