I'm currently traveling through Europe for the third time, and hoping to go to lots of places that will be new to me. And this time I am traveling mostly by bicycle! It's my first ever bicycle tour! At the moment is still cold & rainy in many places so right now I'm bicycling when I can and taking trains and buses when the weather forces me to. Right now my boyfriend Eddie is traveling with me and our trip will take us across the south of France and around Spain and we will then travel to the Czech Republic and really after that everything is up in the air! For me this will be an exercise is not always knowing where I will be and where I will sleep next week, or even tomorrow! It's about not planning to far in the future so as not to have to miss out on any surprises that life throws at you.

I am coming from Tucson, Arizona and the beautiful desert where I have lived for 3 years. I do humanitarian aid there in the desert on the migration routes that people use to cross into the United States and I also work just on the other side of the border in Mexico providing humanitarian aid to people who have just been deported from the US. I'm also an educator and I love teaching English, which I haven't done for a while but I'd like to do again some day soon.

I'm really interested in immigration & border issues and also Guatemalan history & current news. I'm also really interested in learning about radical and popular movements happening all over and spreading the word about them and if possible doing what I can to be supportive to them.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've traveled a lot, and really I prefer to go somewhere and stay for months at a time and get involved in something that feels meaningful and focus on learning things (Like language!) But also there are so many amazing places to see! I'm not really the type to backpack around from city to city, getting into the routine of seeing tourist attractions and participating in the bar/hostel scene (All of which I have done by the way haha).
I find it hard to meet people that way and have real conversations... which is why I like staying with couchsurfers and why I like to host people when I am at home. I feel like there is very very much to be learned that way, everything from the local People's History to where to find a good hiking trail to where to find the best place to go dumpster diving. Things you can't find in a guide book!

Interests

Guatemala, Mountain Dulcimer, Contra and Square Dancing, being in the mountains, singing with friends, human rights and solidarity activism, herbal and natural healing, dumpster diving, finding hidden places, drinking coffee

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seeing a quetzal in the cloud forest of Guatemala

Being present in the court room in Guatemala City in 2013 when the former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt was sentenced for the crime of genocide.

Living in a cave in Granada for a month

Countries I’ve Visited

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Guatemala, Spain, United States

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