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Please note that I will not be able to host anytime soon as our spare room is occupied by a Ukrainian refugee.
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Hello fellow travelers,
I am Ira, you can also call me Iris.
I'm a student, I study aircraft engineering in Kyiv, Ukraine. I have two passions in my life: physics and music. I am interested in meeting people, getting to know their stories or telling my own - whatever, it's only important to be comfortable for each other. I like having long heated discussions about eternal things :)
The most important thing I've learned from all my trips - every tragic or stupid shit could be converted into a great story. Everything that happens in life is necessary and valuable. All the people on the road can teach me something.
Most important top-3 in a country/city for me: nature, people, cuisine.

Jun '19 UPD. Graduated! Going to have travelling summer '19 before I get a job in September (read: before I become a formal adult (bc I am never going to become an actual one) ).

Winter '20 UPD. I'm currently working as an aircraft stress engineer. Nearest traveling plans are the Alps and Ireland.

Sep '21 UPD. It's been one year and a half since I got the sweetest doggo in the world. I'm quitting my job by the end of the month. I'm moving to München, Germany to continue my studies starting October. Can't wait to see what happens next %)

Jan '23 UPD. Next, plenty of stuff happened.
Indeed, I moved and now live in München since Sep 2021. I am close to getting my degree, and my scholarship is expiring in Sep 2023. So far, I achieved 0 (zero, Null, ноль) global goals that I set before moving. I know! Learned from the best. Luckily, life is not a race and besides, nobody cares.
I also have no plans for after I'm done studying. Before that happens though, I am planning to come back to Ireland and Portugal.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To explore the world ! CS proved me so many times that it's 100% able to provide me so many opportunities to meet cool people. Let alone hundreds of times i was l i t e r a l l y saved by Couchsurfers. Hope I managed to help some nice people as well.
CS is great and i'd like to be a part of it.

Interests

• arts
• literature
• human rights
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• walking
• aviation
• board games
• live music
• folk music
• guitar
• cycling
• hiking
• skateboarding
• basketball
• archery
• physics
• hitchhiking
• videogames
• sci-fi
• feminism
• discussion
• queer
• stand up comedy
• postcards
• drumming
• fjords

Music, Movies, and Books

As I already mentioned, music is my passion. During my trips, most of all I like to listen to folk, country and acoustics/soundtracks.

Mr. Tolkien was my first love among writers (btw he still is), and Hemingway was the second one.

There are several movies on my harddrive at all times (yes, as any other Ukrainian, I have a collection of pirated movies). These are Interstellar, Into the wild, Girl with the dragon tattoo, The departed, Freedom writers, Nomadland.
Other than that, I have couple favourite tv shows: Halt and catch fire, Killing Eve and Brooklyn 9-9.

Yup, forgot to tell, there was quite a long time i was keen on computer games, kinda 10 years or so (WoW, The Witcher and Mass Effect are my favourites).

Summer '20 UPD. With appearance of PS4 in my life, gaming became a slightly larger part of it.

Spring '22 UPD. Up for some board games and hikes, short and long. Finally reached that point in my life when I don't mind going out for some dancing :D

Winter '23 UPD. It took me a while to make up my mind, but I ended up getting an acoustic and later an electric guitar. It's been more or less a year since I've seriously fallen in love with soul and jazz. Thus, music has become yet even larger part of my life, saving my depressed ass from some horrors of life.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

hitchhiking across the whole EU with my best friend

Teach, Learn, Share

I would like to get to know how other people are living and what else is possible in this world. I trust people, I believe there's still lots of kindness and sense out there.
Exchanging experiences and stories is super cool because you get a chance to see what exactly led this particular person to the state they are in now - that's part one. But you know what's even more exciting? Part two: creating new stories together.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My time and attention.

I can teach you how to hitchhike in case that's what you missed in life. Or introduce the world of coffee to you. Or take a look at what's wrong with your bike. In case you're also a music addict, let me introduce you to the best ukrainian musicians. Fond of comedy too? Let's watch a special or go out to an open mic.

I cook well, including vegan dishes.
I loooove dogs and would be happy to help with yours if necessary.
I also like telling jokes and (trying) making music together :P

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Ukraine