hi,
AS I AM CURRENTLY A VOLUNTEER IN TYRE, SOUTH LEBANON, I CANNOT ACCEEPT GUESTS IN DUBLIN BUT YOU ARE WELCOME TO LEBANON.
I grew up in the fishing village of Howth, just outside Dublin, Ireland. I am single and have worked in education all my life, teaching in the classroom, heading up a school for blind children and then as a school counselor. In each of these roles I have been very happy. I love to travel and first went to the Middle East in 2003. I was immediately spell bound by this Other World. I travelled in the region for the next 9 years and spent a year in Damascus studying Arabic at the university. When the Syrian war began in 2011 I was very keen to do something so I began to volunteer as an english teacher for Syrian kids displaced into neighbouring Lebanon during my summer holidays. In 2016/17 I spent a year teaching Iraqi Chirstians in Beirut who where run out of their towns and villages bu ISIS. I am currently on a 3 year voluntary mission in Tyre, south Lebanon, where i run a small school for Syrian children who have severe linguistic and numeracy difficulties due to being long term out of school. My school operates in the evening due to my pupils labouring during the day. As you can imagine the work is hard and challenging but it brings rewards I never dreamt possible. I am a peoples person and love to travel. I cook, read, swim and love art and antiques. No need to mention that as an Irishman I love my beer!!!!!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm currently living in Tyre, south Lebanon. it. last year during Ramadan we kept the school open but it was a disaster as our pupils were fasting and exhausted at the end of their working day and generally did not come to school. this year we will close the school during ramadan and I will take my holidays with my friend Ahmet. Our Intention is to fly to Rio and make our way north for between 4 and 5 weeks. Obviously as a volunteer worker my resources and small and also I have heard a lot of positive reports about the benefits of Courchsurfing so I earger to find it out for myself. I feel its a way to see the real country as close as possible for a tourist. Ultimately I would like to live in Brazil but thats for another day.

Interests

I am a keen cook and love nothing better than preparing food and can be eaten by friends with lots of chat.
I am incapable of passing a flee market or antique shop, mostly just to look but sometimes to find a jem. I also love arts and craft, especially of the country that I am in.

• politics
• travel
• cooking; reading (crime

Music, Movies, and Books

I am not a specialist in music but I love latin music, pop, Irish traditional music
in movies I tend to enjoy real life stories, regardless of the theme.
I love reading. the last four book i read are: Sapiens by Harari; Milkman by Anna Burns; the muse by Jessie Burton and am currently enjoying The unlikely pilgrimage of harold Fry by Rachael Joyce.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Saved a boy after he cut his wrists, a bit dramatic but also a hugely emotional and traumatic experience for him and for me. I'm happy, if the mood is right, to share this on an individual basis but I feel enough said here.
less Dramatic, I climbed Kilomanjahro in East Africa, 6th highest mountain.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am almost 60 and still have huge energy for living and engaging with the world around me and the people that I meet. I have over the years collected a variety of experiences and relationships. I love to chat with people about our lives and have the hunger for a lot more that lies ahead. I can listen well to people because I am interested in them but also to share the experiences of my life that have made me who I am. I can be serious and cover a lot of topics but I am also witty and good fun.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Cambodia, Colombia, Czech Republic, England, Equatorial Guinea, France, Germany, Ireland, Pakistan, Peru, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic