I was born in Moscow, Russia, lived in New York, Washington DC, and Paris, and currently reside in Kigali, Rwanda. I'm traveling Europe from April to June and looking for places to stay and good people to meet.

I am an avid skydiver and will definitely plan my travel around places where I can jump. You can read about how I started skydiving on my blog, http://www.whattheaff.com

Professionally, I am in technology and education. Over the last six years in Rwanda, I worked in rural hospitals with Global Health Corps, served as communications director at Akilah Institute, cofounded a technology platform called MindSky, and am currently the Chief Information Officer at Fowler Education. Prior to that, I worked in New York at NBC Universal and in Washington DC in various political capacities.

I love delicious food, learning a new language, staying active (boxing, acro yoga, climbing, Latin dance), and long conversations about physics and cosmology.

"The most terrifying thing about the Universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent. If we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death, our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light." -Stanley Kubrick

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I haven't CouchSurfed in many, many years. I was quite active from 2008 to 2011, and then came to live in Kigali, Rwanda, where I have hosted many guests and friends, but not through CS.

Now I am planning to travel Europe for a few months and looking for great hosts and memorable experiences. I will be working remotely from Europe for my company in Rwanda, so I am looking for places where I can get some work done in quiet during the day and spend time with people on the evenings and weekends.

How I got involved with CS: My close friend from college, Andy Guess, once hosted a guy from Budapest, Hungary. He was awesome. His name was Attila Demko. We called him Attila the Hun, natch. So that was my first time meeting a CouchSurfer. Eternal thanks to Andy and Attila!

Since then, I have hosted:
-Malte Roed Lunden from Copenhagen, Denmark
-Andy Guess from Washington, DC
-Nicolas Blarel from Paris, France
-Elana Orenbuch from Brooklyn, NY
-Julia Kovadloff from Buenos Aires, Argentina
-Victor Miguel from Brussels, Belgium
-Darius Hassan Moeini from Teheran, Iran
-Ann-Sophie Briest and her sister Charlotte from Hamburg, Germany

and surfed with:
-Juan Ortiz in Cordoba, Argentina (who was my first ever CS host and is really the person most responsible for my subsequent involvement in CS -- muchissimas gracias!)
-Jeffrey Adrian Platts in Washington DC

...and met up for drinks with many, many more of you!

Interests

I am interested in beets and beet salad, tuna ceviche, tuna tartare, tuna carpaccio, seared tuna, all kinds of other tuna except canned, Gewurtztraminer and Auslese wines, Miklos Gaal, Slavoj Zizek, macadamias, mojitos, Indonesian cuisine, Cockney accents, behavioral economics, French musicals (Les Dix Commandements, Notre Dame de Paris, Le Roi Soleil, Cleopatre, etc), Higgs bosons, Star Wars, and tango.

• culture
• dancing
• tango
• walking
• partying
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• economics
• geography
• medicine
• tourism

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Moving to Rwanda was pretty amazing! I'd love to tell you about living here.

Teach, Learn, Share

Don't think about CouchSurfing as hoteling on the cheap. If all you're looking to do is pinch a few pennies, you're in the wrong scene. This is about engaging the local culture, meeting its people, experiencing its lifestyle, and partying in its playpens. In other words: travel, not tourism.

So welcome to the cult. This one won't ask you to give your life -- just share it! :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Food, stories about African adventures, and taking you skydiving!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Kenya, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Russian Federation, Rwanda, United States

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