My First Batch of Couchsurfers for 2013

Last year, I have hosted 7 Couchsurfers. This year, my goal is to beat that number. Since the mission of this blog is to give us a new paradigm about strangers, I realized that it would be perfect to narrate my Couchsurfing adventures here.

What is couchsurfing?

I don’t want to make this post as if it is a Couchsurfing 101 article. Couchsurfing is simply an organization of travelers who hitch for a place to stay overnight or a couple of days. The difference is that it is more personal and with a dash of a unique cultural experience.

Last January 19, a Russian stranger crashed my couch. His name is Pavele. One thing I love about this guy is his interest to visit slum areas. I’ve never met a traveler before who spends his money traveling to poverty-stricken areas. Honestly, I never liked the fact that I have to spend my weekend visiting such places. But in the end, it was all worth it.

12 Days after, I hosted Daniela and Juan of Argentina. I don’t usually accept 2 people in my house, but it’s really hard to say no to this couple because they are really interesting, plus, they are bloggers. Check out http://www.marcandoelpolo.com

I never had a hard time hosting them since they are both curious souls. The ordinary becomes extraordinary. Their enthusiasm is very contagious. The cultural exchange is very high because they have shared their Argentinian customs, music and movies. I am looking forward to host these guys again.

The Argentinian beat was replaced with Czech vibes when I hosted Kristina. Although she just visited the country for the visa stamp, I believe that she was able to maximize her stay here. Special mention to Holy Angel University for allowing us to go inside the school premises. At  night, we exchanged weird cultures, riddles and tongue twisters. At daybreak, we went to the wet market, ate soya milk and rice cake, visited the cemetery and had a short pictorials in our house.

The experiences I had from these people is something that money cannot buy, and they all have something in common… They are not your average strangers…

Me, You and Everyone We Know

Being a human is a great opportunity. We often think that humanity as a broken specie or something that we can relate with hopelessness. In fact, we have lost our hope in humanity. Headlines from newspapers and tabloids define it that way by reporting corrupt Government officials, drug addicts, fathers raping their daughters, mothers selling their children, parties gone wild, sex unimaginable, etc.

I believe that we humans are the broken species of creation, but I don’t want to focus on that aspect. I just want to ponder on the beauty that is in HUMANITY. I want to simply reflect on the fact that humanity is actually created by a God who is a fan of authentic art.

Last night, I realized this beauty that is in humanity while I was watching a film called Me, You and Everyone We Know. I don’t know if the message of the film is actually for us to appreciate humanity, but it worked for me that way. I love the emotions of every character in the film. Well, there are a lot of characters but they are all relatable. Remember the time when you did something crazy just to prove something? Remember a divorce, a heartbreak or a separation? Remember the time when you realized that you are old enough, or young enough to talk about sex? Or the time when you wanted to try something wild? Or the time when you were frustrated because you failed at something you love? These are all universal emotions of being human but the thing that makes these beautiful is the resolution. When you did something crazy just to prove something makes you realize that we don’t have to prove anything except that we are really crazy. When we experienced a separation (at any level), we realize that there is something new in store for us. Or the sex part? I don’t know, but sex in itself is beautiful, if of course, you did it the right way with the right partner (right partner means somebody that you married). Most importantly, the thing that will topple all of the above is our capacity to love and to feel that we are loved. I am not sure if I made any sense but all these emotions, be it positive or negative just define us that we are an awesome creation of God. Just watch the film and you will know what I am talking about.

The film was able to capture all the emotions above. I love these kind of films. They were created passionately without a huge plot, but with a huge message. We should watch these kind of movies even if cuss words are like a smorgasbord. The film never attempted to impart a message but it just presented something intelligent about me, you and everyone we know.