1 Year and 15 Days Later...

My oh my how the time flies! Did I really go a whole academic semester without updating this blog? Unacceptable! But whatevs, you all can keep up with my life on Facebook anyways, right? Well, there are a few details you might have missed out on...

My first of two semesters with Instituto Chileno Norteamericano was very successful, and if I wanted to, I really could make a career out of it, but I'd say one more semester is enough! I gotta get back to the fam!!! Anyways, I taught a nice variety of classes, ranging in age level, class size, and location. On top of that, I spearheaded an end-of-semester event for the Children's Program at one of the branches, and that in itself was an enormous success. Such events weren't even fathomed before, but after all of the positive parent feedback, I think it could become a standard event throughout the entire institute.

I am now between semesters, waiting out the dry period. The teacher's union, which I decided to join, is currently in the middle of contract negotiations with the institute, and it's also winter break, so there are only a few classes available right now. I'm getting over a nasty little cold, so it's probably better I don't have a heavy workload at the moment. Things should start pickin' up again within the next few weeks, and in the meantime, I can play my charango and guitar (and the other instruments I've accumulated), read a book or two, and perhaps do a few private lessons on the side here 'n there.

Melissa and Trish are now long gone. *Tear* Melissa departed in May, and Trish and I managed to throw one more rager before she caught her July 11 flight back to Jersey (picture 60 people in a 2 bedroom flat). So now I'm holdin' it down solo for a few weeks before a new roommate, Dejavier Spellier from Indiana, helps continue the legacy. We'll both stay in the infamous 6-C until January, at which point I'll have to make the decision if I'm gonna stay here until March, or make my way home. Norte offers a vacation bonus for working an entire year with them, which is incentive to stick around til March, but on the other hand, I'm not sure how much work will be available during the Summer months. It could go either way, so I'll just have to wait and see. If I stayed through March, I'd probably end up couch surfing for a few months to save some dough, but again, everything's pending! That's the way we roll down here in Chile!

Sending all my love to everyone! I think about home a lot these days. I've definitely made Santiago my dwelling, but my heart has begun yearning for it's true home, especially considering the fact that my family has grown so much since I've been gone! If anyone wants a postcard, hit me up with your address and I'll hook it up.

Besos!

Ben

Summer Journal Entries

Alright beautiful readers, here's a glimpse of what I did this past summer. The entries begin in late January because I left my first journal on a street corner in Mar Del Plata, Argentina like the fool I sometimes am. Self-deprecating humor is always funny; I gotta take advantage of my occasional miscues and blunders! I pared down some of the language a bit for my easier-to-offend readers, but it's basically uncut, raw, in-your-face Benjamin, so hold on to your monitor, dive in, and enjoy!

January 22

Philly Blunts and I at the Che Lagarto Hostel lounge, listenin' to reggae, restin' our feet, and sippin brew'n naranja after a day of walkin' thru Buenos Aires. Half way, mas o menos, thru the B.A. experience, and I am in love with the place, with Argentina in general, really. Back to today's story, I'd like to rewind to last night, a nice soiree of crawlin' pubs, debaucherizin', b.s.'n, dancin', and fraternizin'. Everything came to a temporary respite when Blunts and I stumbled into our dorm room at 6 in the mornin', but sleep is for the grave and by 11 a.m. we were up and at 'em, swallowing a breakfast of creal and bread 'n butter, re-uppin' for another day o walkin' thru the city, destination: Cemeterio de la Recoleta, eternal resting place of the big-time personajes de la historia Argentina--Evita Duarte, Victoria Ocampo, El Toro Salvaje de la Pampa, among others. Alessandra from Brasil joined the gringo train (what a nice, charming gal she is), as well as Carlos, who has just arrived from Santiago. We walked down Chacabuco, zigzagged here 'n there, and arrived around midafternoon. Mausoleums up the ying yang, it was easy to get lost in the maze of concrete.

