Rafael Nussbaum

its a long time ago but it was funny :-)

I surfed with Rafael for one night with a friend of mine. He's a fantastic ambassador. It was before I even got onto couch surfing, I had just learned about it. Rafael gets top rating in my book, he cooked the most fantastic spaghetti ever & he and his roommate taught us a few things about their country & actually, Germany too. We went to a local bar after dinner and met a few of his friends and a fellow surfer - everybody was super nice. Thanks Rafael! Try to make it to Seattle while you're in San Fran.

 

Rafael was awesome to stay with! He is an awesome cook! We highly enjoyed our time with him, his roommate, and friends and would highly recommend staying with him or even just meeting up for a beer!

 

Rafa is an AMAZING host and person... He is charming, funny, thoughtful, helpful and a GREAT cook!

I had a LOT of fun hanging out with him and we have already talked about making plans to see each other again... maybe next time, I'll host him here in California....?

Thanks again Rafa... for EVERYTHING! -You're such a GREAT person and friend... See ya in Cali sweetie!!!

well well my first impressions: carnival in switzerland..he's the one that in no time connects to any kind of other people and peple just tend to love to chat to him....which is not suprising.. :-)! just because of his charming, outgoing, spontanous, easy and optimistic way of beeing! Doesn't matter if you'll hang around with him, do any kind of strange activity (like taking a bath in cow-drinking-water-spots on swiss-alps.. or whatever comes to your mind of doing or trying out..he is the perfect company! You'll feel at home just if he's around. And lucky you if you get hosted at his place.. He seriousely is a gourmand and he loves to cook for other people..!!! But not just of that..interesting dude!.. you'll have to find out for yourself.. :-)!
(For Israeli people: He's sababa :-)!...)

 

With Rafi, I begin to learn somewhat about quantum, scientific studies and more interesting thinks. It's just the begin for a interesting exchange.

Rafael is great, I could have stayed at his place forever! Very easy to converse with, very down-to-earth guy, and VERY funny! Except...ha makes his coffee too damn hot! : )
Come to Minneapolis, I'll show you the mass grave in my backyard! : )

 

Rafael is a great host! We had so much fun discussing, going out, and enjoying food. He's kind, intelligent, nice, and witty. I look forward to learning more about him.

I hope we get to meet soon so we can discuss things further. Host - or surf - with him: you won't be disappointed!

 

Dear Raffi,
REST IN PEACE.

you took me and my friend Liz in from the cold, cold streets of Berne. you gave us yummy grainy tomatoey hippie-chow, and the best fresh ginger/thyme/lemon tea I've ever had.

BUT the goddamn coffee was
TOO
FUCKING
HOT.

you knew this was coming to you, Raffi. You knew it. When you threatened us with the mass grave in the backyard where you throw the cold, rotting corpses of all your couchsurfers, what were we supposed to do but fight back? To all future CSers: Raffi can be found under the yellow rush bush on the ascent up the Rose Garden on the eastern side of the river Aare. We buried his Diablo with him so that he can play with it in the afterlife and impress the Devil with his tricks and lighten the burden of his eternal torment.

ok, so I'm kidding. which is easy to do with Raffi, because he's just cool like that. I had the misfortune of only being able to stay for one night at his apt in Bern, but it was AWESOME. thanks! :P won't forget it!

 

Hi Michael, I hope you'll continue to meet people and bring them such delicate and deep attention. It was a pleasure for me to host you. You're always welcome!

General good vibes from Rafael, that boy's got a lot of energy and seems to use it in all the right ways...

So sometimes I go to a nightclub on my own and it can be a bit crap at the start because I don't know anybody and nobody's dancing...

Fortunately I met Rafael and his sound friend Cyril, who, along with another similarly minded CS girl headed STRAIGHT for the dancefloor... Many people do not have these kinds of balls...

I wanna to go and dance and piss about more with these guys, particularly to Rafael's favoured "breaks n bass" style music... Next time I feel like some fun in Bern I know who to harass.

Thanks also for the quick Diabolo lesson and generous cheese n bread sharing...

I arrived in Bern and after a bit of confusion, met Rafael. Not 10 minutes after our first meeting we were already in a very deep philosophical and theological discussion. He is a very gracious host and a fine cook as well. Thanks for the Turkish coffee, friend.

 

My friend seb and I had decided at really last moment to attend on a big CS event in Bern. We didn't have Couch, but as we ask Rafael at 1am, he spontaneously offered us an accomodation! And that's all about it : Spontaneity. We agreed strongly on this statement: If you feel you want to do it, just let everything and do it, all that is planned, can be cancelled, so you run your life with your faith and no with your duties. That seem to be the fuel of rafael's life.

 

Watch out for Rafael;-) He can not only read your mind but also sense within a short time, how you are positioned in life. He amazed me. We talked for less than an hour and it already felt like knowing a whole lot about each other. Rafael has an open- heart - spirit and mind. I’m glad we meet and can only recommend checking in with him or hosting him. You miss something big time if you don’t.

Rafael is a very interesting person! His knowledges about the human being impressed me. He's communicative and open.

Ds Festival bi üs isch am 23.5. (u.a.mit http://www.myspace.com/beresitutun), mäude mi de, wes nöcherrückt nomou. wür mi fröjä, wenn o chiemsch!

Raffi is the one how shows me CS and I think that I join the Community says all ;=) I'm really happy that I met him. We now having a great Party for a long time. You allways having a great Party with him and a very intressting Time.

Greetz Robin

Although we couldn't talk very much, that conversation at the end was legendary kekek. Very good to see someone still has uncorrupted thoughts. By the way, the couch was fantastic, I strongly recomend the whole thing, company, couch, place and country. I hope to see you somewhere in life.

Tchau =)

 

1. he's fighting for the right thing (at least he was fighting for one right thing: the progr
2. he accepted beer as soft drink
must be a good guy, right?

Raffi is a great guy, very open minded and fun to be around!
He got me into CS! :)

...well you like a funny evening -you like crasy ideas - you like to have fun, then dont wait and and meet raffi, i thing we are on the same wavelength.

It's a pleasure to have interesting conversations with him. Rafael is a smart person and I always enjoyed the time we spent together.

