ESL Teacher, avid reader, occasional writer, traveler.

I like: museums, live music and theater, books, movies, art, food, tattoos, saunas, bath houses, natural wonders, playing outside, intelligent conversations and staying out of the hospital.
I love new experiences and I will try anything, at least three times (third times the charm).

I have been many things: librarian, nanny, photographer, biblical archaeologist, henna tattoo artist, subsistence farmer, Hare Krishna devotee, zoo keeper, butcher, baker, musher, religious scholar, cultural anthropologist, telemarketer, house wife and professor.

I spend most of my time reading anything I can get my hands on. Topics that interest me include, but are not limited to: food/drink, religion (particularly Judaism), philosophy, archaeology/anthropology, language, culture, extinct animals, memoirs, natural history, obscure artists, botany, ornithology, funeral traditions, biographies, royal families, wars, travel, child development, education as well as fiction and classic literature.

I really enjoy playing outside, biking, running, swimming, scuba diving, dancing, hiking, camping and going to the gym.

I am always interested in learning new languages and have studied Spanish, French, Swedish, Hindi, Gujarati, Hebrew, Arabic and Gheg Albanian.
I am working on learning Chinese.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm here because I would like to meet new people and help out fellow world travelers.

Interests

I am interested in having new experiences, novelty is the spice of life.

• cooking
• fitness
• traveling
• hiking
• camping
• swimming
• anthropology
• languages
• volunteering
• archaeology
• biking
• conversation
• religious studies
• teaching english
• grocery shopping

Music, Movies, and Books

I have shifting tastes, one day I might listen to K-pop, the next day I will listen to Irish Folk music, or Metal. What ever fits with my mood.

I have the same shifting taste with books. Right now I am interested in: the archaeological record of demons curses and posession, Anjelica Hustons autobiographies, learning to embroider, and the diarist Anais Nin. Next week my interests might be different.

Movies are always fun, I love getting recommendations and having movie nights with friends. Some of my favorites are: Amelie, Casablanca, The English Patient, Persepolis, Frida, Laurence of Arabia, Hotel Rwanda, In the Realm of the Senses, To Live, In the Heat of the Sun, Deepa Metha's Fire and Water, Elegy, The Last of His Tribe, Tuki Buki, Chronique d'un ete ("Chronicle of a Summer"), Twice Born, Silence of the Lambs. I don't like horror, if I want to horror I can watch the news.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived my life

What I Can Share with Hosts

I try to bring gifts from my home town (foods, soaps, small decorations, etc.), and I will pay for any expenses you allow me to (meals, train/event tickets). I also bring myself, and I am fun to talk to.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, India, Israel, Sweden, United States