https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/35160832

The first time I travelled alone I stayed at my now deceased eldest paternal uncle's house in Lahore in 2009. The 2nd was for Harvard Worldmun 2010 in Taiwan. Both these times I had an activated credit card under my name, bank A/C also under my name; access to emergency funds.

At Worldmun I met Aubrey who was couchsurfing with a family in Taipei for the 4 day conference. And that's how I was introduced to the concept of couchsurfing. I had sogned up for a post conference trip in southern Taiwan too. Room and board was covered by the Worldmun Team.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To travel safely, while I traverse a writing career and navigate through Scleroderma CREST syndrome progression. As a young attractive woman who couch-surfed in her 20s I had to deal w/ a lot of personal space invasion, condescending gaslighting, unwanted advances and couldn't find families to stay w/ as per my preference but was stuck staying w/ men who wanted to spoon and other things that I had made clear I wasn't and am not interested in, prior to being hosted; every time I was hosted. And yet; Edwin Vargas was the worst but the short rejected Hobbesian stereotype who said thees in lieu of this... My kindergarten teacher was from NY, she didn't know a word of urdu or ooh do as she called it and At Toddler's Academy I joined in the fall and had to play catch up w/ this teacher; to attempt to be at par w/ my classmates who were a whole term/semester ahead of me. As such I naturally sound east coast American and people like Edwin who naturally can't say iz say ease instead get really ticked off at how I look and sound more anglo-american than they do. Off the record since I didn't file a police report or formal complaint: he often kneaded my thigh tried to work his way up to my cr*tch, unlocked my bedroom door, before I flew to California he had promised to stay w/ his fiance Jamie Hunter and I would live w/ Jessica ChaneLLe Oquist his flat mate (whom he called his roommate, that Irvine flat was not a room; so these interferences by him were completely unwelcome.

I'm not interested in doxing my home address, dealing w/ wannabe love or l*st interests; I am interested in networking w/ potentially useful people who can help me build a career as an independent profit turning creator; creative artiste.

I introduced a certain mid-westerner w/ a Chicago accent to the highline, brunch at Loeb the boathouse, the Met. The Spice Market; the standard hotel and a number of other places in Manhattan, NY, NY. We even ambled over to apartment 5c 85th W and Amsterdam where he marveled over how my lobby key worked. He too was irked that his friend Jan/Jen, he kept interrupting w/ his e sounds like a and vice versa midwestern accent so I don't know if she was Jan or Jen; but yes J*n saw me as sounding loco as did raised in the Upper East Side Cheryl Kramer and Stacey Ramsey the wedding photographer at my sister's valima in San Diego in 2012: all 3 women remarked, 'but you have no accent at all' in response to my revealing that I'm Britsh/English and Pakistani by birth. In London 2018 a guy who dropped me to my Thornton Airbnb was also sure I'm American. When I was 12 at Urdu remedial class at Defense American African american Luke refused to believe I was my brother's sister, " But Nadia's white and American and he's... not"

When Josh Sandler spent the night in 2015/2016, while I was rambling to Iris Braun in my very basic German; he interrupted and exclaimed, " But you're American like me. How can Osman's sister be American?!" (funnily both my sisters are U.S. citizens) Long before that there was Alaina Varvaloukas who also assumed I'm American (but in her case I had assumed she's Pakistani not Greek American).

It isn't my fault that my 4.5 years older taurus sister kicked an Irish nun only enrolled at the Convent of Jesus &Mary Pindi point for 2-3 weeks and then was homeschooled since I was a fetus; or that all her audiovisual study aides, sesame street, Hannah Barbera etc were American or that my first teacher didn't know any Urdu; the way I natural speak English and how I could only talk to my 1st teacher in English thus assimilated that I should only use English in formal or semi formal settings; none of it is my fault so I don't enjoy resentment from Colombians, mid-westerners et al. who wish they talked like me; something I never chose for myself. Because of my first teacher who screamed, 'Don't talk to me in ooh do, I don't know ooh do' I couldn't even talk to my Urdu teachers in Urdu.

Despite unwanted infarctions in my personal space, my formal and informal CS experience has been positive and fruitful overall. I learned that it's easier to balance a serving spoon in mostly liquid, in a broth or soup if you turn into upside down. A boat turned over, capsized, floats better too for the same, surface area, center of mass; physics reasons. A boatman is called a gondolier; that hosts are willing to find emergency housing if I need to extend my stay. That like my sister, a Slavic woman w/ broken english and a funny accent to boot, stepped on my face while I was trying to sleep. Free rides to and from the airport. Some lies, I was afraid of dogs before a host lied about not having pets when he had beautiful boxers Sacha and Pfizer(?) he female boxer would keep me up. 12 hour time difference w/ California so I was superbly jetlagged and listening to that almost nonstop barking.

