Ian Merkel's Photo

Unverified Profile

  • Payment not verified
  • Phone not verified
  • Government ID not verified

Not Accepting Guests

  • Last login almost 10 years ago

Join Couchsurfing to see Ian’s full profile.

Overview

  • 14 references 13 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in English, French; learning Bambara, Portuguese, Spanish
  • 36, Male
  • Member since 2009
  • Grad Student in History
  • In a Ph.D. program at NYU
  • From Levittown, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

Summer Research in São Paulo and Paris

ABOUT ME

After growing up in a relatively homogeneous suburb outside of Philadelphia, I've done everything I can to embrace other cultures and expand my worldview. I view life as a perpetual source of education, and I don't allow geography to prevent me from experiencing new things. It's a blessing to have friends in so many places.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Hosting, surfing, meeting travelers along the way

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Montreal, Canada, August 2010
Porto and Guimaraes, Portugal, March 2011
Oxford, England, April 2011
Montpellier and Marseille, France, May 2011
Savannah, Georgia (USA), January 2013
Sao Luis and Belem, Brazil, August 2013

Interests

World history
Playing the djembe and other percussion
French literature
Cooking
Yoga

  • literature
  • festivals
  • education
  • cooking
  • yoga
  • music
  • surfing
  • teaching
  • geography
  • history

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: anything by Wes Anderson, the Coen Brothers, or Charlie Kaufman, Aronofsky... also a sucker for the french new wave
Music: African, hip-hop, jazz, alternative
Books: Camus, Garcia Marquez, Vonnegut, Dostoevsky

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Festival sur le Niger: a music festival in Mali on the Niger River
Nega Fugida in Acupe, Bahia: a festival reenacting fugitive slaves
Lencois Maranhenses (Google image search)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, France, Mali, United States

Join Couchsurfing to see Ian’s full profile.