That guy is a typical party-boy. Outgoing person, with great sense of humour. He shared with me his killing drinks, which just killed me on the party :D

Raffi is great! He is open minded, spontaneous, intelligent, honest and very friendly. He is a very active and well known member of cs Bern and manages to get people together. Thats what life is about! So keep on doing so! See you soon in the dungeon :-)

 

Raffi is a very very kind, open minded and really funny guy!!! Next time you have to adduce me to drink real beer :)

 

of course the best couchsurfer in Bern, with ages and ages of experience in this field!
I would say perfect and...
Don't shoot the messenger!
anyway, he is my neighbour!!!

It was the first time I was able to host somebody and I am very lucky that I did host Rafael. He seems very open minded and we had great conversations until the mornings. I would like to host him again or he will host me in Bern sometime?:-)

I have to thank Rafael very much for hosting me the recent weekend even though he was very busy!
(So unfortunately he could not spend much time with me.)
Anyway he turned out to be an open-minded guy who is fun to talk to - and you can take his advice where to go to in Bern.

Imagine you come to visit berne, have a delicious meal on your arrival, funny discussions and an introduction to the bernesian language. After that you will experience extremely tasty tea and good music. Right it sounds like a description from a travel ad, but surfing with Raffi was just that ;). Hope to see you in Zürich for partying!

I had a great time with Rafael. He was a wonderful host offering me many of the foods Switzerland is famous for. I loved listening to his stories and wished I could have stayed longer!

Lieber Rafael, liebe Couchsurfer

Am 4. Juni hat mir Rafael eine negative Referenz gegeben – und er hatte Recht damit. Entgegen unserer Abmachung habe ich ein Statement von Rafael verwendet, das er nicht in der Zeitung sehen wollte. Es war nicht meine Absicht, unsere Abmachung zu brechen, sondern ein Statement im Text einzubauen das – in meiner Sichtweise – die Situation, so wie ich sie erlebt hatte, am besten darstellt. Das war falsch und unprofessionell von meiner Seite. Dass ich damit Rafaels Gefühle verletzt habe, tut mir leid; ich möchte mich an dieser Stelle dafür entschuldigen. Andreas Güntert

 

Met on a Friday for a Birthday; pulled an all-nighter Saturday; showed generosity & excellent conversation over breakfast Sunday morning. What a PARTY! We'll have to do it again sometime...

Rafael is a great guy and Ryan and I had a great experience with him during our stay in Bern!

 

Haha Rafi is one of a kind. Was nice to meet him several times during the weekend. With the lunch he impressed us with his tricks, in the bar we had interesting talks and than we party at Birgit's birthday. Meet him ... but don't let him tickle you;)

He´s the one who introduced me to the couch sufing project for which I am very thankful. He is a very interesting person with who I share quite some interests and I look forward to see him again in the future.

Met him in Vienna at a party and picknick. He's a nice and funny guy.

 

good vibrations from the first moment on. rafa is a partyperson with loads of humor (beware of his jokes about austrians *gg*) and energy!

somehow we managed not to meet at the cs-paella, but instead had a great time here in vienna. will definitely come to bern to visit him some day (maybe next summer after the paella ;-)).

 

:) Big tickling partner during my stay in Vienna :)
I learn one really useful trick from him :) :)
I´ve had funny nice time with him, good company for party.
We´ll definitely met for tickling duel ;) ;)
cu :*

we had a great time hanging around in parks and dancing in unusual bars :)
we got along really well because we share the same weird sense of humor and he didn't get offended as i tried to beat him up once or twice.

he is just a a really cool and happy person who i hope to met again.

I´ll leave a better reference when I find out more about him,
We met at the CS Paella 08 and he was one of the many people I would spent more time talking but there were so many cool souls, he was one of then as little as I could find out.

 

I remember well the first year of my studies in Biology in 1997 (We had some lectures together). He helped me with some math exercises and always cooked perfect vegi meals before we started the work which often opened out into a nice evening with some wine and good discussions.... I am really looking forward to have more contact again after the accidental encounter at Gurten last year and some other coincidences....

Rafael is a very positive, high energy kind of person, with whom you'll seldom find yourself bored or in a smalltalkish kind of conversation.
He knows all kinds of interesting things and if you're up for it he can explain quite complex science for you.
Fun, outgoing, warm guy. Check him out, you'll learn a lot and have a good party.

 

Rafael, thank you so much for hosting me with such a short notice and for making me feel so welcome at your place. You're an asset to the CS community!

 

We met at the paella 2008 and had a lot of fun together; drinking, laughing ans smoking funny things.......Bern forever....:-)

Rafael is a cool swiss guy who likes dogs. We talk and jump around with the white dog at the big paella party in Gossau. If there will be a chance, we will meet again at Vince place or somewhere in the world!

 

oh mate, you wouldn't wanna find out :)
there'll be chances for a long talk next time i'm in switzerland or if you wanna come by in austria, i'd be glad to host you and learn more hardcore words like Chrrrrrrruchrrrrrrrrichrrrrrrrräschtele :)

 

I met Raffi at the Paella Party 2007 and 2008. I was very impressed about his fire games and I think they wil leave a much bigger brand than my energie! :-)
hope to meet you in august again on a smaler meeting to talk more. And I will update this Profile again!

Really nice and funny guy! It'll be a pleasure to meet him again, whenever, wherever!! ...and I read from your profile that you're even good with girls ;-) well I guess that's before you show them your creepy homeless-styled shirts :-D Have fun and see you very soon!

 

Rafael is a good guy, you feel it straight away. Huge amount of CS spirit, always a smile on his lips. Every subject can be discussed, very laid back (well, all of us have been laid back, lying around in the grass...!) Was fun to meet you, hope to see you soon in the capital city :)

 

Rafael is a positive and party guy and it's always nice to talk with him during CS meeting.

 

easy to chat, having fun or wathever - just a very nice guy!

 

Easy, laidback and relaxed! It was a pleasure to meet Rafael after hearing good things about him. We'll meet again!

 

First time i met Rafael was at the Paella 2008 but we finally had a chance to get to know each other better at the Halloween party in Zurich and that was heaps of fun! He's talkative, friendly and sweet, it's been very easy to get along with him well. Till next time!

What is there to say about Raffi? Well me and him met at the CS meeting in Bern during the Euro 2008. I've seen him everywhere there, but I think we didn't really talk that much according to my memories. Still I could see the guy who was our goalkeeper during the football match we played was a positive spirit at the event. He was there and he was pleasing a lot of people. Hopefully next time I get to know him better.

