mark mesle
Abbeylos dos portenos
Height: 5'4"
Hair: Blonde
Smile: Big and beautiful
Hometown: Algona, Iowa
Current Home: Buenos Aires
Former Profession: Nuclear Medicine Technologist
Current Profession: English Teacher
Future Profession: Full Time Vigilante Crime Fighter
Loves: The Ocean, Camping apparel, Spanish Linquistics, Red Wine, Saladix, Foot Rubs
Hates: Senseless evil, Nazis, Flan
Endearing Qualities: When she gets sad her bottom lip can quadruple in size
Favorite Flightless Bird: Penguins
Misses: Dolphins, In-N-Out Burgers, Empty spaces that can only be found in the mid-west, Her Family
Mark
Height: 6'0"
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Teeth: Off-White
Hometown: Lamoni, Iowa
Current Home: Buenos Aires
Feels deep affection for: To Kill a Mockingbird, Golden Retrievers, Abbey, Public Transportation
Confused by: The Mormon Church, the Spanish Language, the Tango
Inherently Suspicious of: People who genuinely believe in astrology, Scott McClellan, people who prefer Pink Floyd to the Beatles
Latest pathetic attempt at speaking spanish:
In trying to order a ticket for "V is for Vengence" I asked for a ticket for "V is for Embarrasment."
Weaknesses: Proofreading, pathological fear of being late, inability to not talk about Abraham Lincoln or the Electoral College after consuming more than 4 beers
Travel Blog Posts
October 29th 2006
A week ago the body of General Juan Peron, was moved from the crowded and slightly rundown Charcarita Cemetery here in Buenos Aires to a mausoleum about thirty miles southwest of the city which was built in his honor by one of the powerful unions that Peron helped to create. The transferring of the body was originally intended to offer the Argentine people the chance to commemorate Peron’s greatness and perhaps even lay a hand on his casket. The current president, Nestor Kirchner, who is a member of the Peronist party was even going to show up and say a few words. Just your average reburial of a monumental historical figure, nothing too complicated, right? However for some reason when it comes to the Peron’s, the Argentine people tend to get a little fired up. ... read more
Still stuck in the present tense after seven months in Argentina
Published: August 8th 2006South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires
August 8th 2006
Prior to moving to Argentina I had spent roughly 45minutes studying the Spanish language. I spent half an hour learning different words from Abbey on the car trip back from San Diego and fifteen minutes learning how to say “Who do you think you are talking to!” at the school I worked at in San Diego. This last phrase often came in handy when I would get one of the Spanish speaking students at school in trouble and they would respond by saying something snotty in Spanish which they knew I didn’t understand. I would just throw my patented phrase out there in order to keep them guessing. Unfortuantly though “who do you think you are talking to” is not a phrase which can be used when you are asking for directions, ordering a hamburger, or ... read more
June 24th 2006
Natalie Worst Spanish translation: Somehow I confused the words for "cork" and a vulgar female anatomy term, so I botched up my attempt to sound intelligent and environmentally aware about the effects of the high price of natural cork...luckily I was only speaking to one person. Have you sampled free beer at the Alamo?: Yes, yes, and the "Cerveza-Gratis Para Chicas" sign landed me in a room full of American rugby players who (with incredible harmony) serenaded me with "You've Lost that Loving Feeling." Has your acohol tolerance risen while the number of hours you sleep per night fallen since moving to Argentina?: I think I was primed for the Argentina lifestyle from prior life experience.... Weirdest apartment quirk: Virtually anything related to energy (I'm thinking about the acrobatics I need to do to light my ... read more
Testimonies from a Former Non-Believer
Published: June 21st 2006South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires
June 22nd 2006
My Non-Existent History with Soccer: As of one month ago, this was (as far as I can remember) the only conversation that the Mesle family has ever had about Soccer. Mark: So how was your weekend? Sarah (my wonderful older sister): It was really great I got recruited to play a game of intramural soccer with some of my friends. Mark: How did it go? Sarah: It was so much fun, you just get to run around and look for things. Mark: You mean like the ball? Sarah: Yeah, I like looking for it. Mark: Well, that’s…um,….that’s great Sarah. Sarah later clarified that on numerous occasions she did in fact “find” the ball, however when she found it she was not exactly sure what to do with it. During the 2002 World Cup, I was vaguely ... read more
Futbol, Like a Religion, But With More Corner Kicks
Published: June 21st 2006South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires
June 21st 2006
