Hello, שלום, I'm Eden (eh-den)! (Please note: the common English pronunciation of my name starts with an -ee- sound, but my name does not start with that sound)

I'm a queer Jewish ape who is currently at the University of Haifa pursuing a masters degree in international relations. I love developing my thoughts on just about every topic, but my main interests are international politics (from a global south perspective), evolutionary biology, evolutionary sociology, relationship psychology, theology (mostly jewish), linguistics, urban planning (mostly public transit), and oncology and virology have been an active interests of mine recently.

I love anything that demonstrates the triumph of human spirit (like trains, exercise science, bicycles, rock climbing, the fact of the existence of books, etc). I'm very passionate about the end of imperialism/the Western Empire and the rise of the Global South.

My main outdoor activity is that I walk more than probably anyone you know - my main way of getting to know people (even before the pandemic) is go on walk-and-talks! I'm also relatively new to Israel generally and Haifa specifically so I won't be able to provide you with much local insight, but we could maybe go to a new museum or something together or just talk!

Friends often joke that I'm so passionately self-consistent in my interests and behaviors that nobody could write a more scathing parody of me than how I already am in my daily life.

Gender and, more importantly, language are social constructs so please use gender neutral language and pronouns (they/them) to refer to me. If this is different from what you're used to in English, I'd be more than happy to explain this and any queer or Jewish topic to you at any length!

Everyone is welcome, but feel extra inclined to send me a message if you are queer and/or jewish and/or connected to somewhere in the Global South.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

So many reasons!

Three of them:

On a purely personal level, couchsurfers (hosts and guests) are overwhelmingly some of the world's most interesting and passionate people and it has been an absolutely pleasure to get to know people in both capacities.

On a political level, I think opening your house to other people is a fundamental human responsibility. I consider proactively opening one's house to be a duty of society-building, and proactively seeking out other people's houses to be an obviously essential part of the equation.

On a theological level, in Jewish thought Avraham Avinu is described as someone who "would go out and around everywhere, and when he found wayfarers, he brought them into his house. To who was unaccustomed to eat wheat bread, he gave wheat bread to eat; to who was unaccustomed to eat meat, he gave meat to eat; to who was unaccustomed to drink wine, he gave wine to drink". According to Shabbat 127 a:13 - "Hospitality toward guests is greater than receiving the Divine Presence".

Interests

• birds
• culture
• photography
• human rights
• walking
• politics
• rock climbing
• philosophy
• linguistics
• queer
• research
• communism
• futurism
• urbanism
• public transportation
• accessibility
• corporate social responsibility
• brutalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: pretty much every genre interests me to some extent and I refuse to write off any genres. I especially love ballads, RnB, soul/funk/disco, Jewish Music, new jack swing, shoegaze, etc. My last(.)fm says my 10 most listened to artists this year are The Weeknd, Lil Nas X, Zusha, Avishai Cohen, Luther Vandross, THEY., Moshav, Janet Jackson, Miracle Musical, and Frank Ocean. I also will love any genre-fusion/mash-up with all of my heart

Books: I almost exclusively read nonfiction books about politics, history, linguistics, and Judaism. Recently I've read: Slavery by Another Name; The Doom of Reconstruction; Wretched of the Earth; Coming Out Jewish; The Holocaust Industry; Theory and Practice of Socialism in Development: New Frontier Essays; and No More War (Kovalik). Some fiction favorites include A Separate Peace; The Fifth Season; Binti; some comics/graphic novels like Wandering Son, I Kill Giants, Transmetropolitan.

Movies: Moonlight is absolutely, far-and-away the love of my life (please talk to me about Moonlight). On the other hand, if favourite movies were determined by number of times you watch it, I've watched Us like 9 times so far and I think that means something significant to me. Other movies I like are The Rider, Rogue One, Annhilation, Your Name, Serenity ((2019) everyone hated this, but it's extremely heartwarming to me), Central do Brasil, Speed Racer, West Side Story, Hausu, Cronos, Snowpiercer, Ex-Machina, Moon, Carol, Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho, 山河故人, basically any documentary, etc

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Walked over 7 million steps in 2017 (that's averaging around 20,000 steps a day)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Adherence to the unspoken rule of washing your dishes (secretly, if necessary), large amounts of knowledge paraphrased but as if acquired directly by way of an encyclopedia, a new friend with whom to run errands (like late night grocery shopping!), recommendations of good podcasts (with specific episodes), conversations of all sorts (politics, social relationships, queer theory, movies, theology), my complete attention while you talk about your favorite language, a crash course on any field of information that I know and you want to know.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States