CURRENT MISSION

to travel on the cheap

ABOUT ME

We have been married since 2007 and have known each other since high school. At the moment, Chris and I live on different continents--Chris in North America and I in Europe, where we both try to function as full time students.
Cristina: I can be quite silly and quirky at times, but am sometimes accused of taking things more seriously than I should. I'm pretty easy going with others. I love listening to music too loud. I like eating good food 'til I'm about to burst. I have had a few profound thoughts and I've said some pretty ditsy things. I've worked real jobs; I've also bummed around. Now I'm just taking it easy and finishing up school before I reenter grown up life again. Right now, I'm studying Spanish literature at the University of Granada in Spain. I plan to return to San Diego, California next March to finish up my bachelor's degree in literature before I permanently relocate to Montreal, Quebec next summer. I will continue my education in a completely different field--nursing. My goal is to become a nurse practitioner. In the past I've worked as an English tutor, a mental health worker, a maker of fancy little coffee drinks, a telemarketer, a fast food cashier, some kind of office stiff at moving company, and other things that I can't or prefer not to recall.

Christopher (29 years of age): My husband is interested in rock and roll criticism, philosophy and politics. He´s a great conversationalist and though he´s a bit of the broody/contemplative type, he´s got a goofy side too. He graduated from University of California, San Diego with degrees in political science and philosophy. Currently he is a graduate student (PhD political theory) at McGill University, Montreal.

PHILOSOPHY

Cristina: No pasa nada. Easy come, easy go.

Chris: We can talk about it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Cristina: Right now, I don't have a couch. But when I get to Montreal, I plan to host as much as I can. Even though I am a foreigner in a foreign land, I would love to meet up with anyone traveling through Granada for a cup of Joe or a beer. Just send me a message.

Chris: Totally new to couch surfing. Since I'm pretty busy right now as a graduate student, I'm waiting for Cristina to join me in Montreal before we can reasonably start hosting other surfers.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Cristina: I'm totally new to it. I found out about couch surfing in Madrid when this wonderful couch surfer from England saw me and my traveling companions about to sleep on a public bench in a plaza for the night (we actually didn't end up sleeping there. Ask me about what happened if you're curious). He told us about a couch surfing meeting that was to take place the next evening, so we showed up the next day and met some truly wonderful people. We even secured a place to stay that night, without the website.

Interests

Cristina: Live music, good coffee, good whiskey, good books, long walks, recycling, cooking, my frenetic feline, Mexican food (oh I miss San Diego with it's delicious Mexican cuisine), etc....

Chris: Slavoj Žižek, Georg Lukács, philosophy, politics, rock and roll, live music, food, Scotch, whiskey, hiking, Nietzsche, and more...

• books
• literature
• education
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• mexican food
• fast food
• running
• drinking
• politics
• traveling
• music
• live music
• hiking
• surfing
• swimming
• teaching
• nursing
• political science
• science
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Cristina:
My favorite movie growing up was the Wizard of Oz. I adore the films of Woody Allen and Charlie Chaplin. I'm a fan of Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Fatih Akin, David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, Pedro Almodóvar and blah, blah, blah. I listen to mostly rock and roll, blues, and American folk music, and I´m usually not a fan of contemporary popular music although I´m not offended by it. Writers whose works I enjoy: Kerouac, Dostoevsky, Louise Penny (fun mystery stories that take place in Montreal), Nietzsche, Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy. My favorite Beatle: George and John are close in the running.

Chris:
Film:
Terrence Malick, Ingmar Bergman, Woody Allen
Music:
Ron Asheton, Howlin Wolf, Flat Duo Jets, Skip James, Dock Boggs, Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart
Books:
Old Weird America, Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume One
Favorite Beatle: John

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cristina: Slept on the beach in Valencia. Nearly froze to death during the night. Went for a swim as the sun rose in Mediterranean the next morning. And it was amazing!

Teach, Learn, Share

Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon.

--Woody Allen

The road out would be treacherous, and I didn’t know where it would lead but I followed it anyway. It was a strange world ahead that would unfold, a thunderhead of a world with jagged lightning edges. Many got it wrong and never did get it right. I went straight into it. It was wide open. One thing for sure, not only was it not run by God, but it wasn’t run by the devil either.

--Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume One

Countries I’ve Visited

Italy, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Spain, United States

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