CURRENT MISSION

to meet a very old woman who can teach me the secrets of the herbs and armenian dances

ABOUT ME

I study hindi, persian and arab, i play classical guitar. i have a sister, a dog.
I like travelling a lot and and eating all different kinds of food. I drink greek coffe and persian chay, i like cooking non-italian dishes, as well as italian.My friends say i'm always happy and enjoying life even in small things. They say I'm good in listening to people and in finding always the good in everyone.
But I enjoy being alone too, sometimes.
I can't say I live mostly the night...sometimes my laziness has a very strong influence on me.
But that doesn't mean I dont't enjoy going out...simply, not every single day!!
But, once out, I can stay up till morning without any problem..especially if it is summer.

PHILOSOPHY

to try to understand everything, not to have any prejudices.
And here it is one of my favourite song, by Georges Brassens, that somehow, summerizes part of my "personal philosophy"; fortunately, i've found also the english translation.

Mourir pour des idées

Mourir pour des idées, l'idée est excellente.
To die for some ideas. The idea is excellent
Moi j'ai failli mourir de ne l'avoir pas eue,(A)
I came close to dying for not having had it, (i.e. not having had the idea)
Car tous ceux qui l'avaient, multitude accablante,
For all those who had it, a most forceful multitude
En hurlant à la mort me sont tombés dessus.
Howling out for my blood came down most hard on me
Ils ont su me convaincre et ma muse insolente,
They knew how to convince me and my insolent muse
Abjurant ses erreurs, se rallie à leur foi
Recanting her mistakes, adheres to their belief
Avec un soupçon de réserve toutefois :
With a touch of reservation all the same
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but dying slow
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but dying slow.

Jugeant qu'il n'y a pas péril en la demeure,
Judging there is no great peril in hanging on
Allons vers l'autre monde en flânant en chemin
Let’s go to the next world while dawdling on the way
Car, à forcer l'allure, il arrive qu'on meure
For, by forcing the pace, chance is you might die
Pour des idées n'ayant plus cours le lendemain.
For some ideas, nobody holds the day after
Or, s'il est une chose amère, désolante,
Now if it’s a bitter thing, and woeful
En rendant l'âme à Dieu c'est bien de constater
Rend’ring one’s soul to God, it’s a good thing to find out
Qu'on a fait fausse route, qu'on s'est trompé d'idée,
That you lost your way, that your idea was wrong.
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but dying slow
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but dying slow
.

Les Saint Jean Bouche d'Or qui prêchent le martyre,
The Saint Johns Chrysotom (1) who preach martyr’s deaths
Le plus souvent, d'ailleurs, s'attardent ici-bas.
Most frequently, themselves, stay on here below
Mourir pour des idées, c'est le cas de le dire,
To die for some ideas, we are quite right to say
C'est leur raison de vivre, ils ne s'en privent pas.
Is their reason for living, they won’t give it away.
Dans presque tous les camps on en voit qui supplantent
In almost all the groups, you see some who’ll supplant
Bientôt Mathusalem dans la longévité.
Quite soon Mathusalem as to longevity.
J'en conclus qu'ils doivent se dire, en aparté (2)
I conclude they must say under their breath:
"Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but dying slow
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but dying slow

Des idées réclamant le fameux sacrifice,
Ideas demanding the supreme sacrifice
Les sectes de tout poil en offrent des séquelles,(3)
Sects of every ilk bring zealots for the act
Et la question se pose aux victimes novices (4)
And the question is asked of the novice victims:
Mourir pour des idées, c'est bien beau mais lesquelles ?
To die for some ideas, is quite fine but which ones?
Et comme toutes sont entre elles ressemblantes,
And as they are all very much alike
Quand il les voit venir, avec leur gros drapeau,
When he sees them coming, their huge flag held aloft
Le sage, en hésitant, tourne autour du tombeau. (5)
The wise man turns from the tomb, takes a bit more time
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but dying slow
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but dying slow

Encor s'il suffisait de quelques hécatombes (6)
Also if it took only a few mass slaughters
Pour qu'enfin tout changeât, qu'enfin tout s'arrangeât !
For all at last to change, for all at last go right
Depuis tant de grands soirs que tant de têtes tombent, (7)
Since so many great nights when so many heads fell
Au paradis sur terre on y serait déjà
In our heaven on earth we would be now installed
Mais l'âge d'or sans cesse est remis aux calendes,
But the golden age is postponed constantly
Les dieux ont toujours soif, (8)n'en ont jamais assez,
The gods are still athirst, have never had enough
Et c'est la mort, la mort toujours recommencée...
And it is death, death, over and over again
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but dying slow
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but dying slow

Ô vous, les boutefeux, ô vous les bons apôtres,
Oh you firebrands, oh you righteous apostles,
Mourez donc les premiers, nous vous cédons le pas.
Be the first to die then, we stand aside for you.
Mais de grâce, morbleu ! laissez vivre les autres,
But for mercy’s sake, morbleu! let the others live.
La vie est à peu près leur seul luxe ici-bas ;
Life is nearly their sole luxury down here
Car, enfin, la Camarde est assez vigilante,
For in truth, the grim reaper keeps close watch enough
Elle n'a pas besoin qu'on lui tienne la faux.
She does not need people to hold for her the scythe
Plus de danse macabre autour des échafauds !
No more dance macabre around the grim scaffolds
Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente,
Let’s die for some ideas, agreed, but dying slow
D'accord, mais de mort lente.
Agreed, but dying slow
1972 – Fernande.