 

We met @ the CS Paella 2008 meeting.
He's tent was next to ours, so we had a lot of time together :-)
We had a great weekend with a lot of laughing, talking, eating paella(off course) and enjoying the great live.
Hope to meet you again in the future !

Berlin Beach Camp Vol. 4 in May 2008

I partied with him - he partied with me. Everything else is out of interest for anybody else.

We met in a CS meeting and after going out in Bern. We talk a lot (though sometimes i can't understand with the loudly music). Friendly and good person. I hope see you again.

 

Rafi is a cool as hell swiss guy. I have always enjoyed his company, usually find him partying or relaxing with a beer. Its fun to talk with Rafi about anything from drinking, life in switzerland to physics and chemistry.
Darn it... my mistake, pushed the wrong options before... Rafi is a super cool guy.

Meeting Raffi was somehow the best thing about the whole EURO-weekend, not only because I could surf his couch ;-) but also because I have learned a lot from him ... I admire his openness, his way of caring about people, his natural scientific background, his way of looking at things ... and last but not least his believe in love&relationship.

 

I like what rafael does for the couchsurfing-community

 

Raffi defies the contradictio in terminus being both hyperactive and relaxed at the same time. Very open and talkative, you sure will have a great time with this guy. Don't miss the chance whenever you are in Bern or around! So glad we finally came to meet. Let there be plenty more of those opportunities! :)

UPDATE: Wherever I am, I always have a blast with Raffi! Sharing the same love for music, dancing and partying. And he is amazingly easy too. I keep having a blast with this guy!!

 

I met Rafael at the Bern weekend meeting and I had a lot of fun talking to him about science and his thesis work. By the way, good luck with that !

Rafael seems to be a realy cool person, who know some strange dice games, but realy funny. He was a great host in Endelberg and hope we,ll meet again.

First of all, I just realized that I had previously stayed with his cousin Samuel in Zurich! Small world! Rafael was an amazing host this past weekend in Engelburg and was a pro at herding the group around while keeping his cool! Didn't get to talk much but for sure will be seeing him around!

 

He is special, just met him for a some minutes, and he added me - and that was a start of a childhood friendship. Very few people on Earth react on things so similar to me as he does. Found out we both adore aviation and the sea.
He is driven by born-in care and share whatever he has. But the most valuable is his spirit.
Update Summer 08, have spent a superb day together in Berne, exploring the city, have had great laid back talks, he even saw me off at the airport. Great to have him as a true friend. Where and when is next??

R ational
A lternative
F riendly
F unny
A nimative
E motional
L iberal

We had a really good conversations - he is one of those persons who really try to consciously look into other people and try to catch some bits of the puzzle that is called the human soul. :-) Enough poetry, good luck to you!

 

Met at the beach camp 07. Had a nice stay at Rafaels flat in Berne. Nice to know him. I will definitely visit Berne again.

Had a good time at the Beach Camp 08. We ll definately see again somewhere.

 

I met Rafael the 2nd time at the Berlin Beach Camp. I think he is always, where the party is. Dancing till the morning is coming or the police stopps the music ;-). Hope to see you again. ;-) Greetings

Very nice lad :) We had some talks and drinks together. He's easy going and positive person. Hope to see u again, Maybe in Switzerland when I will go to Geneva :)

UPDATE!
And it happened ! I met up with Raf in Bern where he hiosted me. We had a great time (at least I think so :P) Thanks again for all and see ya later somewhere :)

Rafael and I met in Berlin beach camp 2008. He is a good guy and when in the Ambassadors meeting had some good points. I look forward to catching up surfing over your way soon and listenign to some great drum and bass.

 

It’s really exceptional to meet such a great person like Rafael. I had the chance at the Berlin Beach Camp ’08 during some workshops. After mentioning that I was freezing because I forgot my Jacket he directly - without knowing me very well - offered me a pullover, what a wonderful gesture of welcoming and friendliness!
He’s not only extremely friendly but also really charming, funny and interesting. It was always a huge pleasure meeting him during the 4 days of the camp, he’s always cheerful and I really do hope to see him again very soon!

You know when you meet someone at exactly the right time in your life? That's Rafael. They should have cast him in Waking Life. This guy has phenomenal things to say about the universe and human/spiritual natures. Besides that, he has a great eye for finding hidden tapas spots! Would love to meet him again when I can actually speak properly. All the best Raf!

 

i met him during my staying in bbc'08:) a nice guy really a nice company which who to dring and to talk in a crowded area like bbc:)

I bumped into Raffi during the berlin beach camp, edition 2007. Got a free hug here and there, shared interest for climbing and yoga, a lot of laughter, some mischief and his phonenumber that is still in my phone because we would meet again somewhere.
Looking forward to beach camp 2008!!

Edit: Which was awesome! I hosted Raffi afterwards so we got the chance to get to know each other a little better.
The result of this is that i like him even exponentially more now.

... And Raffi keeps coming back :-)

Rafeal has a lot of interesting things to say about life, the universe and everything. A good person to have around if you want some intrigue and entertainment. So long and thanks for all the fish, ha!

 

Rafa is like a whirlwind spreading laughter, positive energy and really great hugs ;).
See you at the Paella!

Very nice guy. He actually save me from near blindness by doing the interpretor between me and the german optic-shop kepper. For that I owe him at least one bottle of punch. Just let me find some decent rum...

Update BBC_2008
Well, instead I invited him for lunch. Nice to see you again my man. Let's keep crossing each other around the various events of the hospitality world.

 

In the crazy haze of post-BBC come-down, I wouldn't say Rafael and I got to know each other much at all, but I got a good impression from him (anyone who has the self-awareness to be able to think of missing a flight as a *good* thing is wonderful!) to look forward to our next meeting. Who knows, maybe see you in Bern sometime.

 

Rafael is one of those guys about whom I was not sure if I met him the first time or if I had met him before.
For this there are two reasons:
1. I have seen his name quite often in the cyberworld.
2. It was like friends met up when we talked to each other.
...but still... I don't know the answer to the question.
Thanks for great time at the camp and nice afterparty at gypsyhymn's place.

