Hi there! I'm Flavia, from Rome. I've been living in Barcelona for 2 years with my partner Riccardo and our 2 cats, Kiwi and Mia 🐈‍⬛ 🐈 I am a very curious person, and I like to meet new people, provided my social battery is full :D

🧘‍♀️Activities and hobbies:
I have a deep interest in literature and music, politics, memes, ethology... I like to write down my dreams (they're quite funny) and I still write postcards to friends around the world whenever I visit a new place. I also have a diary - yes, I like to write! My hobbies: Hiking and walking around; painting pottery every now and then; writing down my thoughts; home-yoga and guided meditation

💭Random thoughts and facts
I think that being curious and empathetic are qualities everyone should treasure. My friends say I'm a very good listener. Whenever I meet a cat in the street, I try and befriend it. I am generally low energy and "lazy", but if something motivates me noone and nothing can stop me- for example, I've always disliked sports (why sweating??) but at some point I discovered kickboxing, one of the most tiring and sweaty sports around, and now I can't live without it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

A friend of mine recently gave me the idea, as she's meeting a lot of interesting people through CS. I thought, why not try and change a bit the way I travel? All in all, I’ve been lucky enough to travel around - Tunisia, Tajikistan, USA, much of the EU - and what I’ve learned in books or at work will never compare to what I’ve learned from people and situations.

I would love to learn more about the places I visit through the words and the eyes of people who live there. It's not just "where's the best bar", rather "what's your favourite spot and why", or "why this place speaks to you and what does it tell". Ok, it will also definitely be "where's the best restaurant" because I'm obsessed with food and local cuisine (afterall I'm Italian).

There's that, and there's also generally the need to connect with people, new people, as a way to fight off these weird and bleak times we're living in. Maybe we can discuss together how to cope with the end times in front of a drink, and then laugh to memes?

Interests

• animals
• cats
• literature
• cooking
• politics
• anthropology
• feminism
• scifi
• kickboxing
• memes
• climate justice
• arab culture

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - what's been on heavy rotation these months: The national, Daniela Pes, Rosalia, Sufjan Stevens, Kneecap and a very interesting radio called radioalhara.net

Books - what I most enjoyed recently: Solenoid (Mircea Cărtărescu), All about love (bell hooks), Intermezzo (Sally Rooney), The left hand of darkness (Ursula Le Guin), The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear (Walter Moers), 3 body problem (Liu Cixin)

Movies - that's my weak spot! In general I don't have the patience to watch movies, nor do I have a great screen at home. However, one recent movie that had me to shreds is Aftersun.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- I've been living 6 months in Tajikistan for work
- I've taught Italian to migrant people in Rome, hearing the most beautiful and horrible stories
- I moved to Barcelona with a 2 weeks notice

Teach, Learn, Share

I am a qualified teacher of Italian so I'd be happy to share bits of this beautiful language with you.
I'd love to learn about DIY, land cultivation, all sorts of things a book cannot teach you.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We can share our experiences in front of a drink or walking around!

Countries I’ve Visited

Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Tajikistan, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, Spain, Tajikistan, Tunisia, United Kingdom