CURRENT MISSION

in search of great conversations

ABOUT ME

Im patient, and open minded. What I love most about travelling and life in general is meeting people from different backgrounds, occupations and world views and learning about them.

I love to cook and learn about new cuisines. I like making soups on the weekends at home and listening to storytellers.
I like politics and history. I want to learn about how the government, education, and health systems work or dont work where you´re from.

Right now Im working on a master's program here in Cambrdige. I want to work in social enterprise creating businesses that will improve the lives of people en masse. Where, and what specifically is still up in the air. My travels have taken me to East and West Africa, Latin America, Europe and South Asia. Ive lived in Canada, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, France, Peru, Guatemala and Bangladesh.

But Im not so serious. I love to laugh and dance and party and listen to good music. I could also sit with a good book in a park and pass the day away.

PHILOSOPHY

Ask questions.
Smile.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've hosted in that past while at Uni in Ottawa, and had some awesome surfing experiences in the US, Spain and Portugal

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Some memories: Earth hour soup making sessions in the dark; Running into high school friends on the other side of the world; sharing music

Interests

I spend my time trying to pack too many things into a day and then failing to do so. Im in a perpetual state of self improvement. I love learning. I love conversations with people who study and work and live in fields very different than my own. This is the joy of travel. Long conversations with off duty border guards, physiotherapists, mechanics, electrical engineers, artists, bakers, farmers and the like.

I enjoy podcasts, cooking, books, travelling, reading development blogs, making long lists of things i should be doing or improving upon, battling daily with being positive optimistic when my cynicism runs amok.

My idea of tourism is wandering aimlessly in a city, going street to street to get a feel for where people work, socialize etc. I walk until my feet get tired, and then sit on park benches and watch the city go by. I want to know how average people live where I go. I want to understand the history, culture, economy, government, healthcare and education systems of the places I visit. That's why I don't mind getting sick enough to have to visit a local hospital but not sick enough to be seriously ill.

If I get really excited about a subject my eyes light up and I talk a lot with my hands.

• culture
• books
• dancing
• education
• cooking
• running
• partying
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• podcasts
• music
• surfing
• teaching
• history
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: I like first person historical fiction: The book of negros, notes from the hyenas belly, beneath the lions gaze, Roots,
Some other books that were the right thing at the right time: the god of small things, Island (Huxley),
Other Authors: Robertson Davies
Music right now: folk music, alt&indie, political hip hop & rap, mashups (the white panda, super mash bros), 1970s african music (ethio-jazz, nigerian afro-funk, etc).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Organized a pumkpkin carving party in Addis Ababa Ethiopia with 150 pounds worth of pumpkins.
- trekked in nepal and peru
- solved a rubix cube
- went surfing in Senegal
- picked tea in the kenyan highlands
- fed a hyena in Harar, Ethiopia

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bangladesh, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, Kenya, Senegal, United Kingdom

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