CURRENT MISSION

Happiness and socialism.

ABOUT ME

I love history and politics, i play soccer, and I'm into meditation.

PHILOSOPHY

As my meditation teacher says, it is a law of nature that I am the first victim of my own anger, of my own hatred, ill-will, or any negativity I generate in my mind...I am the first to suffer. Before I can hurt anybody else, I have to first hurt myself; first I have to become so miserable.

But similarly, i am the first beneficiary of my own compassion, love, and good-will. Whenever I generate any amount of compassion in my mind, nature rewards me with so much peace. I feel so peaceful, so happy...and not only that, I feel like sharing my peace and happiness with others. And I get so much strength from that, such strong motivation to help others in any way I can. This too is a law of nature.

May we all look deep inside and dig out our own negativities to live a life in line with this law, the way our own nature wants us to live. And our nature is certainly to be happy, to be peaceful. May we all be well, happy and peaceful.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Hosting and surfing!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I couchsurfed in Washington for the first time, and it was awesome! I met some really cool people who gave me a whole new appreciation for maps (they were becoming cartographers) and had a really, really great time getting to know them. It really made the experience that much better, and that kind of experience you can't even pay for. I just had wished I had stayed in contact with our hosts! Since then, I've hosted a bunch of people when I lived in Damascus, and a few in Ottawa where I currently have my permanent residence.

Interests

I love to meditate (vipassana), play soccer and talk politics and history, read, be socially and politically active; nature, environmentalism, learning languages...

• writing
• coach
• meditation
• politics
• chess
• traveling
• surfing
• soccer
• teaching
• history
• languages
• law

Music, Movies, and Books

Documentaries, Good Will Hunting, The Bourne movies...

Books: the Count of Monte Cristo, Le voyage de Hector, Cloud Atlas, Tigana, the communist manifesto...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got rides and hitch hiked from Freiburg, Germany, all the way to Slovenia...probably the best travelling experience of my life so far. I slept outside at a truck stop, in an abandoned corner of a building, on somebody;s lawn, and I got rides from a trucker, a borderline right-wing extremist, a former olympic coach, a musician and many other beautiful people. The experience was incredibly humbling and enriching, being so dependent upon others for getting around.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, Palestine, Peru, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Germany, Syrian Arab Republic, United States

• 

•