What to say...Well, I think that after working for the past 15 years as a social worker I learned a lot about people, their weaknesses, the variety and I have become more tolerant and understanding of others. I am also from Romania, Eastern Europe so the culture is European with a little bit of slavic and oriental flavor. I have been living since birth at the shore of Black Sea so I am addicted to the salty smell of sea water and of the cries of seagulls although, as the majority of locals, the sea is something that we sense than see and enjoy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because one thing lacking from my travelling was interacting with local people so this would be an opportunity to meet with somebody that can present you a different perspective of the place...and I can offer some insight about the region I live in.

Interests

I like to keep my mind alive, this is my main interest. This is why I keep trying new things like studying foreing languages, attending courses on various topics (cooking, health literacy, enviroment, photography, etc), travelling in other countries and meeting people from different cultures. I like exercising (although I am not as disciplined as I would like to be) and I love, love, love animals.

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• culture
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• exercise
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• languages
• social work

Music, Movies, and Books

Long, long. long lists...Let's see what comes into my mind in this moment: books: Lev Tolstoy "War and Peace" (I have been adoring this book for years), Mario Vargas Llosa with his "La ciudad y los perros" and his novels that have Lituma as a character (I would have loved to see a movie after one of Lituma's adventures) and my favourite book as a child "The Little Witch" by Otfried Preussler (I still love it so, so much). I listen to all types of music, depending more of my mood and interests of the moment. Because of my quest of conquering foreing languages I end up listening and loving music from South America, Mexic, Turkey, Russia, Japan and as style I wander between classical, pop, traditional...Right now I remember my first meeting with Glenn Miller.
Movies...I admit I transformed from a movie lover to a movie abstinent. Well, I still belive that Andrey Rubliov by Tarkovski is one of the wonders of the world cinema and I remember loving Velvet Goldmine and hardly breathing when I saw for the first time In the Mood for Love.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well besides surviving the radical change between comunism and capitalism I would have to look into a dictionary to see how amazing is defined. I am proud of all dogs and cats I have helped or adopted over the years but is that amazing? I am sure others did it better and I also believe that taking care of and respecting animals should be a general society rule.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teaching...more like sharing information about Romania, Dobrogea region and Mangalia. Well, I can teach a little Romanian.
I would like to learn more about culture, language, music and food.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Life experiences, my work (infectious diseases), hobbys (languages, photography, etc).

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Colombia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Romania