My name is Antony Minardi, and I am a Catholic monk who is also studying to be a priest. I enjoy traveling, hiking, and spending time with people.

As you may have guessed by my occupation, I also take my religion very seriously and try to keep my relationship with God foremost in my life. One of my favorite things to do is get into conversations with the people I'm sitting next to on airplanes about religion and where they are in their journey with God (if they have one!).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I signed up for couchsurfing because I'm planning a backpacking trip, and there are some areas where I'm backpacking that don't have very promising (or affordable) camping areas. BUT there are towns along the way, and people live in these towns. Hooray for people!

But the more I look into the couchsurfing phenomenon/movement, the more intrigued I am, and the more I'd like to see what it's about. I have slept on friend's couches before when traveling, and meeting their roommates is always neat. I suppose this would be the same thing, except I'll be meeting a friend for the first time when they invite me into their home to sleep on their couch.

So I think this would be a good time to say: Thank you very much for letting me into your home! :D

Interests

Travel
Hiking
Superhero movies (I'm a newbie: I never read any of the comic books)
Religion
Philosophy
Literature and Writing
Lord of the Rings (books and movies)
Harry Potter (books: movies were so so)

• writing
• books
• literature
• singing
• dining
• cooking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• catholic
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
The Red Badge of Courage

Movies:
Lord of the Rings
Gettysburg

Music:
Audrey Assad
Matt Maher
Lindsey Stirling

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In college I studied abroad in Rome for a semester. During that time, I traveled to many other countries in Europe and the Middle East, which included hiking in Cappadocia, Turkey and being smuggled into the Easter Vigil Mass in Jerusalem (a pretty epic story, if I do say so myself).

Teach, Learn, Share

I don't really know what this section is for, so I'll assume it's asking what I can teach others, what I'd like to learn, and what I can share.

I'd say I'm pretty knowledgeable about the Catholic faith, so I could teach some things about that. Especially the many different religious orders there are and their roles in the Church. Also philosophy. If I remember from my college days.....What IS memory?

There isn't much in the world that I'm not interested in learning about. There are so many things in the world, and more importantly so many people, that there is no possible way that I could possibly learn everything there is to know. But that doesn't mean I can't try!

One of the main reasons I became a Catholic monk was to seek God, and to help other people do the same thing. So if people are interested, I'm willing to share my faith with them. But there's a whole section on sharing below this, so I'll write more there.

What I Can Share with Hosts

While I'm not much of a cook (I can follow directions on the food boxes, and pasta is pretty easy, but that's about it), I am very accomplished at washing dishes. I'm one of the dishwashers in my monastery, so I'm washing dishes a LOT.

Less practically, I enjoy talking to people and engaging in good conversation. I have some travel stories to share, and love hearing about other people's shenanigans.

I may also invite you to pray with me, specifically what's known as the Liturgy of the Hours. It's a Catholic form of prayer where we recite some psalms, hear a reading from the Old or New Testament, sing a hymn, and recite a New Testament Canticle. No pressure if you don't want to pray, though: I'd simply offer as an opportunity to experience part of Catholicism that most people aren't privy to.

Countries I’ve Visited

Greece, Israel, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United States