CURRENT MISSION

To change the world through education but also to change myself by meeting new people, learning new languages and broading my mind. I believe that you can always learn something from your experiences. It´s all about making the most of it.

ABOUT ME

I grew up in Mataró, a town about 40 mins from Barcelona, the second biggest city in Spain. I was pretty shy when I was little, but I took drama lessons and gained confidence in myself. The trips that we did with my parents during summer vacation, camping and on our van, influenced me and made me curious about the world. My dad is an English teacher so he always insisted that I learned English and that made me become interested in Foreign languages. I spent three summers doing foreign languages courses (one in France, two in England) and I loved having those experiences, meeting people from all over the world and getting to live in a new culture and learning about other cultures.

My mother used to work in a bookstore so I've always been surrounded by books, I love reading and I love children books. I cannot enter a bookstore without having a look at children´s books and I always buy something. My mother was in charge of children´s books and I graduated from Elementary Teaching, so I guess that´s a dangerous combination. Books are another way of travelling, another way of discovering other points of view and other ways of living and acting. Every book is related to its author, who is related to a culture and to a time and a place. I find this very interesting.

I studied Elementary teaching for three years because I believe that we can change the world through education. And I also enjoy sharing the learning and teaching process with children. It´s a great exchange and they always surprise you, their fresh ideas can also open your mind. Seeing the world through a kid´s eyes is very enriching. And at the same time you see them changing, and you know you are giving society and new generations something special. Maybe some of them will be able to have great experiences in their lives because one day you made them feel curious about something. And you might discover new things with them, too.

After my experiences during the previous summers abroad I had no problem with socializing with people and establishing relationships. I decided I wanted to have one-year full experience abroad after I was done with my studies and I looked up different programs that would allow me to live abroad (I didn´t mind where). And I ended up being accepted in the Amity Institute program, which is a teaching program. I taught Spanish in an Elementary School and I lived with three different host families. This gave me the opportunity of really experiencing the American culture and style of life, and, at the same time, sharing my culture and language at home and school.

When I came back from the US I found a job in a Languages' school. I taught English to children and adults in the afternoons and evenings while in the mornings I was going to university. I am currently teaching English in a primary school in Barcelona.

I love listening to all kinds of music, specially alternative and world music.

I also do yoga and I enjoy walking/trecking in the forests and mountains. I love walking along the seaside. I feel that I need nature nearby where I live just to have quiet times and exercise sometimes, and relax and come back with new energy (I love camping). Living in a city it's exciting but it can also be tiring. I enjoy being with people a lot, I think I couldn´t live alone. I'm very sociable.

PHILOSOPHY

People tend to complain about everything. I think that nowadays people is not happy because they lost the capacity of making the most of their experiences, whatever they are. I believe you can always learn from your daily life, from your trips, from your one-year experiences, from your mistakes and from other people (and with other people). Life is experience. When you die you won´t take your material things with you, it´s going to be all the moments that you lived that will matter. It´s going to be all the people that you met.

I also believe in the chain of consequences. You make a small decision and this can make big things happen. For instance, I decided to visit Chicago with a friend of mine but she couldn´t come. Then I decided to e-mail all the people from the same program as me to see if anybody was coming with me. Two people answered. I met them and we had a great time. One of them was couch surfing, so we met with the Couch Surfer. Then she took us to a party in an appartment and we met another day for a picnic. That would never had happened if I didn´t decide to e-mail all the people, if I didn´t organize this trip with my friend, if I didn´t apply for the program, if another friend of mine didn´t tell me about this program I'm doing because a friend of hers had done it. It seems a bit crazy but it´s the way it is and sometimes I like to think about it because that's how you build your life. By little decisions that grow in a bigger experience. And if you are optimistic and you know you can make the most of it you will enjoy it and you will learn a lot.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

For a springbreak some tests ago I went to Chicago. I met with a girl from Madrid who is in the same program as me, and she had already been there for one or two nights. My plan was staying at the youth hostel but she had been doing some couchsurfing there. We met with another girl from Couchsurfing and she invited us to celebrate St. Patrick's at her friend´s apartment. We had pizza in a park and then we went to celebrate. It was great. We met a couple of days later for a picnic at the north of Chicago, nearby the lake, where you could see the whole city. It was amazing, it was a place I wouldn´t have gone if she didn´t told me to go there. It´s something you don´t experience if you are not local. I had already heard about Couch Surfing before but I was not confident to log in and start travelling this way, but after this experience I decided to do it.

Here in Barcelona I met people who is related to the couchsurfing. With my past flatmates we decided to have some hosts over and all the experiences were very different but all very enriching. I wasn't able to host for a while but now I moved to a new appartment where I might be able to host couchsurfers from time to time. I am very busy studying and working and I like giving attention to the couchsurfers who come to stay with me, so I prefer not to host if I have too much work.

Interests

- Education
- Studying
- Reading a book while drinking a cup of tea
- Travelling and meeting people, learning foreign languages
- Beading
- Yoga
- Cooking (I love cooking and trying different kinds of food!)
- Music
- Nature and camping

• culture
• writing
• books
• acting
• swing dancing
• education
• dining
• cooking
• picnic
• exercise
• yoga
• walking
• partying
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• world music
• camping
• surfing
• teaching
• languages
• mountains
• lindy hop

Music, Movies, and Books

BOOKS
- La délicatésse -> David Foenkinos
- La plaça del diamant -> Mercè Rodoreda
- K.L. Reich -> Joan Amat Piniella
- The kite runner and A thousand splendid suns -> Khaled Hosseini
- Matilda and The witches -> Roald Dahl
- Pere Calders' short stories

FILMS
- Amélie
- The incredible lifes of Mr. Nobody
- whiplash
... Due to my literature studies I spend a lot of time reading, which unfortunately takes time out from watching movies (which I also love). So I have a big list of "movies to watch".

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Going to live in USA for one school year and sharing my time with three host families while teaching Spanish in an Elementary school.

Hicking in the Rocky mountains and taking glaciar water to drink it later.

Cooking meals for people so they can be happier :p

Having moved three times in the past year (changing apartment with all the furniture).

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cook Spanish and Catalan food, and I can also share my experiences travelling. I could teach you languages as Catalan, Spanish, English and French. I also have experience in teaching and working with kids.

I´m interested in meeting people who could enrich my culture, my points of view, meeting people who would like to share anything that I could learn...

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my points of view on education and language learning, my traveling experiences, my cooking and some language teaching if required. I can bring some food from Spain if wanted :).
And I can also offer my home in exchange.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Spain, United Kingdom, United States