I am "such stuff As dreams are made on". An enthusiastic traveler, I believe that sometimes our greatest fear is the fear of our own greatness. One way to challenge our limits and expand our knowledge is by interacting with different cultures and histories while letting those stories of past and present shape our own identity and ultimately our destiny.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have first joined Couchsurfing in 2011 but my account was surprisingly deleted around November 2014 as the site was relaunched. Considering all my positive past experiences and friendships established through the system in countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Dubai or even France, Germany, United Kingdom as well as Peru, the Dominican Republic and Ethiopia, I wanted to reconnect to interesting and exciting people around the world through this traveling platform--and discover their cultures and knowledge while sharing my experiences of life.

Interests

I love exploring the rich history of this world and of countries and corners that are off the beaten track. I am animated by a deep desire to understand and help, which has cemented my belief in the value of the work that I do. A visual arts enthusiast, I am hoping to change my career possibly ten years from now and work as a post-impressionist art dealer. While I love painting and used to paint in high school, at the moment my only artistic endeavors are martial arts and occasionally fencing.

• arts
• cooking
• traveling
• painting
• fencing
• martial arts
• track and field
• history
• languages
• visual arts
• cultural immersion

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Sting, Sade, Frederic Chopin, Tracy Chapman, Loreena McKennitt, Erykah Badu, Bryan Adams, Tina Turner, Cloud Atlas Soundtrack.
Movies: The Affair of the Necklace, Dead Poets' Society, Raging Bull, The Outsiders (I love Coppola!).
Series: Mr. Robot, House of Cards, House, M.D., Damages, Twin Peaks, The Big Bang Theory.
Books: A la recherche du temps perdu (Marcel Proust), The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoyevsky), The Plague (Camus), In Remembrance of Time Forgotten (Proust), Eugenie Grandet (Balzac), The Tempest (Shakespeare), The Sound and the Fury (Faulkner), The Bluest Eye (Morrison), Cloud Atlas (Mitchell). I enjoy poetry, including Eastern verses from Khalil Gibran, Rumi and Hafiz. I also love classic and contemporary Japanese literature, my favorite novel being Yukio Mishima's tetralogy "The Sea of Fertility".

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lived in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2012. That experience has changed me forever. It has enabled me to perceive people and cultures as an insider and experience cultural immersion as never before. I remember meeting a 14-year-old girl who lived on 10 USD per month and with that money, as an orphan since her mother had just died, she was supporting her entire family: 3 siblings and a disabled father. I often think of her when going through hard times and am humbled by her strength and resilience--which echoes in my work and relationships I build in the communities I serve.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: shotokan karate, possibly very basic fencing, various foreign languages, cooking, smart travelling.
Learn: everything!
Share: life experiences, emotions, travels.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Having studied and worked in various countries, I love telling stories from the places that I visited. It is mostly the people you meet who will change you and awe you, and therefore I am thrilled to share experiences with amazing people I will meet in my journey through life.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malta, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Poland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City State, Wales, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Central African Republic, Chad, England, France, Germany, Guinea, Haiti, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Romania, South Sudan, United States