CURRENT MISSION

Finding home in Portugal and understanding its people.

ABOUT ME

Laid back, happily introvert, and interested in all sorts of people. I guess most people would say I'm funny and cozy to be with.
I believe in sharing and in privacy.
I like active engagement and useless daydreaming - love hiking and travelling and dancing just as much as I like curling up in my bed, reading. And I like to exchange sarcastic jokes.
I get fits of Wanderlust on a regular basis. Once in a while, I follow them.

PHILOSOPHY

"No man is an island, we are all peninsulas instead, partly attached to the mainland - to family, friends, culture, traditions, nationality, gender and many other things. While another part of us only wants to be left alone to face the ocean." (Amos Oz)
"Live and let live" (folk wisdom)
"The answer is within you, but it is wrong" (Corrado Guzzanti, Italian comedian)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Sharing company, FOOD, a movie, a book, a natural scenery, a path in the mountains...passing out on couches around Europe (I'm a very skilled and heavy sleeper).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Not much, but great so far. Many people I met while I was living in Munich were couchsurfers. I don't think it makes sense to make a distinction between "couchsurfing friends" and other friends but many people I had a meal with or who went on a hiking or bike tour with me were members of couchsurfing, and some of them became close friends too :)
I surfed couches while travelling in Italy, Ireland, England and Germany. It was almost always a real treat to meet these people. They made me feel at home abroad and made travelling a much more complete experience. I also hosted couchsurfers while living in Trieste.

Interests

Hiking and walking
Cycling
Music, especially Klezmer and European and Balkan folk. I dance in a local folk dancing group and play the clarinet - badly - in a couple of bands.
Nature
Capoeira
Literature
Languages
And well, travelling. Though I haven't had a chance to travel a lot yet :-p

• culture
• books
• literature
• dancing
• capoeira
• folk dancing
• dining
• cooking
• walking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: it varies, but you can usually win me with anything slow, simple and sad (for some reason, the sadder a tune is, the happier it makes me :-p)
Some of my favourite artists...Tori Amos, Pj Harvey, Patti Smith, Ben Harper, Elisa, Feist, Kings of Convenience, Coldplay, Band of Horses, Mumford and Sons, John Frusciante, Marlene Kuntz, Modena City Ramblers, Caetano Veloso, Anthony and the Johnsons, Chico Buarque, Violeta Parra, Asaf Avidan, The White Stripes, India.Arie, Nayehovici, Sinead O'Connor, Maria Gadu, Beirut, Woodkid, Depeche Mode, Gilberto Gil, James Blake, Wir sind Helden, The Veils, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Radiohead, A Perfect Circle, Florence and the Machine, Josè Gonzales, Elena Ledda, Joni Mitchell, Susheela Raman, Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell, Amon Tobin...and a lot of Soul and R´n´B. Different kinds of folk music: Italian pizzica, Klezmer, Eastern-european, Arabic, Portuguese Fado (Madredeus, Mariza, Amalia Rodriguez), Brasilian popular music and bossa nova, classical and musical, some jazz.
Books: too many to list. Movies: I watched Van Dormael's Mr Nobody lately and I really liked it. I also loved The Visitor by MacCarthy.
I love stand-up comedians like Louis CK, Bill Hicks, Russell Brands, Ricky Gervais. Generally, the more inappropriate humour is, the better I find it.
Addicted, currently or at some point in the past, to one or more of the following: Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, The Big Bang Theory (not anymore), Seinfeld, Father Ted (writing my thesis on it), The Office, Him&Her, Lost, In Treatment, South Park, Daria, Futurama.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

As limiting as it may sound to a truly well-travelled couchsurfer, living on Earth is pretty amazing ("Oh my God, what a location. This is Earth and for trillions of miles in every direction it f...ing sucks so bad", Louis CK)
Anyway, if I have to name one specific experience off the top of my head, dancing a Mazurka is also quite mind-blowing, and so is playing music.
My sleeping skills are amazing too. I can sleep sitting straight, so if you have no couch, only a chair, that should be enough ;)

Teach, Learn, Share

One of the things I enjoy most is to exchange knowledge about music, books, or movies/series. Especially about music. I suppose could show you how I play the clarinet, but most of it is pretty random. I'm working on improvising, so any help on that would be much appreciated!
Like many people, I am keen on learning about different foods and ready to share my limited knowledge of Italian cooking. And I like to exchange knowledge about languages, so please do correct me, I'll be very grateful.

Countries I’ve Visited

Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovenia, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy

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