Hey everyone, Apa Khabar. Como estas? Comment Ca va? Salam Alecium, Merhaba. Ni hao

Hi I'm Monique and I' m from New Zealand. I have an interesting story with traveling i've been to Australia, New Caledonia and then on a cruise to various islands in the pacific.

Then I lived in Ecuador and traveled part of Peru. I have hosted quite a few people when i was in New Zealand. Now I find myself in Canada ready to visit and get to know people.

I studied about all parts of the world from Hispanic immigrants, drug dealing community in NYC, to cultures around India, and about cultural diversity in New Zealand. When I get a chance I would like to continue my studies and do some fieldwork : my focus on Latin American Anthropology.

I also did Linguistics at university and love to learn as many languages as I can. My goal is to know at least 10 languages enough to survive in the countries where they are spoken. I was in a lot of cultural clubs and lived in an International Hostel so being around travelers is definitely my thing. I was referred here by some Friends and already have met so many really cool people. I'm into volunteering. I have been a volunteer helping out Refugee resettlement in Palmerston North and I'm going to get back into this 2013 in Wellington. I helped out at New Zealand Red Cross.

My interests are mainly related to Anthropology anything politics, medicine, development, language extinction, Archaeology, history and immigrant issues. So if you are interested in any of these make sure when you meet me you bring them up in our conversations.

I love to salsa dance,play sports, go out for coffee, martial arts, yoga, hiking, tramping, live bands, traveling on bus, read books, shop, travel, filming, taking pictures love sailing and going on boats.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I can teach others about New Zealand culture and advise you on some good places around NZ to visit since I have lived in several places around New ZealandShow couch surfers around for coffee, meet up when I travel. When I have my own flat again I can start hosting. Can't wait! These are the places I've lived in order: Christchurch, Hamilton, Bulls, Feilding, Blenheim, Palmerston North and now Upper Hutt/Wellington. In 1 or 2 years, I will move to Australia with family so would love to meet any Couch Surfers from there or planning on going there.

Interests

post-crossing (a project where I send and receive cards from all over the world. My goal is to visit every place I have learned about through postcards)sports( I play netball and used to play cricket and touch rugby. I love almost every sport and athletics, Yoga, martial arts)learning languages (French, Portuguese, Malay, Indonesian, Japanese, Spanish, Hindi, and Italian) zumba, dancing (belly dance, soca, african dances, salsa, samba, cumibia, indian dance and hip hop), cooking, fashion, letter writing , decorating my house

• dancing
• coffee
• languages
• travel

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies : bollywood, motorcycle diaries, my life in ruins, nicholas spark's movies.

Reading : Lesley Pearse, Paulina Simmons, Nicholas Sparks, Sebastian Faulks. Sagas, womans hardships, historical novels and cultural and travel ones.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hmm...been on a cruise for 13 days and have lived in New Caledonia on a French cultural exchange for two weeks. Being at university in a hostel was like I was traveling !Done a lot of cycling. Go to concerts and festivals. Been inside New Zealand Government House. Dad was honored for his work in the airforce.

Teach, Learn, Share

Hmmm...I can teach cooking, dancing (all styles), New Zealand culture, and languages, anything about South Island....^_^ Nice mixture.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my experience and about my stories traveling.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Ecuador, Peru

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ecuador, New Caledonia, New Zealand