I teach political anthropology and write for magazines and newspapers in Germany and the U.S.

I love Berlin and would be happy to share with you its many flavors and hues.

I play the bass and fiddle with lutes and love experimental cuisine.

On an ideal day (not that often, unfortunately), I would take a walk along the river, read a few pages, play a song or two and cook a sumptuous meal. I meditate and walk aimlessly as often as I can. I enjoy reading aloud to anyone who wishes to listen. . My current avocations include reading Peter Bichsel, Daniil Kharms and Raymond Carver, going on walks, cooking food and trying to teach.

PHILOSOPHY

A soupy melange of Marxism, Buddhism, and feminism: I can elaborate over a bottle of wine or a bucket of Ayran

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I hosted surfers and had cooking evenings with surfers from the city or CS friends who lived in London. I encourage my friends and family to host and surf and join in the great CS experiment.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

What a great idea in action - strangers coming together to cook, eat, dance, talk, play, and be! in an age when communities are becoming "gated", lakes private and borders electrified

Interests

Dancing,(Endangered)Languages, political engagement, ascetics and monastic communities, the unconscious, poetry, aphorisms, short films, wine, theatre, live music, experimental cuisine, my tortoise; lutes and jam sessions

• books
• literature
• poetry
• dancing
• cooking
• recipes
• chocolate
• wine
• meditation
• movies
• reading
• painting
• music
• folk music
• jazz
• hiking
• surfing
• anthropology
• languages
• lakes

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Iranian neorealism/new wave, Lars von Trier, Michael Haneke, Les Lutins du Court Metrages, Vinterberg, Anurag Kashyap, Jim Jarmusch, Adam Curtis, Shabnam Virmani, Jodorowsky, Luis Bunuel, Majid Majidi, Kurosawa

favourites: Mishima, Il Postino, Tahader Katha, Melancholia, Rashomon, Koi Sunta Hai, Permanent Vacation, Dogville, A bout de souffles, Der Mörder ist unter uns

Music: Folk, jazz, minimalist, indian classical , blues, gypsy, swing, specifically Avial, Pink Floyd, John Coltrane, Leonard Cohen, Avishai Cohen, Watcha Clan, John Butler Trio, Django Reinhardt, Paco de Lucia, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Etta James, Leonard Cohen, Ibrahim Maalouf, Alice Coltrane, Ben Webster, Thievery Corporation, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Sixto Rodriguez, Charles Mingus, Philip Glass, Immortal Technique, Huun Huur Tu,Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Sigur Ros,Afrocubism, Tal ben Ari, Laal, Ali Farka Toure, Explosions in the Sky, Le Trio Joubran. I relish jamming and improvising.

Literature: Peter Bichsel, Raymond Carver, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Michael Cunningham, George Oppen, Blanche McCrary Boyd, Truman Capote, Aglaja Veteranyi, Herta Mueller, Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke, Danil Kharms, Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, Saadat Hasan Manto, David Foster Wallace, Czeslaw Milosz, E.E. Cummings, Yukio Mishima, Munshi Premchand

Non-fiction: Slavoj Zizek, Foucault, Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, Joe Sacco, Calvin and Hobbes, Omar Khayyam, Kabir, Bulleshah, Walter Davis, Aurobindo, Krishnamurti,Eric Hayot, David Graeber, Czeslaw Milosz, Robert Fisk, George Monbiot, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Derrida, Tim Ingold

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Saw leopards in Rajasthan, India in their natural habitat all evening from 5 ft. away - gorgeous creatures! Attended a lecture where the late Howard Zinn was supposed to be present, and instead met Noam Chomsky and Arundhati Roy, MIT; met Slavoj Zizek in London, Jumped into the freezing January Atlantic in Connecticut

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd be glad to learn anything you wish to teach me. When you're surfing with me I can share stories and narratives of untranslatable words from several languages, short films, if you stay long enough I can teach you the basics of Hindi. Pages of poetry/music exchanged would be great!

I have a decent book collection - poetry, linguistics, philosophy and some fiction. I enjoy playing music, I play bass and am learning to play the dramyin and sarod. I can cook some vegetarian food and make masala chai.

We can paint to John Coltrane's Three Shades of Blue album, jump into any body of water I won't drown in (I can't swim, damn it!) and I usually have chocolate, cheese and yogurt in my pockets/shelves.

What I Can Share with Hosts

meals and recipes, music, books, walks, cocktails, recommendations for exploring Berlin and the surrounding region

***PLEASE NOTE*** if you write a generic request without reading my profile, I will either send you a generic response, or none at all. Also, please take the time to fill out your profile, it shows that you take CS seriously.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, India, United Kingdom, United States

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