Always fun to have met him during the camp, always a joke on his lips, always a smile in response. Very positive vibrations throughout the time we enjoyed together during the camp. Have a warm FREE HUG mate!!!

Oh - my - gooooood! Had a lot of fun at BBS 08 again. And had the Aftershowparty, and the Aftershowparty of the Aftershowparty together. Thanks for fun and discussions! Hope you won't miss your flight again... an see ya so sooon!

 

Rafael has an energy that was refreshing for my soul to be near. Sometimes I felt like he was more myself than I am! But that's because his special talent is that he can lead people inside themselves, which makes him an incredible real-life healer. If you have a chance to meet him, do it.

we met Rafael in a meeting in Bern. He and his friends are very friendly people, and we spent a very good time together.

 

Bern was diferent with this people... if we dind´n meet them, our experience will be diferent for sure, very nice and funnny guy :)

too bad I left Switzerland now for quite a while.. I enjoyed our time very much together!! we will meet for sure, when Im back.. and when ever I meet a CS on my way who wants to stay in Bern, I tell him he should ask you hoping, you got time and room ;) best reference I know in CH!! :)

Raffi hosted me for the Bern group meeting and came to visit me for a sking weekend in Luzern. He is one of the people you immediately feel comfortable around, an open minded guy, generous in spirit, interesting to talk to great fun to spend time with and STILL soon to be drastically humiliated in Doppelkopf. Don't miss the opportunity to meet him!
i could keep on updating this one...but then there would not be much else on my references and my profile would become very booooring to read...;-). so i restrain myself to saying that after having met on CS we are becoming true friends - that says it all, right?
UPDATE: oh and he got a haircut lately - meaning you can actually look at him again - gniharhar...

 

I met Raffi at Vince's paella party in Gossau and later on surfed his couch in Bern for 4 nights. Raffi's a wonderfully relaxed and hospitable person, who altogether hosted 6 people during the time I stayed there.

Whatever we did - diablo juggling, rope climbing, having good conversations, BBQs, Fondue etc. - was so much fun, that I really had a hard time to finally leave Bern.

Thanks so much for everything, I hope to see you in Vienna soon!

Nice to meet you! :-)

 

we know each other since our young days - spent scores of family vacations together (and accordingly, had to bear many mountain hikes side by side). raffi is a very helpful guy. he supported my first cs-steps. (thanks by the way!) trustworthiness: AAA+

He is very friendly, you can talk with him and have a lot of fun !!!
i hope to see him an other time in Swizerland or in France for an other big party ;)

 

I met with Rafael at 2 meetings, and we had some fun joking around about names and stuff. We sort of met in passing by, so I think I can tell more once I get to know him better. I feel Rafael is a fun and kind person, and I am sure he has a lot of good stories to tell :-)

 

We met at the cs brunch in La Chaux-de-Fonds. I Didn't have time to talk much to him but he seems to be a cool guy. I would definitely like to know more about him at the next meeting! See you

 

meet him and you will realize:
this is a man you gonna trust from the first second...
...and after that...
...4ever.
his presence and kindness make people happy!

I met Raffi during the 2nd ambs meeting in my city and hosted him. He's very friendly and relaxed but we also had interesting talks. It was nice to meet you, so hope to see you soon for another CS meeting !

 

He's very friendly and I liked to finally met him for a crazy meeting!
I'll certainely go to visit him one of those days...See you

 

Rafael is a very nice fellow. He's openminded, friendly, spontanious, active, helpful and easy going.
After having met on several CS-meetings and having hosted CSmember during another season we both ended up being city ambassadors of Berne and it's a pleasure to share this with him (and Patricia of course too).

 

I just arrived at his flat,
and we were already talking ... and we didn't stop for hours. It was really interesting because we have common opinions to a lot of the world, but different explanations so we inspired each other a lot.
Furthermore i felt very welcome and it was really comfortable.
Thank You Rafael !

Hey there! Yeah it was a cool weekend, and I would definitely hang out with you again. Let me know if you go distributing free hugs sometime, I may well come get one. ;-) y.l

We met on the telefone ;) because I wanted to know something, since he is CS Ambassador of Berne. Pretty soon, we wandred away from the subject and found out that we should definetly meet in person soon, since we seemed to have a lot in common :D
Raffi seems to be a very cool, outgoing and relaxed guy, who instantly fell in love with my dog - and that leaves always a good impression with the dog owner ;)
I'm lookiing forward to the next gathering!

He hosted my friend and me during new years eve. we had a great time with him and his friends. he really plays the diabolo well (even in tiny rooms) and he's somewhat hyperactive=)
danke rafael, esch cool gsi!

If not anything else ...one thing is assured with Rafael around...u'll never have a quiet evening...His contageous energy and stand out humor works like a catalyst..Another wonderful person without whom the whirlwind Bern trip wud have incomplete...Seems to know a lot about the countryside too..Well, it isnt surprising he is the CS ambassador for Bern..

Raffy myself and my travelling buddy had some truly great times. We met at Berlin Beach camp, surfed in Bern and went to the Greenfield festival having great times and eating great food all the way. Some of the best times on my journey in Europe!

we were all part of the paella 2007 party crowd. rafael can play amazing diabolo and is nice company. a pity we didn't have the time to talk more!

*update* we met again in vienna and had the chance to hang out a little more and spend a very nice evening together. could you finish the schnitzel in the meantime? ;o)

add more good times and nice talks in berlin, plus those wich will most likely come soon at the paella 2008 :o)

 

a crazy person, in the extremely positive sense of the word. we missed each other at meetings for half a year before invading vienna together. hope to meet you for climbing in march or even before!

 

raffi is a top guy and a brilliant host. he cooks yummy curry, we had lots of nice chats and he took me to some awesome parties at küse's place. the bern guys are crazy in the best sense and we ended up dancing on the street. there's lots of good energy floating round in bern also due to raffi being there. i can't wait for him and the bern gang to invade vienna.
update: yeeeeeeeeeey. raffi invaded and he was a brilliant guest i had a wonderful partying with him. thanx for helping me carry stuff. can't wait to see you at the climbing weekend :)

 

Well, extremely positive is just making the point. We had a great time, Raff is a super-nice and cool guy, what's more to say? See you soon! Cheers Mario

Raffi is really a refreshing guy. Every time I see him I have e great and funny time!!