January 25

At the money exchange embracing the sweltering madness--it's hot 'n humid!!! We're in Rosario, Argentina now, a midway point (well, 1/4 point) on our way to Iguazu Falls (Cataratas). We're at the chronological half-way point of our summer travels. We bid farewell to Jon, Lee's bro, a few days ago, and Carlos Ramirez has officially been initiated into our crew. Him 'n I will most likely be returning to Santiago together (he's a Rancaguin~o currently living in Santiago). There are many beautiful women; wherever I go it's guaranteed I'll fall in love. Lee 'n Andrew give me a lot of flack or going crazy for any woman I see, but Carlos just says, "Hey man, you're a romantic." It's true. Today we're going to a beach off of El Rio Parana, which eventually flows to B.A. and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. There are supposed to be many a beautiful lady to observe, so I should get my fill. I don't know what it is--perhaps I'm at a hormonal crest, perhaps it's the per capita hotness of women in this country, or something in the water, but I've been a straight up manimal as of late! Easy does it, Benja!

January 25, evening

CHINESE

ren=man Ren 'n Stimpy

ben=tronco Yo soy un tronco

fei=to fly You gotta have faith to fly

zhong=difficult a zhong song

gao=tall Yao is gao

xia=abajo Xiabajo-ya abajo

yue=moon yooe: mun

mu=tree a cow xia tree

ri=sun "ri" of sunlight

January 26

It's Tuesday morning in Rosario, and the fearsome foursome of Carlos, Dealy, Lee 'n me are sacando la vuelta in the hostel (La Casona de Jaime 2). Last night was spent cooking dinner (a delicious chicken salad with rice and vegetables) and hanging out in the commons area outside in the kitchen, where Carlos 'n I talked about life, relationships, and then had a language exchange with Lois from Sao Paolo (we learned pescozo-neck; joelho-knee; pe-foot; among others, such as knife, which sounds like the f-word, and spoon, which sounds like the chilean f-word with sexual connotation. Who knew silverware could be so racy? Later on Iris, Lois' friend, awoke from her slumber to watch the Australian Open semi-finals, and I decided to join her--well, I was more convinced by Carlos who was trying to be my wingman. I was in fact attracted to Iris, who even dropped some suggestive language during our conversation, but I couldn't muster up the effort to pull the trigger. Today, we leave for Iguazu Falls.

The Girl from Guadalajara

She talks so softly, never forced;

Her verse spiced with an accent

Complementing her brown, Spanish eyes

A smile reveals her friendly nature,

Welcoming my presence

And easy conversation

I play it cool, but it's difficult

To keep myself from declaring my adoration

For this girl I barely know

I'm addicted to romance

(Even if it's invented--painted

On the canvas of my mind, projecting my soul's desire)

Oh, that my fantasies manifest by happenstance!

Play my cards as they come,

with the girl from Guadalajara

(...and I never saw her again, haha!)

January 27

CHINESE

"The triple 4"

(4) sound formations

(4) tones

(4) types of characters

SOUND FORMS

1. Vowels and vowel blends--> ou* ai ei

2. Consonant+vowel-->"zhou"

3. Consonant+vowel blend-->"xia"

4. Consonant+vowel (blend)+n/ng--> "ren," "shang," or +er in rare cases

*ou isn't a blend, technically

TONES

ex: "ma" can be...

1st tone: mother

2nd tone: cannabis

3rd tone: horse

4th tone: to insult

Sorry mom.

4 TYPES OF CHINESE CHARACTERS

1. Pictographic-visual representation (only a small amount)
2. Symbolic-conveys both concrete and abstract concepts (more frequent)
3. Symbolic combinations-two separate symbols combine to create new meaning.
4. Phonetic+context compounds (80% of characters). (A) Phonetic element-represents a word that might not be the exact idea, which is made apparent by the... (B) CONTEXT, which all depends on who, what, where, when, why, and how. (C) "Radicals" are characters that reveal context.

