My name is Baqer. I am half Iranian half Iraqi and I moved to Australia six years ago. I always felt a bit out of place. My Iranian friends consider me an Iraqi and my Iraqi friends consider me an Iranian. In reality, my identity is formed at the intersection of multiple cultures which is great because it means I got to learn to cook more variety of foods.

I take proud in my cooking skills. Interestingly, my favourite dish is neither Iranian or Iraqi. My favourite dish is the Spanish Paella. I love Paella because it is poor people's food (although Saffron is really expensive in Australia so I am not sure poor can afford it here). I have my own recipe for cooking Paella and it is finger licking good!

At the moment, I am finishing my bachelor degree in Computer Science, and I work part time as a Software Developer. I fall in love with computers when we bought our first computer (80386 with MS-DOS 4.0). My favourite childhood game was Golden Axe that sadly I never get to finish!

I love entrepreneurship and creating mobile apps. At the moment I am playing with few ideas and I want to create an app to teach foreign languages with a new method that is a bit different with conventional language learning apps.

I love making healthy probiotic drinks. I brew my own Kombucha, Apple Cider Vinegar, water Kefir, milk Kefir, yoghurt, and cheese. If you are already familiar with Kombucha or Kefir, I have a feeling we will be pretty compatible. If not, you are going to either love it or hate it. But it is okay either way, I won't hold it against you.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love hanging out with cool people.

I am learning Spanish and German and sometimes I get to practice my language.

I like to travel some day. It is always good to know people around the world!

I have a couch and I hate to see it going to waste. CouchSurfing allow me to utilise an underutilised economic resource!

Interests

• graphic design
• meditation
• camping
• learning languages
• short films
• weed
• programming
• trance music
• self-development
• startups
• relationships
• psychedelics
• strategy
• german language
• kombucha
• learning spanish
• enterpreneurship

Music, Movies, and Books

==== MUSIC ====
I love Trance music and my favourite band is Above & Beyond.

When I am chilling at home or meditating, I cannot get enough of Ludovico Einaudi. My favourite songs are "Petrico", "Elements", and "Whirling Winds".

One of my favourite artists is Rodriguez. I cannot stop listening to "Sugar Man", and "Crucify Your Mind".

I also enjoy listening to Flamingo Guitar. Play me some "Paco de Lucía", give me a glass of wine, and I will be a happy person!

Last but not least I am a big fan of Jazz music. Especially 50s, 60s, and 70s. I really love "Hound Dog" by "Big Mama Thornton", "When The Train Comes Along" by "Mississippi Fred".

Oh and I forgot to mention sometimes I like to listen to Ragga music, especially Bob Marley and when I get sentimental I listen to Adele.

==== MOVIES ====
I love watching movies so much that I have a pretty sweet home cinema setup. Imagine a projector and a really good sound system. My two favourite movies are In Bruges and The Big Lebowski. I love the Dude, His Dudeness, Duder, or El Duderino because he is laid back and taking life pretty lightly, but I can never be like him. I always need to do something.

==== BOOKS ====
Euclid's Elements is probably my most favourite book. I understand if you think it is a pretty odd choice, but I absolutely love the simplicity of geometrical proofs. I cannot say I remember all the proofs, but the one that I remember are really beautiful.

When I was a teenager I fall in love with the book "Prophet" by Gibran Khalil Gibran. I read the chapter "Love", "Eating and Drinking", and "Crime and Punishment" at least dozen of times. These days I still like the book, but I think it is a bit overly sentimental.

One of the strangest books that I read was Sigmund Freud's "Totem and Taboo". That book had a profound impact on me because it made me realise that one can question everything. In the similar domain, a bit later in life, I read the book "Philosophy of Religion" by William James. The later is more well written and has a more accurate and careful language.

When it get to happiness and self-development, these are my favourite titles: "Man Search for Meaning" by Austwiz survivor "Viktor Frankl", "Art of Happiness" by "Dalai Lama", "The Happiness Hypothesis" by "Jonathan Haidt", "Nonviolent communications" by "Marshall Rosenberg", and last but not least "The Way of Superior Man" by "David Deida".

Also as a teenager, I read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and I should admit that at least at one stage I cried during reading it. I also liked the book "War and Peace" but I should say it was really difficult to read the book. So many names that you need to memorise and pretty complicated story.

And you should probably know that I absolutely love Dr Seuss and Shel Silverstein. I have a full collection of Dr. Seuss books.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cook Paella or how to make Kombucha, Water Kefir, Milk Kefir, homemade Apple Cider Vinegar, homemade Cheese, and homemade yoghurt.

I can also teach you one thing or two about editing movies, editing photos, and point you to few cool Reddit subs. If you are a Redditor, I already love you!

What I Can Share with Hosts

At the moment I am only in CouchSurfing as a host. So I am going to tell you what I can share with you as a guest.

I can share with you, respect and love, good conversations, a comfy couch, and my gym membership!

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia