CURRENT MISSION

Two missions: Learn to live, and shake the world!

ABOUT ME

Altruistic, hedonistic, stoic in adversity, positive, idealistic, a dreamer.

Enthusiastic with things that make me vibrate. Honest and generous but also with a strong sense of privacy. I have a peculiar (not always understood) sense of humor. I try to keep an open attitude towards the world unconditioned by previous experiences. I try to learn something out of everything I do.

I like sharing things I like with open-minded people, I like going out or staying home, I like listening to music and playing it, I like dancing in a bar or in my living room, I like inviting friends for lunch or diner or a drink, I like swimming on the beach, I like reading in the sun in my balcony, I like having my own space.

PHILOSOPHY

Be yourself, no matter what they say. And when you smile to the world, the whole world smiles with you. Live and let live. And many others :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Sometimes I host people that drop by and that I find interesting. If I have time, I hang around with them and show them my favorite places in my town. My routes might be a bit biased, not to please everyone, but the feedback that I had so far has been very good. It happens sometimes also, that I can only give shelter because I'm very busy.

I also contact people in places where I want to go to get some tips, to ask them to host me (although normally I prefer to pay and be more independent) or to show me around.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted a few people and everything went fine always, I always try to be as kind and hospitable with a couchsurfer as I would be with a friend of mine.

However, the greatest thing that I experienced thanks to CS was being hosted by three wonderful people in Tunis. It was my first time and it was really moving to be with them and be somehow part of their lives for a few days. The feeling of gratitude, humility and humanity you get from being hosted is much more powerful than the satisfaction you get from hosting someone else.

Also worth mentioning: I made friendship with people who contacted me through CS to meet up and hang around together but that wouldn't actually stay at my place. Indeed with some of them (I don't have them as friends in CS) I have a very good relationshipp and they come every now and then to my town and we always go out together.

Interests

This is not a list of mere interests, but indeed things that I practice when I can: Music, languages, dancing, town cycling, cooking, swimming, surfing, yoga, climbing, kayaking and diving.

• singing
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• cocktails
• vegetarian
• yoga
• sauna
• walking
• partying
• drinking
• reading
• music
• cycling
• kayaking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• rock climbing
• swimming
• languages
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Surf rock, klezmer, folk, soul, rock'n'roll, R&B, jazz, electronic, cumbia, piano, relaxing music. Some of my favorite musicians/bands/artists:
* John Zorn
* Mercedes Peón
* Chucho Valdés
* Rodrigo Leão
* Tom Waits
* Van Morrison
* Eliseo Parra
* Ghalia Benali
* Chano Domínguez

Movies that I've seen and liked recently:
* Chico y Rita
* Le Concert
* Torch Song Trilogy
* High Fidelity
* Patch Adams
* Mi vida sin mí
* Mar adentro
* Cría cuervos
* Celda 211
* XXY
* Vier Minuten
* El cuarto de Leo
* Tick tock lullaby
* Let's Get Lost
* Fiddler on the Roof
* No one knows about Persian cats
* Le Grand Voyage
* Incendies
* Aadukalam
* Pina
* Ocaña, retrato intermitente

I wouldn't know what to choose as favorite books, but I can say what I'm reading (what is on my bedside table) at the moment, and hopefully that would be representative of the kind of stuff I read:
* Orientalism, by Edward Said
* Contos exemplares, by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
* Breve historia del mundo, by E. Gombrich
* La non-violenza, by Domenico Losurdo
* The Death Committee, by Noah Gordon
* El arte de saber alimentarte, by Karmelo Bizkarra
* Désert, by J.M.G. Le Clézio
* Food As Medicine, by Dharma Singh M.D. Khalsa
* Death comes to Pemberly, by P.D. James
* Ensaio sobre a lucidez, by José Saramago

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Some of the most amazing things I've done might seem ordinary to other people, and they might be, but what makes them amazing is what I felt while doing them:

* Stand up paddling in the sea at sunrise in La Marsa, Tunis
* Stand up paddling in the sea in the moonlight at night in La Marsa, Tunis
* Waking up with the sunrise
* Dancing in weddings in Greece, Lebanon, Brittany and Galiza.
* Surfing on beaches in the Atlantic coast of Spain (in Galiza) and Brazil.
* Watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP8Al1Pl6vo
* Walking for hours in the Brazilian restinga
* Kayaking in Pontedeume's ria
* Being hosted by Fabore, Myriam and Soufia in Tunis
* Falling in love
* Being in love
* Learning Arabic
* Going to the sauna in Finland
* Dancing samba de raiz in Florianópolis
* Dancing forró in my living room with my friends
* Dancing breton dances in Yaouank 2004 in Rennes
* Singing and playing tambourine in A gaita grileira in Vigo 2002
* Having a 30-year birthday party with 30 people in my place
* Drinking Bushy's bitter in the Isle of Man
* Bidding farewall to my friends in the Isle of Man
* Share a home with other people
* Having a swim in the Irish sea in the winter
* Participating in swimming competitions in open sea
* Dancing RnB all night in El Clandestino
* Borrowing a bike from someone who offered it in a mailing list to go to the critical mass in São Paulo.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach:
* cooking (living food like bean sprouts or fermented Indian crepes, delicious salads, vegetarian dishes, Arabic recipes, cakes, etc.);
* facts about nutrition,
* preparing caipirinhas or other cocktails;
* swimming;
* surfing;
* Galician dancing, percussion and singing;
* Arabic language;
* regular expressions :o)

I can learn: any recipe! (for example) I am open to stuff in general. I am interested in being taught traditional percussion, if you play any.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, Senegal, Tunisia, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Finland, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom