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Published: June 30th 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 oven, the icy chill of a shower whenever I forget to ignite the water heater, and then randomness of light bulbs and the screws that hold them in.)
Worst English translation you have seen: Mark and Abbey and I will never forget all the "blow" that was on the menu in that restaurant in Villa La Angostura!
Pato
Skills: Violin, Teaching Mark and Abbey Spanish, Mate Maker, and I am excellent in Tetris.
First impression of Abbey and Mark: I have the same impression now as the first time that I met you, that you have a good relationship and that you compliment each other. But that you both shower poorly.
Describe your dog Lunes for us: He is incredibly energetic, very affectionate and a little spoiled, and he always needs to be the center of attention.
If you could punch one person in the nose who would it be: Macri is a politician who is currently in the system because he is unbelievably two faced “lo odio,” y tambien Bush por supuesto
If you could make out with one person from history who would it be: Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso y Bono, but not at the same time.
Jocelyn
Party affiliation: International Socialist Organization (US),
Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (NOT Partido Obrero, NOR MST
- El Socialista, NOR Partido Comunista, NOR Partido Comunista de los
Trabajadores, NOR Partido Socialista, ETC ETC ETC)
Most enjoyable evening spent in Argentina: (one of) Fighting with Mark
and Abbey over
wheat, sheep and rocks - leaving aside my collective
ideals because, "I built the goddamn 'longest road' first, bitch!"
Worst blunder as a English teacher so far: More of a commonality for
me: negating the existence of British words and correcting phrases in
British English, "NO, NO, NO! 'Has got?!!!' Absolutely incorrect!" -
qualification: it is a product of my ignorance, not hatred of British
folks.
Has your acohol tolerance risen while the number of
hours you sleep per night fallen since moving to
Argentina?: Nunca estoy barata.... I mean, borracha... o.k maybe
sometimes
Would you rather sleep with Laura Bush or Kirschner's
wife (can't remember her name, maybe Katherine?): It's Cristina
Kirchner. I would say Cristina, but I am suspicious that she shaves
her eyebrows off and draws them back on. Creepy.
Amanda
Interesting facts about Amanda: Personally knows (and dislikes) the creator of Girls Gone Wild, and also slept in Kate Hudson's bed. (Although not at the same time as Kate.)
Favorite thing about Argentina:
The dog walkers, and the fact that they use any excuse to dress them up in different outfits. "oh, its game day, got to bust out
the blue and white for little rex."
Student of Pato's?:
Pato’s the BEST!!! Love her.
Favorite place to go by yourself in BA:
Palermo Parks
Have you ever done a grammar presentation based entirely around Weapons of Mass Destruction: Yes, yes I have.
Jo
Hardest you laughed in Argentina: When I asked Jo about this question she started laughing to the point of tears for several minutes as she tried to tell an incredibly bad joke which culminated in the punch line “fart to fart transfusion” and when the rest of us looked at her with a mix of confusion and pity she explained “no I haven’t explained it right?” and then started crying/laughing uncontrollably.
What is the biggest blunder you have made as a teacher: When I was telling, what I assumed to be another English teacher, about how much I disliked working at this particular company and how dull the students were. Sadly, this was not an english teacher but the human resources director of the company.
Where do you most enjoy going to in BA when you are alone:
The garden
Have you used the Bedee: “no,
but I think it is going to be nice, I really plan on trying it.”
What was is the closest you come to having a superpower: She can stick her foot her mouth in a regular basis but do it in this incredibly endearing way. Just ask her about when she was on a business trip to New York and thought it would be a good idea to slap her newly acquainted colleague on the ass.
Russ
How many times have you stepped in Argentine dog-shit: Not wishing to tempt fate but.....
Party affiliation: Any party with cerveza y vino tinto. Cheese and wine was good but sad to have missed the postre party.
Favorite thing about Argentina: Wine, no, steak, no, beer, no, wine.
Least Favorite quirk about Argentina: Where's the spice in the food, even the vindaloo was mild!
Has your alcohol tolerance risen while the number of hours you sleep per night fallen since moving to Argentina?: What's alcohol?
Have you sampled free beer at the Alamo?: Do bears.......?
