I am a Turkish-American, a Brazilian social dance lover, a Black Belt in Hapkido (a Korean self-defense style), and I love the outdoors. I have lived abroad in Barcelona during the 2009-10 Recession for university studies and worked as an ESL tutor on the side. I grew up spending every summer at my grandma's or auntie's house in İstanbul - so I have a nostalgia for Türkiye and visit often! I have been a CSer since 2009, and love our socials & language exchanges in the local CS community here in Washington, DC.

Work wise- I am the Sustainable Transportation Coordinator for the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) and a contributing author of several Urban Land Institute (ULI) publications on active transportation, stormwater management, corridor redevelopment and affordable housing. Prior to UMD, I worked on nearly 20 transportation and environmental projects for DDOT, WMATA, VDOT, SEPTA, RTA, and the National Partnership for Safe Routes to School, among others, in my role as a Senior Planner at Nspiregreen. I was part of a Fulbright Eco-Leadership research group in Canada, and also conducted research for the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in Istanbul and the UCLA Institute for Transportation Studies (ITS) in Los Angeles.

My research for the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), “Equity in Motion: Bikeshare in Low-Income Communities”, used geospatial statistics to prioritize station-level improvements for Capital Bikeshare (a system which inspired the NYC Citibike) in high poverty areas of Washington, DC. I am a co-founder of “The Olive Tree Initiative: Armenia-Turkey”, an interdisciplinary conflict resolution group. I earned my Masters of Urban & Regional Planning (MURP) at UCLA and speak Spanish, Turkish and English.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've hosted and been a guest with CS since 2009. I have hosted the same surfers through out the years since then, sometimes in new cities. It builds a deep bond to host and show people around your city, especially given the cultural exchange involved. I love the connections I have made with my surfers and hosts, and also the warm and welcoming environment of CS weekly and holiday meetups in the city.

Interests

Dancing (salsa, tango, forro, bachata), hiking, bicycling, art/crafts and cultural festivals.

• dancing
• yoga
• origami
• hiking
• calligraphy
• urban exploration
• art
• massage
• bicycling
• trains
• urban planning
• forró
• journaling
• zouk
• international food
• dancing in the rain
• plazas
• bullet journal
• cooking together
• card making
• pop-up cards

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Favorite authors include Isabelle Allende, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Jeff Speck

Movies: Ekumenopolis: A City without Limits, Volver, Amores Perros, Ever After, Crash, Bend in Like Beckham, Pan's Labyrinth, Braveheart, Bridget Jones' Diary

Music: Tarkan, Shakira, Hozier, Karmin, Black Keys, Grup Yorum, Emir, Fado, Folk, Forro, Salsa, Bhangra, Bluegrass

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1st girl to get my black belt in Hapkido (a Korean martial art) from my instructor, Master Tae Jung! Hapkido is a great self-defense for grappling on the ground, weapons, grabs, strikes seated or standing!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can show you some martial arts moves, dance moves, calligraphy, cook some Turkish or Ethiopian food, teach you some Spanish or Turkish, teach some origami (for dinner party napkins or out of dollar bills), help clean/cook

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, Turkey, United States