Interests

I absolutely love social distancing, to dance by myself (if my circle is invaded; I turn into Elaine on Seinfeld); give me a dance floor, a nightclub or a Toga party I don't care. My bedroom is my ballroom of preference.

• arts
• writing
• singing
• dancing
• causes
• dining
• seafood
• cooking
• chocolate
• vegetarian
• sprinting
• partying
• clothing
• boxing
• swimming
• communications
• economics
• freelancing
• mathematics
• criminal law
• making money
• scleroderma

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Pride and Prejudice, Franny and Zooey, The Rule of Four, A Case of Need by the late Michael Crichton, The Book of Joy by Douglas Abrams the Dalai Lama &the late Desmond Tutu, When Breath Becomes Air & many more not necessarily written by deceased authors but I just noticed a pattern.

Movies: Orange County, Love Happens, Notting Hill, Serendipity, Just Like Heaven, The Big Kahuna, Die Hard 4, Half baked, Alice In Wonderland, Blast from the Past, Ever After, The Bourne Identity Series, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Disney's A Little Mermaid, Back To The Future, Speak, Rocket science, X and Y, A Beautiful Mind, Shattered Glass, Franklin(? Eva Green movie) , The Lakehouse and Father Of Invention, Taare Zameen Par, Dil Chahta hai, Dhoom 3, Now You See Me, The Slipper And The Rose (musical), thirteen going on thirty; Just a walk in the park, Batman begins, the X-men series (I love Magneto) and School of Rock
Music: depends on my mood.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Tried an Ethiopian platter in Chicago with an old friend; the bread looked foamy and tasted lemony.
In Southern Taiwan the seafood is fairly deceptive; what looked like yummy meatballs tasted like slug and what looked like whole silver fish swimming in a bowl tasted like a really hearty delicious soup.
Had Kale juice for the first time in my life at Nik Chopra's Saint Van ness abode. I'm been hooked on Naked green juice ever since.

Customized (Halal, Kosher, vegan, vegetarian) food preferences usually prompt giggles and lively conversation.
It's always fun to sing with somebody.
Won twelve golds at Debatewise; second prize for passage writing at the IBA creator's contest 2004. Meeting, managing and coordinating people from all over the world using google plus for the Global Youth Panel's COP fifteen initiative. I love interacting with minds of all sorts, I like people who argue intelligently, whose eyes glitter when they talk. (yes 'talk' not smoke pot ;O )

Taipei one oh one was an experience as was the ledge at the Sears' tower(now Willis tower) in Chicago: Everyone's ears popped in the elevator? It was funny to me for some weird reason. I used to fear heights; now I'm high on them. (pun intended)

I've had snake soup. Very yummy. Big fan of spicy Thai food (not sure if my stomach is).

Teach, Learn, Share

NadiaShireenSiddiqi.tumblr.com
www.Facebook.com/NadiaWriterSiddiqi
www.instagram.com/Nadia999s
wwww.Pinterest.com/nadshi

Hello, How are you?
Fine, thankyou

Hallo, Wie Gehts dier?
Gute danke (Good Thanks)

Nihao ma?
Wo hun hao, xie xie (I am good; gratitude)

Salut comme ceva?
Tres Bien; merci

Kia haal hai?
Bilqul theek thaak

What I Can Share with Hosts

Disappointment if like Ed grossness; you expect to get some ass.

Um uh, laughter. I make ppl laugh; and it's usually over something truly non sequitur/random.
I can cook Desi condiments(Tikya, roti, Chokore parhata).
eggs of all kinds (from shukshukla to spanish omelet)
and my dark coconut chocolate is to die for.
I love swimming, sprinting and dancing (freelance no body slam twerking.)
Tae kwando and kick boxing are fun too, (y'know with the right safety gear).

I fall asleep when it's cold.
I've fallen asleep in movie theaters, the terrace of an arts building at Cornell University, Ithaca (we were watching an open air broadcast Casablana, and I missed the entire movie, aired after an Elmer Fudd cartoon which I remember distinctly.
I brought hats and clothes with the 'intention' of giving them to ppl but my jet lag, migraine and overall disorientation made it difficult for me to know how to make good use of my time, did get stuff done but not like I needed to. I didn't bring any electronic communication devices: phones or laptops ... Now I'm likely to travel with phones and an android tablet
John made me buy myself a tracfone. I've finally gotten pictures off of it via bluetooth in 2013.

That's all folks.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cyprus, Hong Kong, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Cyprus, Pakistan, Taiwan, United States