Andrew

That’s right! One more teammate slipped in at the last minute. Andrew lives in Seattle and spends most of his days typing and getting paid for it. In that sense, he is a professional keyboardist, which he may put on his new business cards now that he thinks of it. Andrew’s never been too tied down to a place. He’s moved cities on average every three years since birth, and moved housing several more times than that. He’s also been lucky enough to see a lot of the world traveling, but this big chunk of Eastern Europe and Asia will be all new, and he is incredibly excited.

Hometown: If we define this as “places I lived with my parents,” then Albuquerque, NM; Redwood City, CA; Toronto, Ontario; San Mateo, CA; and Scottsdale, AZ
Current Location: Seattle, WA
Job: Programmer. I’m working on a fighting game starring some insect monster things.
Mongol Rally Job: Sextant
Countries visited: Australia (have citizenship), Belgium, Brazil, Canada (lived there), Czech Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg (barely), Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland (barely), UK
Languages attempted to have spoken: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Where you will pretend to be from when you get tired of answering questions about America: Australia
Instruments attempted to have learned: Trombone, Tuba, Clarinet (I own three, all by chance), Guitar, Banjo, Jaw Harp, Harmonica
Card games you will insist be played while camping: Doppelkopf and Cribbage
Ukulele song most excited to learn: Gone, by Danielle Ate the Sandwich. See here.
Country you’re most excited about: Iran, if we get to go there. Otherwise Turkmenistan because I hear they have bread there named after Turkmenbashi’s mother.
If you were a car part, what would you be? I would be a turbocharger because it packs more air in to the cylinders and gets more power out of the engine. That’s how life should be. Pack as much in as you can, and make the most of what you have.

Jessie

Jessie Wender

Jessie is the Senior Picture Researcher at The New Yorker where she researches and selects images to accompany the articles and fiction pieces for the weekly magazine. She grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she developed a love for the expansive sky and spicy food. Through her early pursuits in dance, theater, photography and the outdoors she cultivated a deep appreciation for creative expression. These activities were the impetus for many high school and college adventures and have taken her through every nook and cranny in New Mexico, from LA to NY to Alaska and across the globe to live in Sweden, Nepal and Scotland. Jessie lives in Brooklyn, enjoys running in Prospect Park, and is learning Capoeira. In this lifetime she hopes to spend a summer in Antarctica, get a higher degree and do a triathlon.

Hometown: Santa Fe, NM
Current Location: Brooklyn, NY
Job: Picture Researcher
Mongol Rally job: Rally documentation and Team’s unflappable positive attitude.
Countries visited: Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Nepal, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA and Germany & Thailand if sleeping in an airport can be considered “visiting”.
Languages attempted to have spoken: Nepali, Spanish and French
Where you will pretend to be from when you get tired of answering questions about America: I’ll still say I’m from New Mexico.
Instruments attempted to have learned: piano, recorder and berimbau – I’m using the word attempted in the most forgiving of ways.
Ukulele song most excited to learn: I’ve never even touched a ukulele, so I’m excited to learn pretty much any song.
Country you’re most excited about: Every single one of them! I have no idea what to expect… That’s probably not what you wanted to hear from your teammate.
If you were a car part, what would you be? I’d be both wing mirrors so I could have a wide view of the blind spots. Or maybe the U Joint.