Maybe Accepting Guests

Last login about 12 hours ago

Send Request

Join Couchsurfing to see David’s full profile.

View Full Profile

Overview

263 references 132 Confirmed & Positive
Fluent in English; learning French, Spanish
40, Male
Member since 2008

Teacher and occasional Vagabond!
University of Michigan Hippy Environmentalism and Seconda...
No hometown listed
Profile 100% complete

About Me

I grew up in the southern United States. I moved up to Ann Arbor, Michigan for undergrad where I double majored in biology and environmental studies. I worked at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum for six years out of undergrad, then went to wander around Latin America (hitchhiking) and Europe (bicycle). I currently teach middle school near Boston.

I am a vegetarian, but if traveling out of the US, I find it's easier to have no restrictions. This is mostly to experience local culture and to be able to say "yes" if somebody has offered me food.

I don't drink much but will join you for a great craft beer. I do enjoy local beverages. I don't smoke or do any other types of drugs.

OLD/LEGACY PROFILE: https://www.couchsurfing.com/users/516723/profile/legacy

OCCASIONAL TRAVEL BLOG: http://lamb-on-the-lam.tumblr.com/

CURRENT MISSION: Corrupting America's youth with science

A brief story (and a somewhat brief rant):
While in Guatemala City, I met with a group of friends who rented a car for the week. While walking to the vehicle, we saw two guys breaking into it. They quickly pulled out a gun. Ultimately, they 1) never shot anyone and 2) didn't steal the car or any stuff. That's not the point of my story. There are two narratives you could tell about this experience.

1) So, I almost got shot in Guatemala City...therefore, Guatemala is dangerous...therefore, Central America is dangerous...therefore, Latin America is dangerous...therefore travel is dangerous...so stay at home. People are evil.

2) I spent a month traveling by myself through Belize, Mexico, and Guatemala. Two days before meeting my friends, I arrived in Guatemala City and stayed in the "dangerous" district. I walked around the city on my own. That morning, I packed up my backpack and camera and walked for about 3 hours through the city. En route, people offered me directions, water, food and ideas for seeing their city/country. I met up with some friends for an amazing adventure. Oh...and two guys were jerks.

We tend to tell the first story because the bad experiences stick out in our minds. We remember the time we got robbed on the subway, but not the hundreds of people who smiled at us, held the door or, you know, didn't rob us. We have such a hard time trusting each other that we sometimes forget that people, at the core, mostly don't want to cause you harm.

I think the majority of people don't really care about whether you are there or not. They don't wish you harm nor do they go out of their way to help. Of the remainder, I believe the VAST majority want your life to improve because it makes them feel better. Untrustworthy and dangerous people do certainly exist and you should be aware of them, but they are the exception to this thing called "humanity", not the rule. I like people and would much rather trust them and be wrong occasionally than live in constant fear and never allow anybody to hurt me.

Some quotes (Why say something when it's already been said better by somebody else?):

"Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty-five years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it."
"Oh, every day is a beautiful day."
"I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whoever I'm with." Elwood P. Dowd

"Oooh, but they're not. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All kinds of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who are this, yet allow themselves be treated as that." Maude

"Is there anybody here who thinks that following the orders takes away the blame?" Phil Ochs

"What if you give a point of view to something that can't have one?" Clifford Chase

"Wake me up if you see me falling gently into the night. Shine up my shoes 'cos I can't get used to the dying of the light. Some set their hearts on a rocking chair, the better to sleep out the days. But I'm looking for a reason to kick and scream, I don't want to fade away." Chumbawamba

"If you would like to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the Universe"
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." Carl Sagan

"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a hoper, a prayer, a
magic-bean-buyer. If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire, for
we have some flax-golden tales to spin." Shel Silverstein

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

CS is an amazing thing. Since I joined, I've gradually been pulled further in. My first surfing experience was in Chicago in Feb. 08. I've become further involved with the local CS community and am completely addicted to the idea of world-travel.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Interests

I crave new experiences. I absolutely love being outside hiking, biking, climbing, photographing, skiing, swimming...though unfortunately, I don't get NEAR enough opportunity to do so.

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
Harold and Maude, Network, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Harvey, L'homme qui plantait des arbres, Little Shop of Horrors

Music:
Chumbawamba, The Real Tuesday Weld, Clancy Brothers, Dar William, Darlene and Co, Phil Ochs, Silly Wizard, The Devil Makes Three, The Lost Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, Steve Earle, Silvio Rodriguez, 5'Nizza, Cat Stevens, Old Crow Medicine Show

Books:
Catch-22, Life of Pi, House of Leaves

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Spent two weeks sleeping in a tent on the Nicaraguan rain forest floor.

Several extended wanders. See my blog at: http://lamb-on-the-lam.tumblr.com/

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to make a fully functional boomerang with a cereal box and MANY other nifty science tricks. I taught informal science investigations to 3-14 year-old kids for a living for six years and I now teach middle school engineering.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Panama, Peru, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

Old School Badges

38 Vouches
Pioneer Badge

Join Couchsurfing to see David’s full profile.

View Full Profile