I study Religion and Anthropology cause who cares about job prospects, right? I love traveling, kinda thinking about being a teacher when I grow up so I get three months of sustained holiday to just drop off the grid every year. I've been very lucky in finding many travel buddies in my friends and family. My mom is English so I have been coming back and forth for as long as I can remember, and now I live here. I moved over here when I was 16 and finished school while living with my cousin. I took a gap year between school and university, six months at home, six months as an au pair in Cologne, Germany. My German is sehr schlecht, aber ich liebe Deutschland. Might live there someday. I've been a fair few places, with friends but mostly my brother. I haven't been to South America or Oceania (is that even the real name?) and only dipped my toe into Central Asia and North Africa.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've been so lucky traveling, meeting fantastic new people and making long lasting friendships. I've used couchsurfing through a friend and had a great time. It's only fair to give back. Meeting new people is fun and what knowledge of Manchester, I am happy to share. :)

Interests

• wildlife
• literature
• indian food
• mexican food
• vegetarian
• traveling
• indie music
• castles
• ruins
• landscapes
• gardens
• churches
• fantasy books
• jewish history
• pad thai
• completely different cultures
• spending very little money

Music, Movies, and Books

I love Georgette Heyer. So much. I used to read a lot of fantasy stuff, like Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria series, Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest, Cinda Williams Chima's Gray Wolf Throne series. Now I kinda only reread books, and the occasional Terry Pratchett.
Since moving to Manchester, I have really gotten into indie music like Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Blossoms, but also The Wombats, Kooks, Two Door Cinema Club etc . If you like it too, I will take you to 42's, a great indie club. I also like slow, sad alternative music. Kevin Garrett, Lewis Capaldi, SYML, currently getting into the entire soundtrack of Call Me By Your Name. I do love golden oldies, Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel, The Eagles, Tracy Chapman. And of course a solid dose of pop music, love Troye Sivan and Bilie Eilish, Greyson Chance.
I like any movies other than kids movies... don't get me wrong I love a good nostalgia trip, but I don't need to see the ones coming out now. Can't wait for final Star Wars to come out, very much for nostalgia reasons, they're not good, I know. Rogue One is a great film though. I like Firefly/Serenity. Also every Jane Austen film adaptation ever. Personal favorite period drama is North and South (2004). Will always have a crush on Richard Armitage, looking back always, just in case. Fun fact, Elizabeth Gaskell, who wrote it, lived in Manchester.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

On a trip with my brother in Georgia, the country. We were staying in the capital, Tbilisi, but wanted to see some of the country, so we rented a car. We drove to see Stalin's birth place, interestingly memorialized, and some former cave cities, including Vardzia, a working monastery carved into the cliff face. Beautiful chapel! On the way back, it was night time and a four hour drive with zero street lights and kinda zero streets, just potholed gravel. And then it started snowing. In May. It was a great day to be a passenger. My brother lost it, so I offered to drive. Just 21, not having driven since my driver's ed at 15. He let me as we were going a top speed of 8 km/hr, so I drove for 30 minutes, until the road leveled out, in Georgia in the snow. It was pretty fun.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm not totally sure what I'm supposed to put here...
But one time while I was traveling in Romania, I thought I was stuck in Rasnov, 8km from Brasov where I was staying and was gearing myself up for a long walk back, when I stumbled across a 'bus' (they kinda travel in big vans with the name of the place they're going written in the window) and this lady, just another passenger, who spoke no English just helped me in, held up four fingers to tell me how much I had to pay the driver. It doesn't sound like much written down, but I was so grateful in that moment I still wish I could've asked her her name so I could name my firstborn child after her. I think about her and so many other people I've just happened to meet while traveling and how great humanity is, and I really just wanna pass that on and do my bit.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm super good at arguing in circles about anthropology (study of cultures) and basically everything is a social construct and nothing matters, but also you're allowed to care about things, because otherwise what would I have to study?
But really, I'm pretty fun. I can cook a mean vegetarian compilation (all the vegetables I can get, together in a frying pan with some starch to accompany them), cause doesn't that sound tasty? I actually am known for my grilled cheese sandwiches in a very select friendship group, willing to share that. I'm really interested in people's experiences, so I will ask you a huge number of questions about your life and what brought you to where you're at. Basically just trying to figure out what to do with my life and seeing whose footsteps I can follow.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, Germany, United States