Had a great time - all of my family! See you in Finland, then!

 

Raffi is quckly becoming Mr. Bern. Have run into each other on several occasions and he is always up to make you feel comfortable. His organizational talents and interest in spreading the CS word has no boundaries. Hope to run into him again soon, as our last meeting at the Bern dinner was too short.

 

Except he +1 or 2 others are trying to kill by party-exhaustion all members in Bern and around, I felt a very commendable guy with at least all good qualities a member should have, developped to a quite high level I reckon. Looking forward to enjoy & know him more and promise, next time I'll take some awakening medecines...some local brandy should make it.

Update #1:
Ok, after some few more episodes, all very different, I'm kinda getting sure of some more things. He's souled, caring and honestly sharing seems deeply natural for him. You just have to be open and you'll get all the best.

We met up at the Oktoberfest and partied together the whole weekend! Rafael is an open minded, social and entertaining person. We had a great time and I hope to meet up again.

 

When my mouth wasn't wide open mute admiring his diabolo skills, I had a good time chatting with Rafael. He's a laid back easy going guy with quite interesting background and ideas, making him an enjoyable fellow to spend time with :)

 

J'ai passé une soirée très intéressante et agréable avec Raphael. C'est une personne respectueuse et ouverte. Je ne peux que le recommander, les yeux fermés.

 

The fireshow was a "highlight" on my journey to bern ;)

Raphael is a very kind and helpful person. He is greatly open-minded and creative. He loves talk and spend time with other people.

Raffa is a great person to belong to the CouchSurfing community - we met in Bern through Hannes, another couchsurfer, and we watched him throw and eat fire! We hope to see you in Sevilla Raffa! Thanks for entertaining us in Switzerland!

Rafael and I had a very nice and interesting discussion in Bern. We share many points of view on many "hot" topics. He has many interests and is eager to share them, and he has suggested a few books which I will certainly buy --- but if I won't like them, I'll change the overall experience to "negative" :p joking of course :)

 

Rafael is a great guy to hang out with. We met at a CS meeting in Bern, and then went out for drinks the next night. He was very welcoming and willing to hang out. Hopefully we'll go for a hike someday!

 

Raffi, a very nice person, open- minded, social,... person. He's fun!

 

After meeting Rafael in both Luzern and Bern I have found him to be a really dedicated guy. Someone who loves to have fun, but also can be serious if he wants to be :-)

I am sure with some practise he can get that Diablo to hit the roof of the KKL.

There's a lot of things I enjoy about Raffi, that he introduced me to cs is only a minor one, but I like it a lot :)

Rafael is an incredible open-minded and friendly person,we share not only circus interest, i think also believing in the power to make things better.see you again!

 

Meeting in luzern!! Was fun and interesting. Hope to see u at the fasnacht :-)

nice nice nice !!!
he made really cool plans for us !!! and he is a lot into couchsurfing so you´ll probably meet other couchsurfers with him !! it´s really really nice talking with him, even if it´s sooooooooo cold and quite late and you´re dying to get home :)
you REALLY should meet him !! excelent cook! (at least what we tried!!)thanksss riffraff !!!!

Raffi was wonderful always organizing things to do and completely full of life. I had such a wonderful time at his house, he is so loving and fun, i zould highly recommend staying with him and hope to see him again sometime soon in NYC

 

a very funny person! He loves to meet in group Bern and he is a good "leader". Always nice to meet him...

I didn't see him at the Paella Party but I'm glad that I was able to meet him at the BBQ party at Sabine's!

Update : It was nice having you ever even for just a night^^ I had fun chitchatting with you! See you soon :-P

 

Didn't get to talk much due to me being busy with everybody at the party but he seems like a nice and interesting guy who loves a good discussion. hope to meet him again sometime so we can continue our chat!

 

I met Rafael on our Halloween Party. I didn't have the chance to talk a lot to him, but he seems a nice guy.

 

It was always fun to meet Raffi downtown Bern at different CS-Meetings.
He is a very friendly and cherful person. I'm realy looking forward see him more often in future at the stammtisch.
Bern can be very grateful to have such a great ambassador.

öhm.what can i say?
this guy is a couchsurfing-freak (i mean it in a positive way!!!)!he brought the berne group back to life, it's just amazing how engaged he is in the whole thing..hope to see you again, maybe on a drum'n'bass party ;).

 

I met him twice so far and both times he was cooking - so, at the moment I can judge two things: He definitely cooks like a god... and he's open-minded, talkative and it's fun to be with him ;)

 

He is one of the very dedicated Bernese CS-members, active in networking and persuasive in his ideas. Albano.

 

Rafael, as i joked, the mummy of our bern-group, is a really social person, with with you can speak for hours about every- & nothing, and thats a lot of fun.

We met up at the Oktoberfest and partied together the whole weekend and really had a great time. Rafael's an easy-going, open minded, social and entertaining person. A real party animal as well as someone you can have serious conversations with. It was great meeting you man and I really hope to meet up again. Might take you up on the offer of coming to Switzerland one day !

*** UPDATE: met up again when he was visiting Ghent and went to a halloween party together. Had a great time again... once again: Raffi's great company to have and I'm sure we'll meet again !

 

we did not talk much, but he is a nice and polite guy! hope to meet you again!
UPDATE: i met rafael again at bruno's house in ghent and he is really a taughtfull guy and listens to whatever one has to say!! and ofcourse he is also a good cook!! thanks for making us dinner! see you!

 

YEEaaaaahaaaa! He's crazy! if you're crazy too, meet! It's as simple as this, you won't regret! I like this guy!!! Am I crazy too? ;-)

raffi left a very open-minded, positive impression on me. it's amazing what he is doing to make people come together through couchsurfing! going to parties is definitely fun with him.

rapheal cooked a hella dank ass thai meal in gent; he is full of enthusiasm and has a great sense of humor - take care raf

 

Yes he was at the CS paella 2007 chatting up my best friend and I briefly talked to him, but later he came to Brugge, so if one comes all the way from Switzerland I have to make sure he feels welcomed! I was glad to talk to him some more, we could talk about anything. Now we keep meeting at paella's and birthdays in different parts of Europe and I can't wait to see/meet/tease/eat with/cook for/... him again!

he's a very easy going person,very outgoing and has always a helping hand.. i'm glad i got to know him

 

Meeting Rafael was awesome! We spent a great afternoon together chatting, sampling beer and hanging out. Even when he's asleep, he's funny. Imagine that! ;-) He has a very nice and kind personality, welcoming and a good sense of humor.