Cara and Josh
Cara and Josh were extrodinarily helpful when we first got to Buenos Aires, her and Josh
came down to Buenos Aires from Rosario and showed us the ropes. They showed us a few cool restaurants and bars, bought us a nice dinner, explained the unrefrigerated milk phenomonen, taught me how to say “I would like” and “con permisso,” and then took us out on the town. The next day I paid them back by spending the day lying half naked on my living floor, perspiring profusely while I fought back the urge to throw up every 5 minutes. It was quite possibly the worst hangover of my life.
This is an important thing to be aware of when it comes to Cara and Josh, they (like Natalie) do not really get tired; not at 5:30 in the morning, not after six hours of heavy drinking or as, in Josh’s case, a ninety hour work week. It’s phenomenal how much stamina they have. (This is not so true for us though as we have completely lamed out on them several times.) If they weren’t such together people I would assume that they were addicted to some type of uppers.
Cara and I went to high school togeher and these are a couple stories from the
Amanda the natural blonde from California
Just want to point out that this was Amanda's idea, I do not think of her as a large pink cow in incredibly uncomfortable shoesgood old days:
My friend Luke and I asked Cara once if she wanted to come to our house during lunch break and eat bratwurst with us, not thinking for a second that she would actually say yes, but when she did I remember that I was very nervous about either burning the bratwurst or giving her food poisoning. Luckily though I did neither and Luke and I spent the next week or so bragging/lying about how “yeah sometimes we eat lunch with Cara, you know, she likes to kick it with us over lunch.”
Cara was the first person to offer me a beer in my life. I went to Heather Neals house after Cara and Heather very graciously asked me if I wanted to hang out with them and their Moravian amigos. When I refused the beer she was very kind about not making me feel pressured or lame in any way, and I always appreciated that.
One of the things that I really like about Josh is that he is one of the few Americans I know who really appreciates the fact that politicians (as well as the military) should view voters almost
like clients, in the sense that they should go out of their way to serve them as effictively and intelligently as possible and if they fall short in this regard they should face serious consequences.
While Josh is only a few years older than me, he has several thousand times more responsibility in life as he is in charge of building and administrating a large factory outside of Rosario, and if that weren’t enough he has to do it all in Spanish, which he didn’t speak before moving here. If you need to learn about phrasal verbs, I’m your man, if you need to go to another country and build a large industrial structure from the ground up, Josh is your man.
The elderly gay chef at the classy restaurant where Josh and Cara sometimes eat has a little bit of a crush on Josh and has the annoying habit of trying to rub Josh’s head. This is a rather surprising fact because as you can tell from Josh’s picture he not only has hideous teeth, but is clearly balding and in no way has cheekbones that Tom Cruise would be envious of.
Josh and I once
watched the Dukes of Hazzard in Spanish. It was a very surreal moment.
Indisputable facts about our friend Joseph Crugnale
Strong Supporter of: The Red Sox, his local parilla which is the best in the city
Strongly Opposes: The Yankees, Silvio Burlosconi
Joseph is never on time but when he does show up things inevitably become more fun. (Abbey pointed out that while Joseph certainly does contribute to the funness, it doesn't hurt that by the time he shows up we are already drunk.)
Of all the English speakers I know he is the most committed to speaking Spanish on a regular basis.
He has never been a member of: Al Qaeda, Marilyn Manson's super sexy satanic fan club, The Israeli Army, or Mili-Vanilli
Joseph does not find Argentine women to be particularly repulsive, on the contrary there are more than a couple of them whom he considers to be somewhat attractive.
Leah and Anne
Leah and Anne came to Buenos Aires and instantly made their presence felt. These were some of the highlights of their trip.
Leah and Anne endured the history nerd aspect of Mark’s personality with great
resilancy after he took them on a speed walking tour of the city during which time he spouted off one useless historical fact about Argentina after another.
We all went to a bar where each table has it’s own beer tap.
Leah introduced me to a song which is based around the chorus “pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana,” and while that sounds (and is) a little ridiculous, I have to admit that I later purchased the song on itunes.
Anne crashed a moped in Colonia, Uruguay.
