CURRENT MISSION

To be at home anywhere in the world. To be at home with strangers.

ABOUT ME

I think about Johann Goethe's roots and wings metaphor when I describe myself. I am very much rooted and connected to my own community and the identity that it has given me. At the same time, I am also the kind of person who looks beyond my locality to learn more about the world out there and to see other perspectives.

I look at opposites as complementary. I am as much comfortable with prolonged silence and being alone as I am in a dance club with loud music and noisy people. I am as much comfortable with indoor activities, and inactivities, as I am with getting wet and muddy outdoors. I have close friends young and old. I had lived in big cities and in far-flung communities with no internet connection, let alone a television, and I loved both places. Give me hiking shoes and 3-inch high heels and I would wear them both.

PHILOSOPHY

“When I thought myself a teacher, I learned nothing. So I became a student. One by one the best of teachers came to me. I felt the utter joy of learning. I began to see that when I am a student, everyone is my teacher and all knowledge is open to me”.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Participated as a host, a couchsurfer, and meet-up for coffee and drink. All positive so far and looking forward to meeting more CS people across the globe!!!

Interests

- Traveling, learning about places and listening to their people's stories
- Walking and free walking tours
- Mountains
- Local history
- Indigenous peoples around the world
- Terracotta sculpture
- Good conversations, good books, good movies
- Arts, humanities and the social sciences (except economics which I don't understand with those numbers:))

• arts
• humanities
• books
• dancing
• coffee
• walking
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• camping
• teaching
• history
• social science
• tours
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Favourite Movies: The Bicycle Thief, The Whale Rider, Cinema Paradiso, Kabul Express, Turumba, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Amelie, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Home

Favourite Books: Zorba the Greek and Return to Greco by Nikos Kazantzakis; Charming Billy by Alice McDermott; The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho; Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes; A Passage to India by E.M Forster; Bata Bata Paano ka Ginawa? by Lualhati Bautista

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A lot. Camping on a mountain on a full moon and seeing the outlines of hills and mountains illuminated by the moonlight. Camping on a mountain and watching thousands of stars twinkling in the darkness. Doing the Camino de Santiago. Sunset and sunrise in the Sahara. Catching and running after river frogs during summer as a kid. Watching the northern lights in the Swedish Lapland. Etc....

But really, the best is yet to come!

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to learn more about the life of IPs groups around the world (e.g the Maoris of New Zealand, the American Indians, the Aborigines of Australia and Canada, and a lot more).

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, Philippines, Spain

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