Update August 2008: Raffi was on my 'must meet again list' and I was very happy to meet him again at the CS paella. After the paella, he hosted me in Bern and it was a blast! Enjoying good food, beer and swimming in the (cold) river. One of the best experiences ever. Even though he had quite a lot on his hands, he took a lot of time to hang out with me and show me a good time. By the way, he's an AWESOME cook! Thank you so much for everything!

 

every now and then you meet a person that you talk to as if he were an old friend, someone you immediately feel at ease with and even while in the middle of a big party you forget everything around you and just talk and enjoy and talk and enjoy... rafael is that kind of person for me, and i can only thank him for a wonderfull evening and a great memory. he's an cs amb 'par excellence', keeps the bern community moving and i hope to visit him there one day and gaze at the amazing mountains ;)

*update* met up at oktoberfest and rocked that thing, then again in gent there was late night dancing, deep conversations and great cs parties and cooking. will surely meet up again one day!

 

I met Raffy in Brugge. He invited me to his wonderful witty-curry-cooking-with-Diabolo evening while he was hosted by Lorre. I'm looking forward to meeting him again to sharpen my basic knowledge of Peach Weber and Schwitzerdeutsch, in Switzerland or elsewhere.

UPDATE:
He hosted me when I visited Switzerland. I'll be missing the good company, the insightful talks, the original music festival in the mountains, learning Swiss German and his great cooking abilities.

Wow! What a cool guy!
I asked Rafael to stay one night but ended up staying two - This was straight away no problem!
If you come to Rafaels place you will be warmly greeted by a man whos amazingly hospitable and assured a good time. He has very good knowledge of Bern and helped us to find all the city's highlights.

It was a surprise as i thought Rafael is travelling Gent, but meeting him in Inez' party in Anwterp was really very nice. We had a nice chat about Swiss trains (too expensive compare to Belgians :-) about visiting Bern and about mountains (he loves). So, See you some day again :))

 

Coming all the way from Switzerland out of know where and crashing a Halloween party! What a great vibe and energetic character you have Rafeal, Wendy told me about Rafael, and so did my other CS friends and quite honestly, now I know why they all talked about you. He is definetly a cool fun spirited party animal with a good heart! Every one had nothing but good things to say about him, and that he could put some beer down, down, down....
We all will defiently party it up in Switzerland, no doubt! keep pumping up that volume Rafeal and dont you ever stop!!!

 

let the good times roll

tja, riffraff...*copy/past all of his 93 other references* ;-) nothing more to add here...great, great guy!!! extremely enthusiastic (especially about cs), open-minded and chilling! think there's a lot of times and places to meet again! thanx for being in bern...cu soon, dude!

 

I'm impressed on how dynanamic Raff is: suggesting meetings, organising Bern community. We met first in Paëlla party in Gossau and now in some CS events through Switzerland! See you soon in neuch may be?

 

Not that he would need an other reference... but he's just a fun person, straight on, a very good cook! Just: don't sleep with your shoes on his couch... ;-)

 

It's very funny. I once met Rafael on the train and already there I thought that he is a nice person.
You can have interesting conversations with him and he seems to have a big hart and likes to make everyone feel safe.
I hope I will get the chance to get him better.

It was a cool experience. My frined and I spent a couples of hours in his place, I was amazed with him, he had a lot of interesting stories and quite relaxing person. all people were friendly and very helpful. thanks

 

We met at a picnic and Rafael was very nice and offered to make a tour of Bern for my friend. we then went on to his place to a very lively dinner with 10 people, 2 cats and a dog. Rafael is an interesting guy with the right set of values and after another day in Eichholz and another dinner, and the paella, and another dinner, and tree climbing, and another dinner and still another dinner I think we will have to stop meeting or I will become even more overweight ;). He makes the best cheese fondue, and promised to talk swiss-german with me :) And after all the meeting and going out we both became ambassadors, and even better, Friends :)

 

Yo Rafael is the guy that you got to met once in your life, easy going always ready for anything. He made me discovered so many things, like a bar-pub in a squat place, I would have not go there with anybody else than him. We shared a summit spliff after a 4 hours hike in the Berne country side. All I keep is good souvenirs with, even the 80 bucks ticket i got the on the last day.

i think he is areally cool guyand i really enjoyed him playing the diavolo it reminde me of my times in the circus
thanks man

I met Rafi through CS Bern. Very open and communicative and an experienced host! Thanks for organizing so much!!!

 

I'm so glad I finally met Rafael in real life after I found out in the groups that he is also very enthusiastic about CS! He has all the attributes you would expect from a CS member and more and I'm really looking forward to see you again!

 

This is a great guy that i met over a spontaneus couchsurfergathering in Bern. We had such a good time and many laughs were laughed. Rafael was a great learner for the swedish dances (frogdance, duckdance)as well and is such a social great guy. I need to travel to Bern again to repeat that beermeeting.

 

raffi is a good guy, i enjoyed his company a lot at this awesome meeting in reithalle. really easy to talk with. he's an active CS-member and for sure a great host. has many good ideas for our community. keep it up! hope to celebrate more events like this in bern soon.

Good guy! Likes free hugs! Definetely visit him if you're in Swiss!

 

After meetings in Bern and Zürich he attended the CouchSurfing Paella 2007 at my place and spread his good vibes on everybody! Completely trustworthy and nice! Then I had the opportunity to surf his couch in Engelberg on over 1000 metres! What a blast! Thanks for organizing that!

 

Hey Rafi, dont worry, i'll still stick with my plans;-).
It was wonderful to talk to Rafi. We really had some interesting conversation and its great to watch him play the "diabolo". A nice and very warmth person. Hopefully having the chance to meet you again.

hosted us over switzerland, showed us around, arranged us a place to visit the day after, we ate dinner. great person! lovly, helpfull, i hope we meet again!

 

Wir haben uns an der Paella kennengelernt und dann war ich 2 Nächte auf seiner Couch. Super netter Typ!

We went to parties at Bern, Engelberg, street parade in Zurich... Spend some really good time with him. You can party with him but also can have interesting talk.
Looking forward for the next party!

