CURRENT MISSION

living frugally in Dubai and keeping a long distance relationship-impossible? NAH.

ABOUT ME

I graduated from college/university in April of 2007, then I moved to Marbella, Spain, where I was placed as an "English Auxillary" for the Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia. Andalucia te quiero! Then I spent two busy years in Madrid, where I met my boyfriend Edd. I loved my three amazing years in Spain but wanted to see more! Edd wanted to travel with me to Mexico: Match made in heaven.

We lived in Merida, Yucatan. We bought a car and made use of it to travel on the weekends. We hosted a couple of times, under our joint profile (edd-and-melissa). But we couldn't make a living there.

Hence, we're both in the middle east. I'm working as a 'spare' teacher, which means I teach whatever they tell me to.

I am a compassionate and forgiving person, and I'm usually logical, but sometimes I won't stop myself from doing something that results in an injury. I am forgetful. I consider myself pretty flexible and I'm always resilient; I try not to let anything get in the way of my happiness.

My vices: coffee, jogging, snow.

I don't watch television.

PHILOSOPHY

Be a good girl. Have good intentions. Take care of others less fortunate. Don't kill anybody. I don't want to sound too existentialist, or else all these profiles will sound the same.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have been moving around recently, and we just settled into our new very small apt. I don´t know if we´ll be able to host for a while, but I am always up for venturing around Mérida with someone and finding new places to hang out!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have couch-surfed in Salamanca, Spain, Istanbul and Zurich. I've had a really good experience every time. I would eventually love to be a host!

Interests

snowboarding, diving, learning how to breakdance (very funny), yoga, hiking, hip-hop, the New Yorker, marmite, live music, music festivals, growing things, non-traditional education, sustainable living, tacky postcards, learning French and Arabic!

• music festivals
• festivals
• education
• coffee
• yoga
• traveling
• music
• live music
• hiking
• camping
• cave diving
• scuba diving
• snowboarding
• teaching
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Tarantino and Wes Anderson.

"the Essential Crazy Wisdom", Pablo Neruda poetry, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Como Agua Para Chocolate, Kerouac, Steinbeck, 1984 (the first present Edd ever gave me!)

The Decemberists. The Shins. Talib Kweli. Anything not Country.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Los Baños Árabes en La Alhama, Granada: natural hot springs, in the middle of the forest...
Bioluminescent Plankton in Celestun, Mexico...
Camping on the beach in Tulum...
Cave diving...
Riding on the back of a motorcycle in Sri Lanka...

Teach, Learn, Share

Spanish! I can speak well (but I need to practice, too!)

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahrain, Canada, France, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mexico, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States