CURRENT MISSION

What is good for the body and soul is almost always better for the community and planet too! I am always hungry for new experiences and I love meeting people from all walks of life.

ABOUT ME

I am continually reinventing myself. I am a world traveler since childhood and am much more comfortable on someone's couch than in a 5 star resort, which is why I think CS is the best idea on the internet since Google.

I make sure I dig deep into the cultural experience wherever I find myself, taking copious mental notes & drinking in the perfection of the moment, no matter where it is on the scale. Since I have no dietary restrictions, I appreciate that I am free to learn about and partake in cultural cuisine; wherever I am.

I am the oldest of five children, the mother of three grown daughters and the grandmother of eight and have been blessed to have attended the births of seven of my grandchildren. As a former teacher, I have also been a community organizer, involved with the lives of children and families around the world, most recently Mexico and Finland. Mexico and its people are very dear to my heart.

My former identities (and there are many) flavor who I am, yet none define me.

When I think of the hundreds of people I have had the blessing of connecting with in my life, I feel like the luckiest person on earth!

PHILOSOPHY

Advocacy and capacity-building by bringing voices forward is the constant and strongest thread in my fabric; especially children, teens, the elderly and marginalized populations. I love public speaking and relish any chance I have to share with and learn from others.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I participate by being a wonderful guest and have the possibility of offering my home in Mexico when I am staying there. At this time in my life until I have my own space, I am available for coffee and some morning visits or guided visits around Sacramento area.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So far, a few experiences; one lovely couch surfing in Boise, Idaho and another for 2 days in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I also attended the Helsinki Couch Suring group Thursday meetings a few times and met several very wonderful people associated with that group. The people I met at the Helsinki meet up group changed my life!

As I wrote in my journal on the train ride from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki, I assessed the exponentially larger number of people I am meeting on my travels now because of Couch Surfing! It has elevated my experience traveling by connecting me to like-minded and interesting people! I love it!!!!!

Interests

Creative expression morphs into various forms throughout my day, my life. All forms while changing, come from the same material: Me! These expressions of me are writing, storytelling, blogging, traveling and meeting new people, learning about other cultures, photography, recycled art objects, reading tasty literature, cooking, creating fun, crafting for my three daughters and seven grandchildren, gardening, and more. Recycled creations get me the most excited!

Currently, in fits of procrastination as I navigate a new job, I am editing an anthology of children's stories I have developed over the last 35 years in addition to a memoir of short stories from childhood.

• arts
• writing
• literature
• photography
• environment
• cooking
• coffee
• drinking
• gardening
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• blogging
• surfing
• teaching
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Book: The Hummingbird's Daughter

Movie: Lagaan

Music: Any beautiful vocals

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seeing my own grandchildren come into the world is one of the greatest blessings a person can have. In the Summer of 2009 I met Jane Goodall at the Women's Conference in Long Beach; who inspired my awareness of our responsibility to care for our environment back when I was 10 years old. Working with youth in Nevada County, California to build a skatepark was one of my most successful ventures to date. Being surrounded by youth creativity is something I will never tire of.

Teach, Learn, Share

Educating and inspiring are my passions. I have several blogs and Facebook pages although I have had little time recently to update them.
http://linkedin.com/in/christinaivazes
http://GrannyPants.wordpress.com Various topics
http://GPDPT.com Facebook Page for Parents & caregivers
http://FemaleIsNotaDisease.tumblr.com Focus on preventive women's health

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am an unfussy, easy, low-maintenance guest and a great conversationalist who loves to meet new people from different worlds than myself and to discover our common threads. One of my best CS experiences was with a man whom by outside appearances, I had nothing in common with but after my stay with him, we established that we had deep parallel paths and now consider ourselves friends.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mexico, United States

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