CURRENT MISSION

Get to know Montreal, learn a bunch at McGill, not lose my French or Spanish!

ABOUT ME

I'm a Bostonian entering as a first year at McGill.
I took a gap year between high school and college, during which time I hosteled/couchsurfed around Ecuador and Peru. I had intended to also backpack around Colombia, but a group of musicians in Manizales connected me with a youth orchestra in Bogota (called Batuta, an orchestral foundation modeled after Venezuela's El Sistema), so I joined the orchestra and settled in Bogota for two months. During that time I crashed with a Colombian whom I had met through a couchsurfing buddy (yay cs!!!) (can it still be considered crashing if it lasts two months?)
Those two months were sort of a life-within-a-life. My fellow orchestra members became my friends, they welcomed me to their homes, and humored my horrendous Spanish. It was sometimes a little odd living there in Bogota, far from anyone who had had any kind of similar upbringing.

I like books, visual art, music, hiking, meeting new people and exploring new places with old friends.

During my year off I had set many lofty goals for myself, including, writing a stand-up comedy act, reading David Foster Wallace´s Infinite Jest, practicing practicing practicing the cello, completing a collection of watercolor painting pieces, getting more into classical music, having a series of couch surfing and travelling adventures. I managed at least part of all of the above-mentioned goals, except the stand-up comedy act. That'll have to wait I suppose.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I do have a home where people can crash in Newton, MA, but it's boring and quiet and I can't imagine anyone wishing to stay there. At the moment I'm living with roommates in student residence at McGill, so I can't host people for the time! Next year when I've got my own place!
I couchsurfed around South America and Spain/France.

Interests

Reading, music (have become increasingly interested in classical music over the course of this year), art, watercolor painting, cello, hiking, running, rock climbing

• arts
• writing
• books
• running
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• music
• classical music
• hiking
• backpacking
• surfing
• rock climbing

Music, Movies, and Books

I should mention that I love radio (National Public Radio, aka, NPR) programs: This American Life, Radiolab, Fresh Air, It's All Politics

Books: Infinite Jest, Therapy, Home Truths, Paradise News, Nice Work (anything David Lodge), Interviews with a Hideous Man, Consider the Lobster (or anything David Foster Wallace, IE, the aforementioned Finny Jest), The Europeans, Wuthering Heights , Fifth Business, Moby Dick (it really was a slog at times but I actually loved this one)

I wish I knew more about cinema-- but I do love anything Coen Brothers and Alfred Hitchcock.

Dvorak, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, Apples in Stereo, working on Mozart, and Bach but it´ll be a lot more work before I can call myself a true fan of those. Classical music forces me to concentrate and pay attention to musical detail in a manner I never had previously. I hope to be a great classical music fan some day.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I solo hiked Macchu Picchu Mountain (the tallest of the three, those being, Macchu Picchu, Huayna Picchu, and Macchu Picchu Mountain). I reached the mountain really early in the day so no one else had arrived to climb it yet, so I ended up doing the whole thing without seeing another person until my way down. I could like run around and shout and not have to worry about being an appropriate human being. An odd experience, but awesome.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Ecuador, France

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United States

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