Arrived in Bern at 6:00 pm not knowing a soul, enjoying a delicious dinner with a refreshing Swiss wine at 7:00 p.m.with fellow couchsurfers, Rafael knows how to make an impression. I traveled to Bern to pick up an MP3 player for a CSer I met in Vienna ( who had left the player at Rafi's),and upon phoning him he immediately offered his hospitality. He is an absolute gentleman, whose generosity and good nature is a model to this new CSer.

We felt "at home" very quickly at Raff's couch. And he and FLORAH were so patient and friendly ! Helping people (and animals) is natural for them, and I can say that it's a real pleasure to meet such nice people ! Raff is also a great cook, and we enjoyed (well... I enjoyed) eating what he made at the barbeque. I think I'll find a diabolo for Oussama, he was so cute when he played with yours. Thanks a lot, we are really happy to be hosted by you. Don't hesitate to visit us in Grenoble.

My friend and I had a wonderful time surfing with Raffi. He made us feel right at home. I loved cooking and the Diablo lessons, apparently I am a natural :) Thank you for your hospitality and your hand drawn maps! Make sure you send me a copy of our Couchsurfing photo shoot! You are welcome to come visit Renee and I anytime!!

 

His extreme love or should I say obsession with Diablo might have something to do with the name and his personality:p Raffi spent a lot of time being mean to me/:( / and taking my roommate's side but that made him all the more fun. I love to pick on people and them being able to dish it back( he was even super nice to make sure I knew that he wasn't serious) I am not sure who ended up taking care of who. They showed me an awesome music event going on, fed me, gave me beer then dragged me go out at night. Well, my kicking and screaming turned into dancing. I had an awesome time with him and his friend. Raffi enjoys life and doesn't necessarily care what everyone else is supposed to be doing which is refreshing to find someone else that will start dancing wherever. :) You are definitely invited to Berlin and I'll even try to find some( sigh) Drum n'Bass. See you soon. :)

 

We met at the Berlin Beach Camp and hang out often. Hope to catch him again soon, somewhere.

Man, amazing how u r doing that Diabolo thing.

All that I can say about Rafael is good.
He hosted me and two friends in his home although he had gone to a concert in Zurich.
He was very helpful and very nice.
My friends and me had to left Berne quickly so we couldn't meet him, but I hope to meet him some time somewhere.

We met at the Berlin Beach Camp 2007 and had a great time together!
He's a very cute and funny guy. I'm really happy we met! You can trust him for sure! Hope to see you again soon!!!

I met Rafi when we hosted our first couchsurfers. He is a very friendly and open minded person. It`s really funny to go out with him for a drink.

 

Easy-going, still celebrating his birthday after 3 months, very sociable, always in good mood. Met again at Vince's place and at Street Parade..See you for sure around...at the next party!

 

Great to meet you at the Paella. I really liked this party. It really cool to talk to you.

 

I enjoyed Rafael's performance at Vince's party in the Swiss mountains. Thanks Rafael!

Rafael is a really cool guy and we had a long and interesting chat. I could have gone on, but hey, sorry, I was too tired the next day for having long talks :-)But we will catch up in Bern or Lugano one day. Take care and I wish you all the best, ciao, Marco

 

Rafael is a uncomplicated, easy going guy with unconventional ideas. Was nice to meet and chat with you.

Thanks a lot for the couch...sorry I was not more active... If your in Austin I have a couch for you...

Rafael was a most generous host. Had a good night out at a BBQ with his friends to celebrate Swiss National Day. Good fun.

He is very nice and cooperative. It was indeed a pleasure to meet him.

We spent some time during CS Paella 2007 in Gossau, laughing and joking..I have to send you a photo really funny with Dagmar..a coool guy!

 

This guy was responsible for me ending up swinging from the tree tops in Bern...what can I say, he has this self-assured, confident manner that I am sure we would have all jumped off the local bridge if he said it would be fun! Dont hesitate to be hosted by him...its really clear how dedicated he is as a host and how he really wants to make sure everyone has a good time. Thanks for making my time in Bern so memorable!

 

We have been commuting to work in opposite directions for years... Another bonanza at the CS Paella 2007: I've now met Rafael in person and we both have an emergency couch in case of neverending business-meetings. Looking forward to meeting him again and improving my skills in circus acrobatics.

 

I really enjoyed meeting Rafael. He is a great, easy going and easy talking to guy. We had a great weekend at Vince´s place. I hope to see you again soon!

 

Met Rafael at Vince's Paella in Gossau, Switzerland where we had the opportunity to chat, and even try to exchange a few tips about swinging - BTW what I play is called Bolas or Pois :)
He seems to be a laid-back, calm, smiling and thoughtful person - hopefully our paths will cross again and we can chat some more next time!

Rafael's a cool guy. he's good company, very chilled out, and easy to talk to, he listened to my waffle with relative ease!! Pity we only met for a short time but it was great to have met up nevertheless!

 

Rafael, he embody perfectly my idea of "cool & laid back"...really a nice guy! Juggling & partying, but I would really like to meet in a less-crowded situation to spend some more time to chat...next time dude!

 

Raff really get the CS spirit!!He is also a CouchSurfer from next door, and i feel like we gonna regulary see each other in Bern. I realized there is a great crew of CSurfers in Bern and Raff is probably one of the best among them.
He is a really generous man, always here to help others. Raff is full of good advices from his great life experience. I think we share a lot of values and it will be always a pleasure to have him around. Catch Up with you soon for great times in the city or anywhere.

He has a slightly weird but fascinating kind of humor, and is in more than one way unique.

Cool dude, polite, down to earth. Don't know the name of the specific juggling he did, but it was fun to watch. Cheers!

Two paellas and a meeting in vienna really know i can tell i know this interesting fellow a little bit more than the average!! quite amazing personality is what you can expect from rafael, got this innocence in the eye, the charm of the tankers russian army but with vodka... a lot of it... seriously, cant wait to see you again.. take care and blue skies !

 

I have met Rafael to the "paella party" of Gossau, smiling and likeable person, much skillful like juggler, speak little for the language, but sure have occasion to meet us still and deepen the our acquaintance..

