CURRENT MISSION

to enrich my life by getting to know others (and hopefully share my own experiences with others and thus enrich their lives too!)

ABOUT ME

I am currently a fourth year medical student at Harvard Med in Boston.

2010-2011: was a Fulbright scholar in Santiago, Dominican Republic conducting research about prevention of prenatal HIV transmission.

I got my degree in a pre-medical track, Hispanic Studies and Latin American Studies in Boston.

I love people, I love to dance, laugh and smile. I will NEVER say no to an invitation to salsa/bachata/merengue/forro, and in fact dancing has helped me keep my sanity throughout my studies and work.

I studied abroad: Arabic and Spanish linguistics in Sevilla University (besides dancing and learning guitar!) and Public health in Salvador, Brasil. (besides dancing forro and samba and conducting public health research)

I am originally from Israel (although my parents are from Lithuania and I mostly speak Russian to my dad.) moved to New Mexico as a teenager, then Boston for university, during which I participated in research projects in Puerto Rico, la isla del encanto and the beautiful Salvador, Brasil.

I love the challenge of moving to a new place, learning from a new community and immersing through language, music, dance and communication.

PHILOSOPHY

We all live together in this beautiful and strange world, therefore I believe we were all put here to interact with each other, to speak, dance, communicate, laugh, and create. There are so many people around that it makes me nervous I am not getting to know them right at this moment!!!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love CS!!! Great way to meet people, share my knowledge, energy and time while receiving the same from others.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

so far AMAZING

Interests

SALSA
BACHATA
MERENGUE
FORRO
SAMBA
Flamenco
Dance
Music
People
Cultures
Languages
Maternal-Infant Health
Public and global health

• dancing
• flamenco
• bachata
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• track and field
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Amelie, Forest Gump, Broken Wings, Fiddler on the Roof, Together, Billy Elliot

Music: Latin Jazz, Salsa, Marc Anthony, Buena Vista, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Fania All Stars, EL GRAN COMBO DE PUERTO RICO!, Forro, Samba, Merengue, Bachata- Juan Luis Guerra! Reggeaton, Flamenco,Mayte Martin, Miguel Poveda, Remedios Amaya, Jose Merce, Camaron, Paco de Lucia

Books: Jorge Amado, Camus, Garcia Marquez, Master and Margarita- Bulgakov and many Russian classics, Virginia Wolf, the alchemist, Blindness, the Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, La Casa de los Espiritus, Anne Frank, Night- Wiesel,Salinger, the Grapes of Wrath- Steinbeck, Jhumpa Lahiri, the Kite Runner, Toni Morrison, Manâ

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Immigration and moving around
My new baby niece and nephew: I love them!
Delivering babies
Working on HIV research

Teach, Learn, Share

I would love to teach or just communicate with people in different languages

I can teach or share my love for dance- classical, flamenco, salsa, merengue, bachata, forro

I want to learn play guitar, learn different dance and music styles, and in general anything I am not familiar with because there is so much to know!!!

Countries I’ve Visited

Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Lithuania, Mexico, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Dominican Republic, Israel, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, United States