CURRENT MISSION

To connect with musicians -- I'm a violin and gadulka player. Adam plays a variety of Bulgarian instruments and is a great bluegrass singer and backup guitar player. We also are interested in green building techniques and gardening.

ABOUT ME

Adam and I are embarking right now on a new phase of our lives back in the states, and traveling has been both a break for us and also has provided inspiration for our lives back home. Basically our hope is to buy some land, start a big garden, have some animals, and I want to build and run my own Waldorf preschool on our land, while Adam wants to have a woodworking shop. While traveling we've gotten our feet wet with strawbale and cob, as well as gardening, which has been inspirational. The other huge side of us is MUSIC. We've both taken music lessons here in Bulgaria, and I hope to connect with a violin teacher in Turkey.

PHILOSOPHY

We respect community and natural flows of give and take. We admire and strive to have craftsmanship in everything we make-- crafts and making things by hand in general is very important to us. We love music. We try to always be developing as human beings-- we realize that one's eternal life is shaped by one's inner life... we try to stay connected with both.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

This is our first time participating in couchsurfer, but so far we've been working with helpx.net because we like the idea of giving back something when we stay with hosts.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

First timers. But we hope to be incredibly awesome hosts for travelers when we get back to the states.

Interests

Violin and gadulka are the instruments I play. Adam plays kaval (Bulgarian flute like the Turkish ney), tupan (big Bulgarian drum), gaida (Bulgarian bagpipes). We also love bluegrass and can pull a some songs out of our tune treasure chest if invited.

• animals
• folklore
• festivals
• dancing
• running
• partying
• crafts
• gardening
• shopping
• traveling
• woodworking
• music
• guitar
• violin
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Balkan music is one of our primary interests in life. I love good films-- King's Speech, The Lives of Others, Babies, I Am, Ghengis Blues... Recent books for me have been: The Life Of Pi, Small Island, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Adam and I share the same tastes with both, but I'm more of the reader.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

During our first couple of weeks in Bulgaria, Adam and I got involved with a Bulgarian folklore group. We could hardly speak any Bulgarian at all, but we toured with them to a coastal city to play at a festival with them. The after party back at the hotel was amazing--dinner served at 11pm, and rakia dancing and music until 3am. I had to struggle to stay awake longer than the babas (grandmothers) who sang in the choir.

Teach, Learn, Share

Love to teach, love to learn, love to share. I can really appreciate this aspect of couchsurfing as this is what traveling and being a traveler is all about.

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