January 26, evening

It's 11 something and here we are at Che Lagarto Puerto Iguazu, and Deals just rested his manhood on my shoulders. We started today by arriving 3 hours late to P.I., after which we ambled to this crappy hostel (more on that later). We went to the tri-country place, ate lunch, and then Carlos and I checked out Arepuco, an eco-agro-tourist trap that was actually pretty cool. The highlight of my experience there was talking to a Guarani guy (the Guarani are the first-nation people native to this region), who told C. and I about the decimation of his people (nothing new there), and also taught us a few phrases--"au-che-vete" (hello/greetings) and "hai-e-bete" (thank you). Then we grabbed some groceries, went back to Che Lagarto, where I cooked dinner in the crappiest conditions ever, and got flack from an Israeli girl who said I made "shit rice." Whatever. Anyways, we played cribbage after dinner (Carlos' first game ever), and I got a little tipsy drunk, which brings me to the end of this entry.

February 2

I'm having breakfast--yerba mate and a pastry--at Hostel Ilque in Salta, Argentina. A few happenings since my last entry... First, we stopped in Corrientes for a day, a half-way point between P.I. and Salta. It reached 40 centigrade that day, and we were absolutely miserable. We finally boarded our bus at 6 p.m., and our dinner was 3 cheese sandwiches, much to our chagrin (esp. Lee). I didn't even bother with 'em (I had just had 4 empanadas at the terminal anyways). We arrived in Salta the next morning, and I was a little worried about the availability of lodging here due to rainstorms and flooding in Bolivia, but sure enough the first place we tried--Hotel Italia, out first hotel on our trip--had a room for us. That day, the 31st of January, we ambled around downtown--Plaza 9 de Julio, Peatonales Alberdi y Florida--and had lunch at a decent establishment whose name I forgot. The following day, we switched to a hostel (so we could cook our own food), decided to axe Bolivia because of inclement weather, and went to San Lorenzo, where we took a pleasant nature hike through Las Yungas, a pretty rad ecosystem place. Next stop: San Pedro de Atacama!

Untitled Travelling Poem

by Ben Westlund

Travelling four deep

Making our continental rounds

Arriving, digging, departing,

Repeat (and everything in between)

Nothing is for sure, certainly

Flexibility is paramount

Patience optimizes experience

"The greats let the game

Come to them."

And the game is great

Never a moment that is dull

Nor unbelieveable

Just there--happening

Realities unfolding

February 3

Currently waiting at customs in San Pedro, and it's slower than molasses--the opposite of my defecating on the bus ride (know how bottles' air pressure changes with altitude? Now apply that phenomenon to my colon about to explode). I would say the experience ranks in the top 5 of Ben Westlund's stickiest situations (luckily for me, no pun intended!). I'm not going to disclose too many details, but I shat in a plastic bag (nearly filled the thing up) and the t.p. was questionable. It was not fun. Anyhow, it's my second time in San Pedro de Atacama and I'm excited for it, having reminisced a bit upon entering the town limits. I'm hoping to see the ALMA telescope (multinationally-funded radiotelescope--cool) and hang out more with Danielle and Lucy, two interesting people we met earlier in our travels who we've crossed paths with on a few occasions.

February 5

Laying low at our new hostel (we've stayed in two so far), trying to recuperate from yesterday's bikeride bonanza. It began at around 12:30, when we rented mountain bikes and raced off to see La Pukara, which used to be an atacamen~o castle where merchants stayed during their travels along the Inca trade route. After that, we zipped a few more hundred meters to see a memorial honoring Hector Pumarino Soto (1901-2001), who was an academic who wrote extensively about atacamen~o culture. After buying provisions for another delicious pasta primavera alfredo dinner (and dropping it off at Hostal Nuevo Amanecer), we bought some water and set off for La Valle de la Luna. Before reaching our final destination for the day, we biked to Death Valley and took a shortcut around a giant gravel plateau to reconnect with the road to Valle d l Luna. By the time we reached the entrance, Dealy had bailed (citing the ridiculousness of paying 2000 pesos to watch the sunset), we had biked uphill, and Lee hurtin' from cramps and sore hips. We left our bikes at a checkpoint and hiked the final 2k to La Estacion de la Duna, which was where we got a nice view of the valley and the sunset, which didn't quite boast the colors I loved so much when I was here in September, but was lovely all the same. We made it back to our bikes at 8:45 p.m., which gave us 45 minutes to return them to the rental shop on time. I booked ahead of Carlos and Lee immediately, cruising downhill without a headlamp or light, which made the entire ride pretty nerve-racking. All 3 of us, thankfully, made it back by 9:25, thus avoiding a late-return fine that we wouldn't have been able to pay in the first place. We got some more dinner food, grabbed the cream we left at our previous hostel for the alfredo sauce, went "home," made a bomb din and called it a night.