The Dark Side: According to a student of mine, who I consider to be a fairly reliable source, sometime ago there was a boxing match between two Argentine boxers, one of whom was a fan of the Boca Juniors football club while the other was a fan of Chacarita, a team from a lower level. Fans from the gangs associated with both teams showed up at the match to support their man, and when at the end of the match the boxer from Chacarita, who had lost the match, began insulting Boca the Boca fans stormed the ring and began pummeling the boxer. In retaliation the fans from Chacarita, who my student described as “short (I think he meant small) but tough” went to the house of one of the leaders of the Boca gang and ... read more
The Rules of the Game
Published: June 13th 2006South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires
June 13th 2006
One of the very wonderful things about Buenos Aires is that old women, young children and mothers to be are never allowed to stand for more than 10 seconds on the bus or subway. I think that this is a wonderful aspect of the culture, as I love it when people make a collective decision to make kindness a priority. (I think that Argentines do this in many different ways.) However this subject is a little tricky for me because when these individuals with their osteoportothisis, sippy cups, and life sustaining wombs come on to a subway or bus, its is me and my kind who are expected to hop up and offer up our seats to anyone and everyone in need. By my kind, I mean a man under thirty with four working limbs ... read more
Abbey and the Argentine military combine forces to stamp out crime
Published: May 28th 2006South America » Argentina
May 29th 2006
The Players: Abbey Studer Argentine Soldier Family of Thieves: Consisting of little boy, father and mother The Setting: Stretch of broken sidewalk which borders a hectic 12 lane street named Avenida de Libertador that wraps around the city. This particular block of Libertador stretches roughly 200 yards without interruption as it borders a polo field on one side, and a horse track on the other. It is a moderatly busy sidewalk which is occupied by street vendors who sell sandwhiches to cabbies on break. At the time of the crime there was a military exposition taking place in the polo fields. The Props: Insulin pump Insulin cord which is attached to Abbey’s beautiful tummy Bag of groceries Backpack Coat Many, many automobiles Time 3:30 in the afternoon Weather Partly cloudly What were you doing in the ... read more
May 28th 2006
The Argentine Messiah In attempting to explain Argentina’s fanatical devotion to Soccer, I thought it might be helpful to explain their unconditional love for the big man himself, Mr. Argentina, Diego Amando Maradona. For those of you living in the only country in the world that isn’t obsessed with Soccer it is important to understand that Maradona is a ridiculously talented “futballer” who, during the eighties and early ninties, was competing head-to-head with Pele for the title of “World’s Greatest Futballer.” And while internationally Pele seems to have won out in this historic competition, I think it is safe to say that this has nothing to due with the fact that Pele had more talent then Maradona, and everything to do with the fact that while Pele was a nice, clean cut guy, Maradona has been ... read more
The "ah, it works" policy
Published: May 27th 2006South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires
May 28th 2006
Closely, intertwined with the Argentine's disdain for safety is their general indifference to superior craftsmanship. Just as headlights are seen as an unnecessary nuisance that should only be used in emergencies, so to are the second coat of paint or the flat, wheel chair accesible sidewalk things that should never be expected, but rather celebrated when they happen to occur either by accident or through the work of the one or two perfectionists that are floating through this country. While I feel that Argentine culture is remarkable in countless ways, in certain areas they have adopted the "ah, it's good enough policy." Here are some brief (and true) examples of this philosophy in action. 1. Milk, for instance doesn't need really to be cold so much as just not warm when it is sold in grocery ... read more
Protests Both Inspiring and Ridiculous
Published: May 27th 2006South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires
May 27th 2006
We have settled into teaching a little bit, although this will be the first week where we both have to teach about 20 hours of classes, which I am sure will be a little stressful. However one of the benefits of working in the same job is that we are able to swap lessons pretty regularly, and because almost all of our students are intermediate level business people, we can even recycle a lot of our old lessons. One thing that has been tricky though is that there was a subway strike last week and so the 1 million or so people that take the subway everyday were all cramming into buses, taking their cars or hunting desperately for free cabs, which made getting from one class to another somewhat difficult. This is sort of par ... read more
Tot: 0.087s; Tpl: 0.003s; cc: 5; qc: 85; dbt: 0.0593s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.7mb
