CURRENT MISSION

Not get eaten by bears

ABOUT ME

I'm a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, where I am studying medieval history with a focus on medieval Islamic civilization and Eastern Christianity. I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian. In the bits of spare time I possess I enjoy hiking in the mountains, and thereby preserve my sanity. My politics tend to swing towards the left-libertarian side of things but I also have agrarian/distributivist leanings as well. I love to travel.

PHILOSOPHY

I try to live a life in-tune with the life of Christ- non-violence, compassion, openness to God and to others, prayer at all times, and so on- as expressed in the life and tradition of the Orthodox Church. I have no desire to force you into anything, and I struggle every day to put to death zealotry and the bad sort of craziness that hides out in my life and practices. Having been around the world a bit and seen many forms and ways of life, I try to be open to other peoples and ways of life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I first heard about CouchSurfing while living in Fes, Morocco in the spring of 2008.

Interests

History, philosophy, religion, books, music, films, mountains, rivers, trees, art, life, icons, food, beer, tea and coffee, wonder, languages, how people live on this planet

• animals
• arts
• books
• folklore
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• christian
• muslim
• history
• languages
• religion
• rivers
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Most of the movies I own deal with- surprise! history, and are mostly non-English language indie productions. I suppose Star Wars remains my favorite movie of all time (was never a Trekkie). I like all sorts of music- everything from indie rock (whatever that is exactly) to Persian classical. I'm particularly fond of folk/traditional music. Right now I'm listening to lots of Sigur Ros, Anathallo, The Decemberists, Kathleen Edwards, The Magnetic Fields, Ghazal, and Hossein Alizadeh & Djivan Gasparyan. Russians have written the best novels, Wendell Berry is my favorite essayist, Gerard Manley Hopkins my favorite poet; my favorite two history writers at the moment are S. D. Goitein and Rachel Fulton.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One of the most amazing places I've seen was Yuanyang County in southwest China: the mountainsides are covered in absolutely incredible rice terraces. It's mind-blowing.

Teach, Learn, Share

Er, if you're in my neck of the woods I can show you our mountains and teach you more than you'd probably like to know about the trees and plants and animals and history that inhabit them. I can also regale you with stories of various places' history until you grow absolutely sick of it. As far as practical skills, I'm an academic in training. We don't have any practical skills. I can cook noodles and pasta, instant oatmeal also.

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Ireland, Peru, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Morocco, United States