My name is Mark Paternostro. I'm from New Orleans, LA in the USA. I speak English, hablo español, and 我会说一点点中文。My profession is an archaeologist and educator that also taught abroad in Shanghai, China for 2.5 years (2015 - 2018). I teach or have taught high school Social Studies, ESL, and Spanish! I recently obtained a Master of Arts in Teaching degree and have been teaching now for 8 years and counting.

Outside of my occupation, some of my favorite things include: music (playing/listening/and seeing), movies, reading, dancing, live shows, writing, festivals, markets, history, culture, amazing food, getting to know people, and a lot more.

As a CSer, I like going to meet ups, hosting, surfing, and hanging out and being involved in the couch surfing community. In my lifetime, I have traveled to Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Portugal, and Spain (a few more to come :-)

Trips with Couchsurfing:

Hong Kong: August 30th - September 3rd, 2016

Nanjing, China: September 17-18th, 2016

Suzhou, China: October 16-17th, 2016

Bangkok, Thailand: January 1 - 3rd, 2017

Lopburi, Thailand: January 6- 7th, 2017

Osaka, Japan: July 14-15th, 2017

Kyoto, Japan: July 17-18th, 2017

Belmopan, Belize: March 26-28th, 2018

San Ignacio, Belize: June 27-29th, 2018

Lafayette, Louisiana, USA: April 26-28th, 2019

Little Rock, Arkansas, USA: July 10th - 12th, 2019

Chicago, Illinois, USA: July 16-19, 2019

Jobos / Aguadilla, Isabela, Puerto Rico: February 21-22; 26, 2020

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: February 22-23, 2021

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I´m an active CSer (host, surfer, and event attendee). I really love how CS as a whole has given me so many quality connections and travel experiences so I advocate for people to sign up (if they haven´t already) and to stay active in the community even when they aren´t traveling. We all can do our parts to help each other travel well.

Interests

• arts
• music festivals
• coffee
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• soccer
• anthropology
• history
• food
• football
• tea
• cultural events

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Can’t pick just one! I’m mostly relating it to travel things…

- Summer 2022 - won a scholarship to study and stay in Taiwan to study Mandarin all summer

- Winter 2021: Road-tripped from New Orleans down to Belize in my older Toyota Corolla to leave it there! an approximately 2000 mile journey through Louisiana, Texas, ALL of the Gulf Coast of México (Atlantic Coast) and Belice

- Sept 2021: horseback riding with a Navajo guide in the Navajo nation (Native American country between Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah)

- Saw the Pyramid of the Sun (Teotihuacán) outside of México City during the Spring Equinox (a holy time to be there for many)

- 2015-2018: Lived in China and traveled all over East Asia, too many amazing things to list from just this particular time period

- Worked on a major Maya archaeological site in Western Belize

- Spent a summer abroad in Costa Rica doing some research on foodways in Latin America as well as improving my Spanish and enjoying the pura vida

- went to the infamous Burning Man festival… twice (2009-2010)

- road-tripped a few times across the US in my lifetime and when I was younger seeing Niagara Falls on both sides (US/Canada)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Thailand, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belize, China, Costa Rica, United States