Anne fell asleep at our local bar and was a bit (incredibly) resistant about getting up. This is quite understandable though as Annie had not only just flown to another hemisphere but had also just completed a grueling tax season where she had been working 90 hours a week. She was well deserving of a nap.
Anne and Mark locked themselves on the roof of their building and then proceeded to throw rocks down onto our air conditioner until Abbey and Leah realized what was going on.
Leah earned the nickname "the loud one" for her incredibly expressive and incredibly engaging style of conversation.
Johnny
Worst English translation you have seen:
their pronunciation of FOCUS, they always say it "Fuck us."
How many times have you stepped in Argentine dog-shit: suprisingly rarely. I think after the first month here I grew a sixth sense, stepping over big logs without even seeing them.
Has your acohol tolerance risen while the number of hours you sleep per night fallen since moving to Argentina?: Tolerance is still extremely high. Sleep is way down.
Most enjoyable evening spent in Argentina: My 23rd Birthday party Friday night when I rented a schoolbus to take us to a dance club.
Favorite bus line: 152 baby!!
Ronnie
Party affiliation: none, but I vote liberal
First impression of Mark and Abbey: Mark: quiet and intense; Abbey: sweet
Most enjoyable evening spent in Argentina: At the theater, watching Julio Bocca dance in BoccaTango
Favorite quirk about Argentina: I love the way everyone hugs and kisses
Favorite place to go by yourself in BA: Rosedal Park
Would you rather have sex with Kirschner or Tony Blair: What a disgusting question.... UGH. Would you rather have sex with a sheep or a pig?
Favorite thing about Argentina: Mario Sabatine (and
the tango, of course)
Have you made out with any Argentines: YES!!
Trish
I was born in London quite some time ago! Having finished my time in the RAF I went to University and graduated with a degree in Business and Law. I then worked as a legal assistant (paralegal) for a while until the wanderlust became too great. I left the UK with Russ in September 2005 and we travelled through Peru and Bolivia before arriving in Argentina in Dec 2005. The highlights of our trip were the train ride from Cusco to Puno and the Colca Canyon in Peru and Tupiza in Bolivia.
Since arriving in Argentina we have sampled the local delights (ie beef, beef and more beef oh and the wine and beer).
The most frustrating thing about Argentina are the very, very slow queues in the supermarkets when you've only gone in for a pint of milk! The best thing is the tenedor libres.
Matt
Matt is Abbey's younger brother and he is a student/employee at Mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota.
Matt is skilled at: Settlers of Catan, Math, Long Distance Running, Escaping Hangovers, Conversation
Matt is not
skilled at: Assassinations, the Tuba, Veterinary Psychology
Matt attended one game at River Plate and has since caught the soccer fever, when Argentina won on Saturday he said that he ripped his shirt off and began waving it around over his head.
Being the sweet guy that he is Matt once covered Abbey's rent in college when she was a little short on dough.
Lunes
Describe your relationship to Mark and Abbey: Abbey is my sweet loving Aunt and Mark is a "good time friend" who inspires me to run around in circles and piss on things, like Pato's violin and Mark's bag.
Worst Nightmare: That one day Pato will take me for a "little ride" and I will wake up two days later without any testicles.
Favorite Sexual Position: Doggy Style
Your opinion on the "no means no" policy: You know how those Golden Retrievers are, they strut around in little to no clothing and even though they might play hard to get sometimes, deep down they like their men to be assertive. If only I weren't so damn short.
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LINZICA
Lindsay & Jenica
ME ENCANTA
me encanta tus fotos, tus amigos, y las preguntas. I am thinking about copying the questionaire, or maybe just answering it in my own head. I would much rather sleep Christina Kirchner, I've stepped in dog poo with every pair of shoes I have (even the flip flops, gross) and my favorite bus line is 118, my alcohol tolerance has increased, but I refuse to get drunk ever again on vinto tinto after eating only queso y acietunas, my favorite Argentine quirk are the english words used in daily conversations. "Que heavy, este chico es re-dark" "Estoy on fire, despues de ir al shopping, porque no nos sentamos en el living y tomamos un 7up light, dale?" Jaja. Good times. Great fotos, and updates! Besos - Jenica