Hi! I'm Juan Nicolás, but you can call me Nico!

I'm a 25 year-old musician (vocalist and composer) from Bogotá (Colombia), currently doing a masters in Critical and Cultural Theory at the University of Leeds (UK).

I love cats, Latin American Literature, history (particularly that of the 20th century), philosophy and politics.

I've recently recovered from the 5th season of BoJack Horseman.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

For the past few years I've made the commitment to avoid being a mere tourist. I believe there's something wonderful about getting to know a place at a more intimate level and that, in this endeavour, escaping the usual places and "musts" of a destination is as incredibly important as the people you get to share the space with.

Interests

• arts
• literature
• dancing
• cooking
• walking
• drinking
• politics
• reading
• eating out
• jazz
• art history
• cultural studies
• history
• reggae
• salsa
• cafe
• bojack horseman

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Bill Laurence, The Bad Plus, Cultural Profética, Rubén Blades, F. Chopin, Hector Lavoe, Sonora Ponceña, Foals.

Films: Your Were Never Really Here; The Innocence; Fight Club; Incredible Mr. Fox.

Books: Octaedro (Julio Cortázar); La Muerte de Artemio Cruz (Carlos Fuentes); Fire Alarm: Reading Walter Benjamin's 'On The Concept of History' (Michael Löwy); Pedro Páramo (Juan Rulfo); El Extranjero (Albert Camus)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Once, while being in Prague with a friend, we jumped over the fence of a bar and slept by the river between the bar's bathroom cabins and the city wall.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach music theory, vocal lessons and arranging!

I'd love to learn new languages. Also, I'm more than happy to learn new (vegetarian) recipes!

I'd love to share about my current dissertation research regarding the politics of listening; the place of the body in the act of listening; and music as a cultural space of power relations.

What I Can Share with Hosts

An awkward and cartoonishly cynical sense of humor, and a will to problematize every aspect of your unquestioned habits of daily life.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Panama, Scotland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Colombia, Germany, United Kingdom