January 6

Today we left the hostel and will finish our stay in San Pedro with Gabrielle "Beta" Betancourt, Carlos' buddy. Gabrielle lives in Ayllu (which means "poblacion" in local speak*), where he has a parcel of land, complete with a corn plot, chicken coop, and herd of sheep! Beta took Andrew and I with him to show us how he moves the flock from the corral to the grazing area. It was awesome.

The History of _____________ in 43 Words

by Ben Westlund

Amidst the chaos,

Forces collaborate;

Matter gathers;

Ancient and mysterious marvels

Propagate new mysteries to behold;

Cycles embed reality;

Reality defines and refines law;

Law governs existence;

Existence antagonizes existence;

Thus perpetual mystery and chaos

In a neverending unfolding

Of this process we call _________.

That's My Jam

Wakin' up to a fresh new day

Thinkin' 'bout the things comin' my way

No expectations, but infinite standards

Like water, my energy meanders

People, places, and events

Light, sounds, textures & scents

All unfolding--too fast to process

What it all means I could never guess

But I love every moment good 'n bad

Everything in between it's al rad

That's my jam 'cause it is what it is...

February 11

As the road unfolds

The stories untold

Approach my mind's landscape

Which, like the barren desert plain

And vegetation seeking rain,

Patiently waits.

February 14

Happy Valentine's Day! This weekend was nice--I love the beach here in Iquique, where I tossed mad disc with some local kids, eager to learn the ins n outs of the sport, and with Barbara :) (she's cool). Also made some good friends in Tanja, Antonio the Swiss paraglider, and others (like Melanie, Tanja's kiddo--sooo cute). Today, we head to Arequipa, Peru, where we'll be able to camp at La Reserva Nacional de Las Salinas for $1 a day, which we are excited for after spending so much gosh darn money in Chile! We say farewell to Carlos today, who has to cut his travels short to return back to work. Now we're 3 for the first time on this trip, we have 2 1/2 weeks left, and it's going down.

February 21

Just about to begin an 18 hour jam from Arequipa to Lima. Arequipa turned out to be pretty uneventful for all three of us because we caught giardia. That being so, the last 3 days have been spent lying in bed, watching the winter olympics and comedy classics (i.e. Fletch and Spies Like Us) on the tube, and also venturing out every once in awhile to hit the grocery store and grab a bite to eat. This is the final 10 days of my trip, during which I will enjoy Lima as much as my body permits.

February 28

That's Love--a meditation dedicated to Axel Dale and Chloe Westlund

by Ben Westlund

Didn't think you'd arrive so soon

But we've been waitin' many moons

So glad you're here

Even though I'm far away

I know I'll see you someday

That much is clear

And when we meet for the first time

Emotions swellin' within

An energy that was always there

Shall once again begin

That's love

When your cousin comes along

You'll both be singin' life's song

What a lovely tune

Your parents'll be so proud

As they listen to your soul's sound

Resonating in their heart's room

And just in case you sing off-key

They'll make sure you rehearse

'Cause you know they'll be there for you

For better or for worse

And that's love

So many things I wanna say to you

But words don't always suffice

All of life's complexities

Won't always be nice

Storms will be weathered

No matter the swell

And in the end I know my friend

That you'll be able to tell

That's love

Some day we'll all be old

Many stories'll have been told

Laughs shared 'n tears shed

We'll sit 'n wonder how time went past

Why do years gotta fly so fast?

Infinite moments'll have fled

Our kids'll be all grown up

Startin' families of their own

The cycle shall begin afresh

And yet we've always known

That's love

March 5

I've been gone for two months, and here I am on a bus, after 30 long and uncomfortable hours, returning to Santiago! I can't help but smile as I approach the metropolis. I am happy to have a place to call home again, to see my roomies Mel 'n Trish again, to ride the Metro again, to start work again, and so much more! My travels were life-changing, I saw a lot and roamed a lot, but now, at long last, I am home!

