ABOUT ME

My name is Cat, short for Catherine. My last name is also the name of a pet food company. When you google my name, you get a list of flavors of kitty chow. I left the comfort of Brooklyn, NY, where I've lived for ten years, to volunteer for a free trade design company in Lima. I'm working with artisans to develop products they can sell in the US and Europe to raise their standard of living, mostly in ceramics. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to learn any Spanish before I arrived, so that has limited my ability to meet people in my new city- take pity on this New Yorker and come have a beer with me.

PHILOSOPHY

I make fun of myself a lot, because frankly, I'm ridiculous. I'm coming around the the fact that I'm an idealistic optimist, and fantasize constantly about the amazing thing that could happen, or the beautiful thing that might be. I have big plans, but people come first. This includes my little sister, who is so weird that she should probably come second, but she's family, and she can't help it if she's 25 and still into Disney movies.

Perché sono iscritto su Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Until I get this whole "not knowing Spanish" thing under control, I'd love to meet English-speaking Peruvians, or expats.

Interessi

So far, I haven't met a ceviche I didn't like. Hiking. Skiing. Sweaty live music. Excellent coffee. Marzipan. Bourbon. A good IPA. Backyard BBQ. Biking. Theoretical dog ownership. Kim Chee. Mid-Century Modern design. Dancing terribly and proudly. I studied painting and art history in undergrad, and I'm in love with the museums here- learning as much as I can about pre-columbian art, particularly Paracas culture.

• pets
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• culture
• design
• modern art
• dancing
• dining
• beer
• coffee
• bbq
• movies
• socializing
• pottery
• painting
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• skiing
• art history
• history
• volunteering

Musica, film e libri

The Magnetic Fields, Philip Glass are on pretty much constant circulation. Koyananisquatsi, blasted on an ipod, is pretty much guaranteed to make any location into an utterly surreal experience. Favorite writers are definitely Murakami, Philip Roth and Dostoyevsky.

Una cosa incredibile che ho fatto

I've backpacked through most of Eastern/Western Europe and Japan, worked with indigenous weavers in Guyana, studied furniture with woodworkers in Copenhagen and toured glass factories in Bavaria, among other things. I just finished a vase for a German crystal company, coming soon to a grandmother's living room near you. Favorites might be Split, Croatia- a beachside city contained in the walls of a Roman fortress- and Naoshima, a little island in Japan devoted entirely to modern art.

•