CURRENT MISSION

Building context through experience... learning room

ABOUT ME

Myself... I crave to learn and to defy stereotypes. I am an artist with a masters in economics. My favorite people are those that surprise you, that are many things, and wholly one; who are complex and layered and especially those that live lives that appear to others as contradictory... who prove that one can be an astronaut and a poet, or a professional botanist with a closet full of cycling medals and a cordon bleu finesse, or a pilot who crafts puppets and wrote a screenplay once.

PHILOSOPHY

Create beauty.

Bernard Mickey Wrangle said, although I might forget the words, "There is a fixed amount of good and evil in the world. All one can hope to do is stir it up so that it never settles in one place." I believe in stirring it up.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am currently traveling, but I live in Los Angeles and as soon as I'm home, I have a couch and welcome anyone interested.

For me traveling is about stories and relationships and my trips have always been meaningful whenever there are people to share the experience with.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

This year I tried couch surfing for the first time. My sisters had done it but, I'd only ever traveled to places where I had friends or short vacations in hostels. My first experience in London was incredible. I met great people. London was special, but my couch surfing friends, they defined that vacation. I went cycling in the park, cooked with them and went out. In fact my second experience in Israel was a gift. I spent an evening at a dinner party with a group of fascinating people who treated me like an old friend. We were surprised to find no shortage of topics to discuss, films to recall, art and music to share.

My friends have always raved about CS and when I was able to surf I was blown away by the generosity and warmth of strangers. My experience in Jerusalem MADE Jerusalem. For me, CS reveals how much beauty there is to be shared and exchanged. I am grateful.

Anyway, I hope you'll take a chance on me. I strive to be curtious, to be very clean, to respect all common areas and to replenish what I consume. I want the generosity of others to be completely worthwhile.

When I'm not traveling, I welcome a guest on my couch!

Interests

Languages. Art. Literature and poetry. Writing. Action. Storytelling.

• arts
• writing
• literature
• poetry
• beauty
• partying
• crafts
• movies
• traveling
• cars
• music
• cycling
• surfing
• economics
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
Gattaca, In the Mood for Love, The Sea Inside, The Lives of Others, Monsoon Wedding, Out of Africa, Saawariya, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Frida, Days of Being Wild, An Education, The Reader

Music: Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen and...
The Cardigans, Sigur ros, Lhasa
Spanish/Mexican Pop: Shakira, Belanova, Mala Rodriguez, Julieta Venegas, Bebe, Zoe

Books:
Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith, Animal Dreams, Love in the Time of Cholera, Still Life with Woodpecker, The Stranger, Snow Country, Arbol Adentro, Crime and Punishment

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One day in Northern Uganda, in Gulu with a dear friend, we stopped at the house of his brother. We stepped into a hut to find, a kind of boy's clubhouse. They were lying on couches in the inside, watching a film on two computer screens, with flags and ornaments all over. When the film finished I walked outside and sat on the grass in the sun. Three six year old girls and one toddler looked up at me from the neighbors house and slowly approached. We drew pictures in the sand under a great big tree, laughing sillily at the depictions of people, cars, pigs, and all sorts of objects that we each lacked the other's words for. I thought I'd cry of laughter. The five of us giggling away. I didn't take a camera with me to Africa. I took pictures with my heart. They're as bright as diamonds.

Countries I’ve Visited

Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Peru, Rwanda, Spain, Sudan, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, Palestine, Uganda, United States