Hi everybody :)

I'm a 23-year-old european guy who currently studies in Bologna, Emilia, Italy. My full name is Raffaele, but please call me "Lafa", it's my "historical" nickname and I have it since I was 11, I love it and I identify myself much more with it than with my actual name.

In Bologna I'm studying International Relations, since I love being in international atmosphere and I have a real passion for languages: that's why I'm fluent in English, German and Spanish and I can also speak a little French and Dutch.

I've really enjoyed my time, some years ago, as Erasmus student in the wonderful town of Constance, in southern Germany, by the Bodensee (in english it's called Lake Constance), but despite its beauty, my favourite city is Hamburg, in the northern part of the country. I really wish I could live there one day, since it's something even deeper than destiny to me, even though my personal wish is theoretically to change many contexts and to live in many different countries, trying every single time to learn something new and overcome new limits.
But the limit I have to beat this year is the challenge I have with my home town. One last year here before the beginning of something great.
I also really like Amsterdam and Holland in general.

And exactly because I enjoyed my exchange period so much, I volunteered at ESN (Erasmus Student Network) for some time, in order to help Erasmus students to have fun during their time in Italy just as I did in Germany.

I must say I'm a passionate football fan and my favourite team is Ajax Amsterdam.
Why do I support a dutch club if I'm italian? Oh, that's a good question! Actually I also love HSV Hamburg, Inter Milan and Boca Juniors from Bueinos Aires, Argentina, but my story with Ajax is incredibly long and different. It's a feeling deeper than love and I've described it on my blog (this article is also available in english and german). I love writing, so I've got this little blog I describe emotions in. Unfortunately it's in italian, but as I said I've also translated something into english, spanish and german. Its name is www.deeperthananyone.wordpress.com, take a look, I would be delighted if you wanted to!

But to be honest I love every sport and I must admit I'm a real expert and I go to watch every sport event which takes place in the area surrounding me. That's why I always go to the stadium when I'm in my hometown L'Aquila, in central Italy (we have a glorious rugby team and a fourth-division football team) and also why as I used to follow very closely the local third-tier handball team, when I lived in Constance.

Now I live in Imola, about half an hour from Bologna, since there's a terrible lack of housing in the city I live in.

PS: I'm a guy full of misteries, try to follow me, if you are able to ;)
[DEEPER THAN ANYONE]

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

A friend of mine told me about this website and I discovered a new world.
Of course I love travelling and it would be awesome to do it a in such a cheap way that also allows you to get to know so many people (and I love meeting new people).
When I was very new here on Couchsurfing, I was a bit scared of beeing hosted by somebody I didn't know, but after surfing for the first time I was delighted with my experience: every host was incredibly kind and I really had a great time with all of them. Therefore, I'm looking forward to repeating this experience and I definitely recommend Couchsurfing to everyone!

Interests

I'm addicted to sports. I love football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, rugby, handball, car and bike racing... really everything related to sports and competitions!

I also love children and kids: as I was in Constance, I used to go once or twice a week to a centre for refugees to play with them, trying to be as helpful as I could, and here in Italy every november I volunteer at a contest for children's song. And I'd like to volunteer abroad for one or two years, once I've gotten my Master degree.

Moreover, of course, I love learning foreign languages.

• writing
• beauty
• clubbing
• reading
• traveling
• blogging
• cycling
• sports
• basketball
• soccer
• tennis
• rugby
• handball
• volleyball
• languages
• study abroad

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm not that into music. Actually I listen to every type of it but without taking care about the artists, groups and history. I must admit I love the Linkin Park and the CD "Music inspired by The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck" by Tuomas Holopainen is unbelievable! Moreover, as mentioned, I love a children's music festival called "Zecchino D'Oro", which takes place every year in Bologna, Italy. I love those songs, they are part of my childhood and I've also worked there as a volunteer.
This competition is actually for me a much deeper thing than just a festival (but that's another story).

Movies: well, I don't watch so much TV and shows, and unfortunately I almost never go to the cinema. I don't love superheroes, war movies and so on, I like films I can identify myself with. Ordinary stories, I mean. My favourite movie is called "Karla og Jonas", it's a danish one.

As a student I must study a lot and I don't have so much time to read other kind of books, but I still love comics of Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and so on (But "The Life and Times of Scroog McDuck" by Don Rosa stands above anything else), and when I was younger I really enjoyed Harry Potter and an italian book called "Io non ho paura" (its translation is "I'm not scared").

Oh, crap, I was forgetting the most important one, "Diary of a young girl", Anne Frank's diary, who literally changed my life. That's why I have a little tatoo (my first and only one) on my left arm with the name "Anne". I perfectly know I did everything by myself, but it really helped me to turn my life.
But I guess you would be bored if you listened to the whole story. It's not an ordinary one, though.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Never done crazy actions, but in my life I've felt more emotions than many many people combined.
I'm really attracted by difficult and impossible challenges, I love having limits and fear (to break and beat them) and I'm looking for everything that can make me even deeper, even though it might be heartbreaking and my human part would prefer the easier way and feel those couple of necessary human feelings I've never felt.
But I don't want to do it, it would be way too simple.
And I've never liked simple things.
(I said I love impossible challenges!)

There's depth, and it's haunting and haunting, luring me on as of old.
Yet it it isn't the depth that I'm wanting so much, as just finding the depth!

So, to anwer the question, probably the most amazing thing I've ever done has been trying to help a friend of mine who was terribly in trouble, and not in an ordinary situation (really a neverending story).
Or, maybe, writing a 13 pages letter in german to another friend and never reading the answer (despite it was essencial to me and my most human desire was opening it and knowing what was written there).

In both cases, I had to face the hardest situation, but it was the toughest challenge of them all: and living with the regret and with the pain which came from it has been so hard, that I must say I overcame that obstacle and defeated it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Italy