outside the box

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

"if not now, when"

Interests

• culture
• architecture
• photography
• environment
• human rights
• cooking
• jazz
• anthropology
• biology
• food
• football
• language
• sufism
• zen
• healing
• bernie sanders
• alternative medicine
• islam
• climate change
• paleontology
• istanbul
• switzerland
• evolution
• asian music
• photographer
• primatology
• queer studies
• socialist
• palestine
• ethology
• cognition
• pilgrimage
• first nations
• leftist
• shakuhachi
• saints
• thelonious monk
• progressive
• lgtbq
• mimar sinan
• taswwuf
• deutsch-hungarn
• neymar
• catskill mountains
• debruce new york
• frog hollow ny
• mongaup pond
• language aquisition
• cross species bonding/communication
• ptsd

Music, Movies, and Books

it's all my favorite

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

everything

Teach, Learn, Share

photography, linguistics, middle east, Anatolia, Turkey, Palestine, Oman, Haj, the Gulf, Syria 20 years ago. zazen. sema.

taking care of thoroughbreds before and after school in Westchester in the 50s - closet life in 1950s catholic high school - hippy life in the 60s in Philadelphia, Upstate NY - the Catskills - life and times of an ice cream man in an ice cream truck 18 hours a day from April through October, zen monastery life in New York, NYC AIDS patients in the 80s, homeless in New York City, life in New York ethnic neighborhoods of Brooklyn, teaching in segregated NYC schools, adjuncting in the City University of NY system, and in the SUNY system, serving New York's & Philadelphia's homeless. life and teaching in Palestine, living in a lower working class ethnic neighborhood in Istanbul, getting old disabled lonely. my dog Harry - doggysattva and rinzai zen monk, my cat, CAT. Mert.

anthropology, anthropology in the 60s and 70s, anthropology of Mimar Sinan and Middle East religious architecture, anthropology and history of soccer/football in the USA, anthropology of the Banater, Deutsch-Ungarn of Banat, Baranje, Baschka, anthropology of Hassidism, food, cooking, second language acquisition, Mimar Sinan, haiku and haibun, inquisitiveness, CPTSD & vets, & survivors, progressive politics, Senator Bernie Sanders, OurRevolution.com, culture, LGTBQ+, go, Spongebob Squarepants, the Flash, Thelonious Monk, zen/tasawwuf, veterans rights,

What I Can Share with Hosts

photography, culture, language, cooking, football, 35 years in the Middle East including 1 year in Palestine. a long full life and a lot of outside the box experience, CPTSD

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ecuador, England, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Mexico, Monaco, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Venezuela

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bahrain, Brazil, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United States