CURRENT MISSION

Meet and befriend locals and travelers alike. Find a Spanish conversation partner. Make Panama my home

ABOUT ME

My background is in business econ and I'm working for Global Brigades, the world's largest student-led health and development organization. Currently living in Panama City, Panama. My philosophy about economic development: institutions matter, work with the systems already in place (that includes markets and capitalism), start from the bottom up, and ask those you are empowering what they actually need (don't assume you know and don't put a bandaid on the problem). I hope to take this experience "on the ground", couple it with a few of years in corporate banking and a masters degree in something and then create my own social enterprise.

I think others would describe me as someone who at first appears very serious but is actually surprisingly fun and wild.

PHILOSOPHY

Try to see the glass half full. Be energetic & enthusiastic. Destiny and fate exist, but are not the only determinants of your life. Live life the way you want and hold yourself accountable. Be your own harshest critic.

If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress. - Barack Obama

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am looking to meet people in Panama City, show them around or be shown around. Practice Spanish, and have English practiced on me.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None, but I have only heard great things.

Interests

warm weather, beaches, yoga, walking, Indian/Thai/pub food, micro-brews, non-fiction, development blogs, being outside, hiking, concerts, dancing, going out, development studies, economics,

• concerts
• dancing
• dining
• yoga
• walking
• pub crawls
• boating
• socializing
• hiking
• sailing
• business
• economics
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

books: non-fiction, inspiring, anything that calls for action
Movies: comedies, documentaries, most films on the festival circuit, period pieces
Music: mash-up, electro, techo, dubstep, electro-pop/dance, reggaeton, most anything on the HypeM, Mumford&Sons, Black Keys

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Slept on a boat in the middle of Lago Gatun (in the Panama Canal)

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach sailing
I can share my line of work
I want to learn Spanish!

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Panama, United States