 

I met Rafael twice at Sabine's house in Bern and in Gossau at the Paella event. He's a very active, friendly and enthusiastic guy. And you should definitely get a chance to taste the chocolate bananas he makes: they're veeery delicious!

 

I met Rafael in my own car, picking him up from Gossau train station. He was packed with many tricks and juggler toys barely fitted in. His crazy look hided a respectful and polite guy that was interesting to meet. The party friend that makes you and the others very happy. Thank you Rafael!

 

It was great to have such a relaxed and laid back guy at the Paella!!And his mind-games drove me crazy...especially after such a crazy weekend!!Looking forward for more:)

Rafael was great. He took me to a barbeque at Sabine's house the 1st night I was in Bern, then convinced me to go to the Paella in Gossau. We had fun camping at the Paella, and he made awesome Chocolate Bananas. I returned to his Couch two days after, and we had more great times at a dinner thrown by his ex. Rafael is a really open and friendly host.

P.S. I made it all the way to Geneva without paying for another ticket. The Ticket Lady checked 4 times, but each time I managed to evade her.

 

We hadn't talked that much, because there were so many people at Vinces paella, but he really has the Couchsurfing spirit. See you at next CS meetings!

 

You rarely find someone with such a positive attitude towards live. Well on CS you might find them more often... But still, Raphael and his Diabolo spread a verry good mood. I'm looking forward to seeing him again and have some more chats.

Rafael seems to be a very laid back guy, being able to enjoy every moment with intensity but pretty relaxed. Nice to know you!

 

He is always alive and seems to carry a bag full of good mood. Good to have you on board of CS and was cool partying with you in Zurich.

He is a very relax and laid back guy who knows how the things work. He has the spirit of life and is very respectful and open minded. I would recommend everyone passing across Switzerland to check this amazing guy out he is worth the visit, I swear you.
HOLLLLLLLER man!

 

Met at Vince's place, he's a good guy and spent nice time together at the party and at the lake the day after.

 

Finaly we met at the CS Paella 2007 in Switzerland after we didnt met at the Berlin Beach Camp! Rafael is a cool guy and i hope we will met on another meeting or when his way cross me in Germany! Hope to see you soon again!

 

I enjoyed chatting with Rafael at the CouchSurfing Paella. He is very friendly and I hope to see him again, maybe in Bern sometime.

 

We met at Vince Paella in Gossau. We had a good discussion about digital video. He is a really nice guy. Hope to see you again another time.

 

Several meetings so far, but not that much time; anyway it's always good to see Rafael around, he always brings good mood and diablo action. And he is very active in this growing world of hospitality exchange, which is always positive.

 

We were chatting around at Vince's Paella party. Thank you for the pleasant discussions. If you ever get the change to surf his couch give him my best regards.
I will only keep my smile up if you do the same :P

Raffi is a cool guy. He was quite busy when we there, but we had fun with his flatmate, Frank. When we finally met up, we had a good chat!
I hope we can meet one time again, for more talk and beer!
I can reccomend Raffis couch to anyone visiting Bern.

my longest and best couchsurfing experience. we went swimming almost everyday in the chilly but refreshing aare .. had a whole day picnic.. went partyin.. cleaned the house together.. and biked around Bern. Merci... and I want to see you in Poland in aug =)

Raffi is your go-to man if visiting Bern (I'd unreservedly recommend visiting this gem of a city ... AND this gem of a couchsurfer!!!!). Not only is he completely trustworthy, he's also extremely generous with his time and resources ... I borrowed his boots and poles - at his insistence - to go trekking; Raffi also made grandiose food to share on several occasions (and he's a GOOD cook). He is also a great guy to sit around and talk with, which we ended up spending a bunch of evenings doing. The man has a sharp mind! Raffi, I'd love the opportunity to host you in Melbourne one day: hope it can happen, my friend!!

 

I had lots of fun meeting Raffi and hanging out with him a few times! He is uncomplicated, humorous and smart. We all ready started being friends and I hope this will continue on!!

Rafa is a cool guy, easy to talk to and fun to hang around with. We had a good chat at the marching band concert, and I wish we could have hung out some more. I'll see you in Bern or you can come to Tucson.

 

I met Rafi at a CS/HC meeting a few months ago but really ended up talking and hanging out with him more recently, at/after the Zurich CS BBQ/picnic, and for a crazy, crazy concert by Extra Action Marching Band at El Lokal. He is a cool, smart, fun guy, and if you want to talk science, politics, books, movies, music, dance, drink or party, he's you man for it all. Needless to say, you're welcome on my couch anytime and hope to see even more of you in the near future!

We went to a crazy performance/party in Zurich by Extra Action Marching Band. Danced and drank together into the wee hours. Hope it happens again!

This man is a whole lot of fun. we hung out at a concert at el lokal, and then afterward at a friends apartment. never a dull moment.

Cool guy - of course,he spent his youth ALSO in Baar :) It was kind of a highlight meeting Rafi-Rafael on the Zürifäscht-BBQ. Having fun and serious conversations at the same time. We have to meet again, in Baar, of course!

Cool night with cool people in Zurich!!! Rafael was one of the "moving group" in the streets of the city where we danced until 3 am!! we had so much fun!! see you

 

Had a little chat. A friendly, fun and easy going guy. Hope to meet him again!

 

Raffi's an outgoing and friendly guy, always ready to have a good time. I hope to see you again sometime in CH. Thanks for the melon. :D I can't take credit for the gürkin though, it orginally came from my Estonian friend Kadri...but yes they were extremely good.

Really nice guy who knows alot about what is going on around Bern.

 

Raffy was an awesome guy to know, especially being in Bern and Interlaken, some of the most expensive cities we've been to so far.

When I met him in Berlin, he immediately invited us to stay with him in Switzerland. We had fun times with other cs'ers in Berne, then met him again at the Greenfield festival which seriously wicked. Raffy knows how to rock out and we also had some pretty chill times at the river when the heat was deadly.

rafa ist ein ganz netter,einfacher typ,der wiess wo die musik spielt.frag ihn doch einfach und lass uns zusammen hin gehen.

nice person

he s one of my oldest friends. definately a positive person, always up for party. we just went toghether to the HC/CS camp in berlin last week and really had a lot of fun.

He's super friendly and funny, we were going out till sunrise, shared some beers and talking. It was nice to get to know him, I'm sure we will meet again!