CURRENT MISSION

For 2 years I hitchhiked around the world and was hosted by very many wonderful people, Coachsurfing is a way to extend the same kind of hospitality that I received from so many gracious people.

ABOUT ME

I grew up in America and came to live in Israel when I was 30. Married, divorced, 4 adult children and 7 grandchildren. Before that I hitchhiked around the world for 2 years staying with many people. When I returned to Washington, I started a collectively run, anti-profit, community, Kosher restaurant which ran on the basis of worker self management and was the best work environment that I have ever experienced. Lived in London for a year before coming to live in Israel. I have held a good number of jobs in the non-profit world and try my best to improve society and myself. I try to laugh rather than cry at the absurd in the world. I am curious about everything and try to understand what makes people tick.

PHILOSOPHY

Try to make the world a better place. Never give up. Try to see the humor in everything. Be passionate about life. Be open to new experiences. Expand the presence of friendship, compassion, understanding, peace, and, dare I say, even love in the world. It is better to be active rather than passive. Life is worth living. I know all of this must sound pretty corny or 60ish but I actually do believe in trying to live these values out and not just talking about them.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I joined in 2014 and have been delighted by the people whom I have hosted and who have hosted me.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Before there was an official Couchsurfing, I hitchhiked around the world and was taken home by more than three hundred people who picked us up (I travelled with two other people - imagine hitchhiking with 3 people - those were the days). People were really wonderful to us and while I have often given people rides since then and even hosted them, this is a more organized way to do so and I have met great people through CS.

Interests

I am an Israeli dancer. Not the hava nagila dancing you see in the movies but choreographed folk dancing in circles and in couples. Actually I love all types of dancing as well as music, movies, books, adventure, nature, politics, good discussions, all kinds of people, and life in general.
I volunteer with an organization called food rescuers which saves food from being thrown out in the Jerusalem wholesale fruit and vegetable market which we give the saved food to organizations and people in need. I cook there twice a week. I also a licensed Israeli tour guide.

• culture
• books
• dancing
• folk dancing
• environment
• cooking
• politics
• movies
• music
• history
• religion
• travel
• nature
• adventure
• laughing
• community organizing
• humans and humanity

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies - Black Orpheus, The Harder They Come, Slumdog Millionaire, A Place in Heaven, The Rocket,12 Years a Slave, Memento, Cool Hand Luke, Mean Streets, Blues Brothers, The Pianist, A Brief Vacation, West Side Story, Raiders of the Lost Ark, almost all of the movies of Woody Allen (yes I know), Satyajit Ray,the Coen brothers, Mel Brooks, Milos Forman, or that star Dustin Hoffman,Humphrey Bogart,Morgan Freeman,George Clooney, Scarlett Johansen, Kathreen Hepburn, and Audrey Hepburn.
Music - Beatles, Rolling Stones, Van Morison,Dylan,Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, blues, most jazz, modern Israeli music, Mizrachi Israeli music, Greek music, Ravi Shankar and classical Indian music, all types of Brazilian music, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn,actually pretty much all kinds of music.
Books - A Fine Balance, The Joy Luck Club, Joseph and His Brothers, The Poisonwood Bible, Five Seasons, A Late Divorce, Mr. Mani, Middlesex, The God of Small Things, Love in the Time of Cholera, really almost all the good fiction that is read in book clubs plus biographies, histories,and even collections of essays and, believe it or not, some poetry. Some days I spend way too much time reading newspapers on the internet.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I hitchiked around the world for 2 years. Yes the full circle - US, UK, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Belgium,Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the former USSR, Poland, Czechkoslavakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Zaire (Congo today), Central African Republic, Cameroun, Nigeria, Togo, Dahomey, Ghana, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Singapore, Japan, USA.

Teach, Learn, Share

How to work together and change things. Basic community organization. For people who stay with me, I hope to share my love of Jerusalem and Israel even with all of their contradictions and challenges.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am, in all modesty,
a pretty good guest - considerate, helpful, respectful, funny, active and curious. I love to cook and would be happy to cook with you some of my specialties.

I wish that I could offer wisdom but I am not sure that I am so profound, maybe I might be insightful, well at least, I am a good conversationalist. I am really independent and do not need to be babysat but I would like to fall in love with your city/town/village and maybe in doing so, I could give you back the excitement of rediscovering the wonderment of your own locale.

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Israel, United Kingdom, United States

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