CURRENT MISSION

meet new people, learn new things, make traveling cheaper and more informative for everyone!

ABOUT ME

I'm a mad scientist at heart. I'm still taking photos of a city I've lived in for a year. I've had the same backpack for 7 years and I want to cover it in patches from the places it's been, but I haven't put any patches on it yet so I'm afraid that it's too late to start. I like buying art, but I found my largest painting on a street corner for free. I read a lot, especially science fiction/fantasy; if you know who Lois McMaster Bujold is, we should talk. I'm vegetarian because when I was 12, all my friends were vegetarian.I became a coffee addict in Panama, when I thought it would be impolite to say "no, thank you" to my host family. I became a coffee snob in Melbourne, Australia (thank you, Italian immigrants!). This is a tragedy, because now I can't stomach Starbucks. This is also an ethical dilemma, because when running around a new city, Starbucks is a good place to go the the bathroom.When I was 10, I wanted to be a geneticist because of hemophilia in the royal families of Europe (probably I was more interested in the royal families than the hemophilia). When I was 13, I read a book about AIDS, and decided I wanted to be a scientist to cure disease. So, other than a brief flirtation with wanting to be a lawyer (age 12), I am what I wanted to be when I grew up.I've walked 12 miles in high heels.Everyone has this crazy impression that I'm an extrovert. And that I'm nice. Hmm...I've run a half-marathon.I think beer tastes like dirty socks.I've hiked in the snow. It was awesome.I'm Jewish; if you're looking for Shabbat dinner/services/cool Jewish meet-ups, look no further.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm too much of a scientist to say why I live my life. Is live and let live a philosophy? And: google Dan Savage.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

sometimes I do community things, sometimes I am a lone wolf

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted:5/28-30/11- Juliane (1) from Germany6/2/11- Tonya (2) & Eric (3) from West Philly 6/6-9/11- Ana (4) from Mexico/Philly6/12-13/11- Jeff (5) from Nevada6/16-17/11- Ruth (6) & Matt (7) from Boston6/22/11- Sam (8) from England and Dario (9) from Italy6/24-26/11- Don (10) from Dallas, TX, Markus (11) from Germany and Kasia (12) from Poland6/27-7/1/11- Esteban (13) from Mexico, Elsje (14) from Delaware and Paul (15) from Texas7/4/11- Joy (16) and Iris (17) from France7/5-6/11- Virginie (18) & Nadege (19) from France7/7-8/11- Miguel (20) & Jose (21) from Spain7/9-12/11- Skyler (22) from Utah and Francois (23) from France7/13-15/11- Malcolm (24), Hichem (25) & Sammy (26) from France7/17/11- Mick (27) from Ireland and Scott (28) from Chicago7/21-25/11- Stephanie (29) from Oregon7/25-26/11- Celine (30) & Cecile (31) from France7/26-28/11- Kate (32) from California7/29/11- Casey (33) from Australia8/22/11- Sylvia (34) from Canada8/22-29/11- Arkady (35) and Dmitri (36) from Ireland8/24-25/11- Claire (37) from Pennsylvania8/28-29/11- Praveen (38) from India8/29-30/11- Matt (39) from Boston9/4-5/11- Ana (40) and Esther (41) from Germany9/10-12/11- Karolin (42) and Katharina (43) from Germany9/14-16/11- Wendy (44) from Taiwan9/17/11- Gerry (45) from Scranton, PA9/19/11- Scarlett (46), Jie (47) and Fei (48) from China9/30-10/2/11- Milos (49) from Serbia and Luis (50!!!) from Uruguay10/15/11- Maria (51) and Laura (52) from Harrisburg10/20-22/11- Erika (53) from Italy and Anisha (54) from Maryland11/10-11/11- John (55) from Boston12/14-15/11- Chan Hye (56) from South Korea12/17-20/11- Pavel (57) from Czech Republic and Judith (58) from Argentina1/3-4/12-Chenlu (59) from China2/3/12- Tal (60) from New Jersey5/21-25/12- Stephanie (61) from Australia6/9/12- Patrick (62) from France6/13-15/12- Maiara (63) from Brazil, Sanderson (64) from Brazil, and Kevin (65) from Australia6/22-25/12- Brynn (66) from Chicago & Fannie (67) from France
6/27-29/12- Sean (68) from NYC6/30-7/2/12- Min-Hui (69) from Taiwan7/5/12- Chris (70) from Detroit 7/6-7/12- Zev (71) from Israel 7/8-10/12- Holly (72) & Odin (73) from Georgia7/12/12- Stefan (74) from Florida 7/15-19/12- Bin (74) from Saudi Arabia Surfed:8/9-10/11- Garvey (1) in London7/13-14/12- Steven (2) in Long Island8/1-3/12- Jeremy (3) in Berlin8/4-5/12- Rosa & Tomas (4) in Berlin8/6-7/12- Dennis (5) in Hamburg8/9/12- Jens (6) in Copenhagen
8/10-12/12- Akshay (7) in Copenhagen
8/13/12- Emil (8) in Odense

Interests

the outdoors (mountains especially!), architecture, ethnic food (Ethiopian, Indian), SCIENCE, secondhand anything, hiking/biking/running/swimming

la naturaleza (especialmente las montañas!), la arquitectura, comida étnica (etíope, india), CIENCIA, cualquier cosa de segunda mano, senderismo/ciclismo/correr/natación.

Music, Movies, and Books

Why I study what I study: And the Band Played On

Other non-fiction: The World Without Us, The Double Helix, Salt

Interesting settings: Bel Canto, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, The Eagle Throne, Three Dollars, Kim (and why I want to go to India), The Far Pavilions, The Kite Runner, Gentlemen of the Road, The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo

SFF: Cryptonomicon, The Vorkosigan Series, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Harry Potter, Anathem, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, Orson Scott Card, Mercedes Lackey

Just because: Wicked, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Book Thief, Horatio Hornblower

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Earth Hour in a hostel in Tasmania. Take away the TV and a hostel goes from decent to awesome.

La Hora del Planeta en un hostal en Tasmania. Quitar la tele y un hostal se convierte de decente a maravilloso.

Teach, Learn, Share

I know how to make better baklava than you'll ever find in a restaurant. This is because I use more butter than you're supposed to. Any science question, I either know the answer to or I can find a *reliable* source *and* decipher it. I have an opinion on anything political, but I welcome debating for the purpose of being better-informed.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, Ghana, Israel, Mexico, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Panama, United States

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