Hey there! I am a 27 year old Armenian guy who has never lived outside of the homeland until now. I was born and raised in a small village but have been living in the capital city, Yerevan, for the last 10 years. I just got accepted into a fully funded Master's program in Portugal and Germany. The program is in forestry and environmental education and the first semester will take place in Lisbon for 6 months then I'll move to Berlin. This will be my first time living abroad and I am very excited about getting to know and experience a new culture.

As you may have guessed, I am very passionate about the environment and love hiking and camping on my spare time. After the program I am hoping to come back to Armenia and work on our own environmental issues and re-forestation here at home. I am currently working for a local environmental NGO called Armenia Tree Project where I work on forestation by planting trees. This brings me much joy and fulfillment to my heart.

After work I like to meet up with some friends and grab a few drinks to relax after a long day of work in the fields. On the weekends I often go down to our small village where I grew up to help my parents with the farm work. We are big animal lovers so we own 3 pigs (1 of which just had 14 babies), 18 chickens, a dog and a cat.

I enjoy a simple life style but I'm very happy to be coming to a big city like Lisbon.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I only found out about couchsurfing a few days ago through a friend who has had many positive experiences traveling through couchsurfing and meeting great people along the way. It sounds like an amazing concept to me and I would really like to experience it myself and meet some locals with whom I can connect with as a new resident of Lisbon and find out about the history and cool/hidden spots of the city. This sounds like the best way to get immersed in the culture and feel like you really belong. I am very excited about the possibility of staying with a local host and sharing stories over a few drinks. Staying with CS hosts will also give me some time and first hand knowledge about finding cheap housing in the city. Its been very difficult trying to find affordable housing close to my university from so far away. I would also like to get to know the different parts of the city and get advice from locals. I'm hoping that I can use couchsurfing for years to come and once I have my own place to settle down I will also like to host myself.

Interests

• blues
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• forestry
• phylosophy
• trees
• alternative rock music
• hard rock
• bad jokes
• renewable energies
• sci-fi movies
• impressionist art

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite bands right now are Alt.G, The XX, and System of a Down, Pink Floyd.

Movies: love all films by Darren Aronofsky, Steven Spielberg and Guy Ritchie

Favorite book of all time: The Fall by Albert Camus

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I based jumped from a helicopter after my military service was done to celebrate.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can share and teach how to cook Armenian food and drink Armenian cognac. I can talk about environmental issues and trees for hours (if anyone wants to listen) and teach some Armenian history starting 3,000 years ago.

I would love to learn about the local culture, traditions, history, myths, legends, language, food, drink, sayings and idioms. I want to completely immerse myself.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am willing to share every little bit that I have. I am a big hearted and open minded person and was taught to always share with not only friends and family but also strangers. We are all on the same road of life and need to give each other lifts whenever possible.

Countries I’ve Visited

Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Russian Federation, Taiwan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Armenia