Notes
(A) (I missed putting this note in and so I am putting it under"A" until I renumber the whole list). When Brassens says he almost died for not having ideas, he is referring to the violent reception he was given after writing his song "Les Deux Oncles". When he says he had rejected ideas in this song, he means the ideologies that make people kill each other. He asked for equal sympathy for one of his uncles who died fighting for the Allied cause and the second who died fighting for the Fascist cause. We have to remember that France had a complex and conflicting web of political loyalties during the Second World War and that when Brassens wrote this song, the French President De Gaulle, had made Germany his major ally while he pursued anti-British policies. All people are entitled to their own opinions from their own experience. However, most people would admit that Brassens did not express himself very tactfully in "Les Deux Oncles", suggesting that all the suffering of these horrific years rested on a nationalistic fight between the "Teutons" and the "Tommies". I don't remember any reaction in Britain but the anger in some sections of the French public was intense.
(1) Saint John Chrysotom the 14th century bishop was known as the “Golden Mouth” on account of the power of his oratory..
(2) En aparté : When something is said as an aside on the stage, so that, in theory, the audience can hear but the characters in the play cannot.
(3) Les séquelles usually means consequences, things that follow. Brassens is uses its archaic meaning of “followers”
(4) Brassens’ little joke. Martyrdom is something you can’t build up experience in. All martyrs are novices.
(5) tourne autour du tombeau. There are two ideas in this line. Collins Robert tells us that “Un individu tourne autour de la maison depuis une heure” means some-one has been hanging around outside the house for an hour. The phrase could also link with the expression: “tourner autour du pot” = take your time about what you are going to do.
(6) Hécatombes- A hecatomb was originally a sacrifice to the ancient Greek and Roman gods of 100 oxen or cattle. Brassens uses it in its modern meaning of a mass slaughter.
(7) Brassens is talking about the frenzied slaughter of the French Revolution. The alliteration of the “t” in this line is the drumbeat as heads fall.
(8) « Les dieux ont soif » is Anatole France’s brilliant novel about the period of the Terror. I have a summary of the book on my literature website. To read the summary -it's long!- click here

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

At the moment I'm mainly hosting: cause of studying, I cannot go anywhere further than Rome!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My couchsurfing experience is mostly about hosting..since september I'm in florence and so, why not to host people?

Interests

classical music, folk music from all around the world, reading, walking, smoking hooka and beedis, ethymology, anthropology, volleyball, i love India and Kolkata...and I LOVE traditional dances: south, center, northern italian, french, breton, greek dances!!!!!
I like ethymology of words and understanding how grammare works...my frieds say this is maybe my biggest problem and, actually, i agree: it could be a little boring..I like languages and italian dialects, i enjoy having dinner with friends at someone's house and countryside: to lay in a field amongs flowers watching the sky..

• dogs
• writing
• books
• literature
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• walking
• drinking
• flowers
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• music
• classical music
• folk music
• guitar
• volleyball
• anthropology
• dialects
• languages
• mathematics

Music, Movies, and Books

books: Pennac, Jonatan Safran Foer, Il nome della Rosa (U. Eco),Indian,Russian, Irish, German, Italian, Arab, Persian, Chinese ecc. Folk tales.Music: Every kind of music except hip hop, rap, hard rock, house.Here it is one of my favorite songs'text, by Georges Brassens:Dans l'eau de la claire fontaineElle se baignait toute nueUne saute de vent soudaineJeta ses habits dans les nuesEn détresse elle me fit signePour la vêtir d'aller chercherDes monçeaux de feuilles de vigneFleurs de lys et fleurs d'orangerAvec des pétales de rosesUn bout de corsage lui fitLa belle n'était pas bien grosseUne seule rose a suffitAvec le pampre de la vigneUn bout de cotillon lui fitLa belle était si petiteQu'une seule feuille a suffitElle me tendit ses bras, ses lèvresComme pour me remercierJe les pris avec tant de fièvreQu'elle fut toute déshabilléeLe jeu du plaire à l'ingénueCar à la fontaine souventElle s'alla baigner toute nueEn priant Dieu qu'il fit du ventQu'il fit du vent...Georges Brassens.I can add only the italian translation, by Fabrizio De' Andre':Nell`acqua della chiara fontanalei tutta nuda si bagnavaquando un soffio di tramontanale sue vesti in cielo portavadal folto dei capelli mi chieseper rivestirla di cercarei rami di cento mimosee ramo con ramo intrecciarevolli coprire le sue spalletutte di petali di rosama il suo seno era cos minutoche fu sufficiente una rosacercai ancora nella vignaperch a met non fosse spogliama i suoi fianchi eran cos minutiche fu sufficiente una fogliale braccia lei mi tese alloraper ringraziarmi un po` stupitaio la presi con tanto ardoreche lei fu di nuovo svestitail gioco divert la graziosache molto spesso alla fontanatorn a bagnarsi pregando Dioper un soffio di tramontana.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

i lived six months in Kolkata..amazing and you need a certain ability to adapt..( and a particularly strong stomach, which i dont have, actually).
I must add, now, that I've learned the iranian ta'arof(good breeding), that is, believe me, a great thing!
Other thing: being in Ladakh in novermber, taking care of a friend who was about to faint avery other minute!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach very little...maybe how to cook cakes, italian dishes and italian language.
Maybe, also how to listen to people who need to be listened to.
Learn: i don't know anything about computer, technology in general, economy and maths.
So..everyone who knows this stuff is super welcome!!!
And i really like learning to cook traditional cuisine from different countries: my life will be complete as soon as I know how to cook hundreds of different dishes!

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Jordan, Nepal, Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, India, Iran

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