CURRENT MISSION

to show up as my best self as often as possible

ABOUT ME

Enthusiasm abounds! I am just happy to be on the planet. I am deeply grateful for the blessed life I have been granted and try to remind myself every day of the gifts around me. Given the artist's eye and sensibilities, I try to be ever-keenly aware of my surroundings. What draws me to CouchSurfing is the opportunity to pass on some of the wonderful gifts I have received over the years. Whether it's called, "paying it forward" or "giving back", it adds up to the same thing. My friends might say,"she's generous to a fault". Perhaps, but in my many travels around this world, I have encountered many wonderful people who have helped me in many ways. I want to be able to offer something to others who find travel to be the best classroom there is. Our various governments may not agree, and may do things in our names that we abhor, and the only way we can counteract these transgressions is to meet one another as one people, on the very personal and intimate level of human hospitality.

Interests

I am an artist. I have "retired" from working for someone else and spend my time painting, drawing, printmaking and photographing the world around me. I live in a large Victorian farm house with my partner of 27 years, a small white dog and a shy cat. I like to read trashy mysteries and well-crafted novels, histories and science, the local paper(sometimes) and the New Yorker. I like to watch TV, bad crime series and documentary alike. I like to watch the light change as the day moves on. I like to walk city streets and country roads, along the beach and through the woods. I don't run. I like traveling and meeting people who are different from me. Rich or poor, black or white, tall or short, male or female, African or Croat, Arab or Jew, Protestant or Catholic, agnostic or atheist, student or teacher, artist or bureaucrat, we are all the same, and I want to experience as much of the difference as I can. I like seeing the art of other cultures, be it graffiti on subway walls or train cars, or housed in a museum or chic gallery. I like to eat and I like to cook.

• cats
• dogs
• arts
• documentaries
• cooking
• running
• tv
• traveling
• cars
• socializing
• painting
• drawing
• jewish
• atheism
• teaching
• science
• beaches

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Being on s ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in a hurricane...Seeing millions of monarch butterflies in their southern migration in central Mexico...The moment my mother died in my arms.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Canada, Chad, Cuba, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, France, Gambia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Switzerland, United States