Welcome to my life, dear visitor

My name is Shamil Farkhutdinov, I was in born in Ufa, the Republic of Bashkortostan (its a beautiful place located at the Ural Mountains just at the border between Europe and Asia), when I was 16 our family moved to Moscow and I changed the tranquility of my home to the bustle of the biggest cities in Europe in order to study and develop

Now I am Bachelor of IR. I’ve studied Arabic language, which I am really fond of. Frankly speaking, this language and the whole Middle East are my passion and I’m sure that this cradle of civilization deserves a better place in the world and will get it Inshallah. I also study Turkish on my own 🇹🇷, as this language and Turkey itself are really adorable and quite similar to my native Bashkir language.

Speaking about other places, I am in love with Portugal 🇵🇹 Although I’ve been almost everywhere in that country, every time I find something new. But in this amazing there is a fantastic place called Sintra, about which Byron once wrote that “it’s located between heaven and earth”. I wish I could study Portuguese, when I will have more free time.

I also play quray (its Bashkir traditional musical instrument), I can tell a lot about my homeland Bashkortostan. I guess you haven’t heard about it before. That’s not surprising, as it’s not a place about which National Geographic has made a thousand of movies. Actually even Marco Pollo didn’t get there, but for me it will be a pleasure to acquaint you with it!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

In the modern world you don’t need to be Marco Polo or Vasco da Gama to travel the world, when the world travels to you

Interests

• literature
• music
• history
• international relations
• turkish language
• arabic
• middle east
• arabic music
• portugal
• morocco
• sahara
• oman
• balık ekmek

Music, Movies, and Books

“Seven Pillars of Wisdom” by T. E. Lawrence, “The Plague” by Albert Camus, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera, “Arch of Triumph”, “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque, “The Time Machine” by H. G. Wells, “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin, “Death of a Hero”, “All Men Are Enemies” by Richard Aldington, “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino, “The Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Witcher” by Andrzej Sapkowski, “With Fire and Sword” by Henryk Sienkiewicz, “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran and Shakespeare of course...

“Lawrence of Arabia”, “Only Lovers Left Alive”, ”Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “In Time”, “Interstellar”, “Inception”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, “The Truman Show”, “The Game”, “Dead Poets Society”, “Cidade de Deus”, “The Great Gatsby”

Sergei Prokofiev, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Maii Waleed, Yasmin Hamdan, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Alt-J, The Arcade Fire, The XX, Franz Ferdinand, Soap Kills, Portugal. The Man, Tame Impala, HBM, Amalia Rodrigues, Deolinda, Nirvana, 47Soul, Jadal, Huntza, Kortatu, Tricky, The National, Mashrou’ Leila, Tinariwen, Radiohead, Oasis, Balkan Beat Box, Metronomy, Muse, Moby, Awolnation, Die Antwood, Of Monsters And Men, Bob Dylan, Kasabian, The Pixies, Blur, AltaiKai, Argimak

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Finding my way through the labyrinths of Moroccan medinas by google maps, having a first driving experience in the Omani desert, doing rope jumping from 24 m height, jumping from a waterfall at Akchour in Morocco, making a snowman in summer at Serra da Estrela in Portugal, cooking a tajin in Fes

Teach, Learn, Share

I can tell you a lot about history of my country, about its culture, traditions and Russian mentality. Furthermore, we can talk about politics and international relations, especially about the Middle East, the Arab world.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can teach Russian, Arabic and English, I’ll be glad to show you Moscow, its best bars, cafes, parks and sights and to teach you how to live here in the most comfortable and cheapest way😃

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Cyprus, France, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Russian Federation