CURRENT MISSION

To wake up, to suddenly become, to accelerate. To love until I cry. To believe in good and see wonder in existence. To embrace my transience, and live without regret.

ABOUT ME

I am a natural child, now living in a big city and participating in the fast life of a large, prestigious university. I'm very interested in writing & poetry & reading, philosophy/theology, Latin America, social justice issues, fair trade & solidarity, migrant advocacy & rights, exploring my new city, traveling, kayaking & camping, and having coffee in cafes. I love telling and listening to stories & widening my horizons.

PHILOSOPHY

...as shown in some of my favorite quotes:

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."

-A. Roy

I have never found a companion as companionable as solitude.

-H.D. Thoreau

"Go placidly amid the noise & haste, & remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection, Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

WIth all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

- Desiderata

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

- Dom Helder Camara

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I haven't participated much yet, but I love meeting new people and getting new perspectives. Whether that is through having someone on my couch, being on someone else's couch, or sitting in one of the world's many coffee shops, I am excited for it.

Interests

• writing
• poetry
• beauty
• dining
• coffee
• reading
• traveling
• kayaking
• camping
• swimming
• divinity
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC!
current favorite song(s) or album: "go places" by the new pornographers, "20 dollar" by m.i.a., "enemy" by jesca hoop

bob marley, the beatles, iron & wine, santana, sublime, cake, coldplay, cat stevens, green day, jack johnson, the postal service, death cab, the strokes, nick drake, dave matthews band, fiona apple, aesop rock, belle and sebastain, explosions in the sky, manu chao, simon and garfunkle, tenacious d, jenny lewis/rilo kiley, missy elliot, regina spektor, the verve, josh ritter, yann tiersen, jurassic 5, amadou et miriam, neko case, beck, michael franti, eddi reader, emily haines, corinne bailey rae, g love, tegan and sara, ozomatli, gym class heroes, daddy yankee, girltalk, jeff buckley, art in manila, wilco, ludacris, don omar, guster, kimya dawson, m.i.a., feist, julieta venegas, ingrid michaelson, xavier rudd, ethan miller & kate boverman, indigo girls, kiko el presidente, jesca hoop, new pornographers, elliott smith, okkervil river, carla bruni, mum

BOOKS!
currently reading: saul alinsky

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky

Poets:
W. H. Auden
Charles Bukowski
ee cummings
William Carlos Williams
W.B. Yeats
Miguel Otero Silva
Seamus Heaney
Walt Whitman

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Slid down a glacier in Washington State

Teach, Learn, Share

Things I know:
Spanish, conversationally
Some Latin American history
How to make hemp jewelry
How to embroider
How to swim
History & Spirituality of the Society of Jesus
The basic themes & major characters of Dostoevsky
Some awesome reads

Things I'd like to know more about:
Other languages
Good authors & musicians
Cultures & mindsets outside of my own

Countries I’ve Visited

Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States