CURRENT MISSION

ABOUT ME

Journalist, feminist, belly dancer, perpetual bookworm, over-thinker, slightly obsessed with Eastern Europe, vegetarian, and critical theorist, constantly in search of new adventures and more information!

PHILOSOPHY

I think this is difficult to define. I mean, we all change our personal philosophies everyday, right?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I began this whole CSing thing thinking that I would maybe use it occasionally, but it actually became a huge part of my life. I've been living with other couch surfers since I moved to London in Sept 2010. Since then, I've hosted a lot of people, thrown parties, and organized random events. I also use couch surfing whenever I travel. Last summer I hitchhiked from London to Budapest and was hosted by many lovely people along the way.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I began couch surfing in the Balkans and was hosted in Serbia, Turkey, and Albania while travelling with my mother and some friends. In 2010 I moved to London and have been trying to host as many people as possible ever since. I especially love hosting people who want to add to the community through gardening, music, dance, activism, performance arts, a fun attitude, or just general skills and experience sharing. Last year I moved to Tbilisi, Georgia and hosted many people over the summer. I also like to use CS as a way to find out about the activities of other travelers & to find hitchhiking buddies for trips...

Interests

Comparative politics, social movements, social justice, history (especially political history and eastern European history), traveling, communism, development, human rights, advocacy, transparency, good governance, growing food, sustainable living, communal living, kundalini yoga, mythology (Celtic & Greek), paganism, writing, thinking, circus arts, cycling, nutrition, vegan cooking, tribal style belly dancing..and a lot of other fun stuff...

I'm also a writer & editor...

Check out this page if you'd like to see my work:
http://cristinalmaza.wordpress.com/

Music, Movies, and Books

Books, books and so many books! I'll read almost anything that has to do with comparative politics, philosophy or history. I don´t always agree with them, but I love Sartre, Camus, Kierkegaard, Hegel, and Milan Kundera. I've been enjoying Peter Singer and Judith Butler these days. I never miss a book by Chomsky, and yes, I´ve read almost all of Marx and Engels. I have also been reading a lot of Ernest Gellner, Rogers Brubaker, Martha Nuusbaum and Eric Hobsbawm lately. All Marion Zimmer Bradley books, well, because I'm pagan! Of course I love anything written by journalists who have lived & travelled in the Balkans, like Misha Glenny, Tim Judah, or Barbara Demick. The last novel I read was De parte de la princesa muerta..I'm not sure how to translate that into English, but it was good. I also recently enjoyed a fairly unknown novel called 'Lullabies for Little Criminals', about a little girl growing up in Montreal with a junkie father.

Movies: Chico directed by Ibolya Fekete, Legend, Kilometro Cero, Cría Cuervos, Six String Samarai,anything by Kosturica, but especially Underground, Time of the Gypsies, and Do you Remember Dolly Bell. Lemon Vodka, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Tacones Lejanos, Short Bus, 101 Reykyavík, The Princess Bride, The Master and Margarita (book&Movie), Anne of Green Gables, anything by Jan Svankmajer- but especially Faust and Alice in Wonderland. Of Freaks and Men, Divided We Fall by Jan Hrejbejk, Morven Callar, Together, the Private Lives of Pipa Lee, the Triplets of Belville, the English Patient, Los Lunes al Sol, Before the Rain, Tiny Furniture, A Vicious Kind, Celeste and Jesse Forever, Your Sister's Sister, Safety Not Guaranteed, Mister Lonely, Lola Versus...

Music: Aimee Mann, Ben Howard, Chambao, Delirium, Old Jugoslav Rock-Djordje Balasevic, Darko Rundek, Riblja Corba, Zdravko Colic, Parni Valjak, Vlada Divljan etc), Kusturica and other brass bands, Fito y los Fitipaldis,Balkan Beat Box, Four Tet, Coco Rosie, Laura Marling, Ismael Serrano, Loreena McKennit, Medeski Martin & Wood, Ojos de Brujo, Primus, The Beta Band, RadioHead, Mumford & Sons, The Flaming Lips, Radio Head, Vagabond Opera, Sigur Ros...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

People of all ages and backgrounds learning, changing, struggling and growing everyday. I have so much respect for the elders in my life who pick up and start new lives, projects and adventures with so much enthusiasm and strength.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can share everything that I have stored up in my head, and I would love to learn how to play the accordion, although I've demonstrated no musical talent up until now! My Russian language skills could also use a bit of assistance..

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Cambodia, El Salvador, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

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