Hey everyone! We are Ander (he/him) and Mónica (she/her), a 27-yo couple from Getxo, a town near Bilbao in Spain.

She is a lawyer working on Human Rights/Gender Studies topics and he is a remote-working engineer, working in the wind and renewable energies sector. We are both LGBTQI+ and 420 friendly, open and fun, but neat and responsible as well :)

We are currently living back home in Getxo (next to Bilbao).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because we understand and share the idea behind this website and social movement. We think this is an amazing way of sharing experiences with people from different countries and cultures.

Although we are best friends and crazy in love with each other, we also LOVE spending time around other people and we think it is an essential part of a healthy relationship.

We have had very nice experiences here on CS, and we are really looking forward to having more!

Interests

We both enjoy music, food with a glass of wine, traveling, partying, as well as staying in, cooking, and watching a good movie :)

Some of our favorite hobbies are going to concerts, reading a book while sunbathing, traveling to new places, doing road trips, experiencing and learning about new cultures/food/ways of life...

Besides, we love to discuss life priorities, morality, politics, and other deep-ish topics whenever the conversation flows in that direction. It's a great way of getting to know other cultures, and ultimately understanding how the world spins!

• culture
• music festivals
• beer
• partying
• house parties
• technology
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• sports
• engineering
• languages
• house music
• craft beer
• techno
• living abroad
• meeting new people
• studying abroad

Music, Movies, and Books

We both share similar tastes regarding films, music, books, etc. so we usually watch things together or share what we got out of them.

Regarding music, we consider ourselves to be quite open-minded.
We enjoy all sorts of rock, indie, jazz, soul, blues, and electronic music, and are always open to discovering new stuff and going to live music events or festivals.
Some of my (Ander's) favorite artists are Tom Misch, Radiohead, Fink, and Berri Txarrak (basque).

I (Ander) have played the guitar for years, both acoustic and electric. I can also play the bass and the ukelele, and I´d love to learn to play the drums and the piano. I'd also love to produce some electronic music and do some DJing one day! I have tried mixing and producing some stuff a few times just for fun :) I think I'm not too bad with it but can't say for sure as I was tipsy most of the times ^^

I love films like Lynch's Mulholland Drive, Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, Linklater's Waking Life and Before Sunset, as well as some indie films like Berlin Calling.
We are both TV series' addicts and our top picks would be The Wire, The Handmaid's Tale, This Is Us, The Bold Type, Little Fires Everywhere, Euphoria, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders, GoT.......

As for books, Moni is really into feminist essays and loves Virginia Woolf and bell hooks among others, as well as writers such as Sally Rooney, but her all-time favorite is the Catcher in the Rye. Ander likes utopic/distopic scenario books (1984, brave new world...), also Sally Rooney, noir novels, and some (sci)fictional ones.
Overall, we pretty much enjoy reading anything enriching/uplifting or philosophic and potentially life-changing :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Living abroad in the middle of a pandemic in a country where we didn't speak a word of the language would probably be on our top three lol

Also, having the weird one-in-a-lifetime experience of living 4 months together in Venezia without any tourists (due to the pandemic)... pretty crazy, it was like a magical ghost city all for ourselves :O

Organizing our wedding in two weeks (no kidding) + convincing three friends to play and sing at that wedding with me (Ander) as frontman singer and guitarist after only two weeks of rehearsing time + singing a song in Italian (which I barely speak) just to impress her + doing it all with a decent sound + not killing each other during the whole stressful time :)

Other than that, writing this long profile and staying alive I guess ^^ we like to think the best is yet to come hahah

Teach, Learn, Share

We can teach Spanish, maybe some guitar basics. We could show you how to cook an amazing Spanish tortilla de patata or an Italian lasagna or some risotto maybe (you get the best of both worlds)

Always 100% open to discovering the city (and the country) and everything it has to offer. We love getting to know local people and cultures everywhere we go :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Our favorite recipes and meals, bands and TV shows, stories... you name it!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Spain, United States