A Glimpse Into My Work Last Semester

I told you there'd be more to come! I wrote this report about my experience in Paine, which will be part of a manual that EducaUC, the network of schools that Paine is a part of, asked me to write to assist future TIPS in their work experience. I threw in a little prelude, too.

Naturally as human beings, we relate new experiences to old ones. When I think of an new workplace, I draw a few real-life analogies. I relate working in a new place to joining a choir, or to joining a sports team. In both instances, you are working cooperatively with the other participants to reach a particular objective. In a choir, everyone must be in sync with one another, singing the correct notes and keeping proper rhythm, to create a pleasing musical performance for people to enjoy. On a sports team, players must also be on the same page, agreeing on strategies, encouraging each other, and trusting each player's abilities both on and off the field, so that the team might win a given match. Don't these ideas seem fitting for a successful work environment? Shouldn't all its participants be working together toward a set of outcomes? And why do people join choral ensembles, sports teams, or other groups? Finally, I ask the reader: why have you come here to work as an English teacher? Ponder these questions, and develop others to consider, as you complete your work this school year.

My experience at San Francisco de Paine

As I began my work at San Francisco de Paine, a lot of people asked me, "What are you expectations for this semester?" My reply was that I had no expectations whatsoever; whenever I try something new, whether it be working in a new place, trying new foods, or listening to a new music artist, I prefer an approach that is cleansed of any expectations, standards, or norms that I desire to be met. Perhaps my frame of mind is due to my recent exploration of Buddhist spirituality; or it might be my own way of protecting myself from disappointment (I loathe being disappointed). Either way, I wanted a clean canvas upon which I would paint my experience, and the end result was a masterpiece that I will have forever mounted in my soul's gallery.

Before I met anyone in the Franciscan community, I used one of my final days of "summer vacation" (keep in mind I had just came from the Northern Hemisphere) to visit the campus for the first time. When I arrived, nobody was there except for Nino and Carlos, the groundskeepers. So I put my signature in the teacher's book for fun, and then took a stroll around the site to get a feel of where I'd be at. As I stood in the shaded courtyard and enjoyed the pleasing aesthetic of the Andes mountains in the distance, I knew I was in a special place.

The people who work for CSFP make up an exceptional mosaic of personnel. Each person takes on responsibilities unique to their job and character. Everyone works with an objective in mind, which in turn affects the learning community, and that is paramount. But my appreciation for the teachers goes far beyond their work. Moving beyond professionalism, any teacher, administrator, or staff member who has been involved with CSFP can resonate with a sense of comraderie and friendship that livens up coffee breaks, meals, and general leisurely happenings on and outside of campus.

The actual process of teaching at CSFP was never a disappointment. Like the teachers, the students have a love for learning that made my days fly right by. I was always treated with respect by my students, and they never thought twice to give me a smile, a hug, or a bite of their snack. Working alongside David Brull and Maritza Vera, from planning, to preparation, and to execution, I always felt ready to teach classes and successful at the end of the day. The classes themselves were engaging, inspiring, and most importantly, fun. I can only hope to encounter as much success later in my career as I did in my English classes in Paine.

One friday night, around a month into the semester, David Brull, a seasoned San Francisco veteran, called me to say, "You are a part of us, Ben!" He rambled on for awhile, his lantern a tad lit, but he kept repeating that phrase, that I was a part of CSFP, and although I couldn't stop laughing at his bantering, I assured him the feeling was mutual. Later that night, by pure coincidence, but perhaps symbolically as well, my roommates and I boarded the metro, only to find David on his way home for the evening! David and I made a big scene, had a good laugh, my roommates introduced themselves, and within a few minutes we parted ways. Looking back, however, I consider that night's events a meditation that tells just how close people can be to each other, and how easily and naturally that can be accomplished when those people mean well and know what it means to make a person feel loved. I end this brief report of my experience at CSFP by expressing, once again, my gratitude to all of Paine's contributing members--faculty and staff, students, and parents--who made my semester with their community an experience I will never forget.