Already At Home In a Faraway Land

Saludos a todos! Hello, everyone! Thank you for choosing to keep up with my experiences in Chile. I will be here for one year, sin regresar (without returning), and I am looking forward to a prosperous epoch in my life, full of learning and teaching, travelling, and growing.

I arrived early Thrusday morning, the 16th of July, eager to dive into this amazing country. I was settled into my hostel within an hour, and by the end of the day I reconnected with Lee Miller, a close friend of mine from college who is also in the TeachingChile program (and who encouraged me to follow him out here). I spent my first night with Leeskimo, who is living with another Saint John's buddy and TeachingChile participant, Phil Giesen.

My luck would have it that I would be initiated into Chilean culture in a way no one wants: I was robbed my second day here! Chile is one of the safest, most stable countries in Latin America, but also has THE highest rate of petty theft, perhaps in the world. Matter of fact, Spain is actually blocking many Chileans from entering its borders for that exact reason. Anyways, I was briskly jogging to catch the metro, on my way to Lee and Phil's place. Ironically, as I passed the former U.S. embassy, it happened. Two young girls in front of me looked behind them, shrieked, and began bookin' it. ¨Are they running from me?¨I thought to myself, as I looked behind myself to find a pack of high school-aged ¨flaites¨ (thugs) grabbing for me. Had I realized what was happening a second earlier, I would have been able to evade them and make it out into the open, merely a half block away. They pinned me against the wall, socked me in the forehead, held me at knifepoint, ripped open my favorite shirt (probably looking for a money belt), and made off with about the equivalent of $30 USD, my wallet (which contained a few credit cards, my license, my SJU ID--no more free drinks at Chipotle in the States--other random stuff), and my toothbrush, which I was bringing with me in the case I stayed the night at Lee and Phil's. I understand the money and wallet thing, but my toothbrush?! What would they need that for?

All being told, I was very disappointed in my bonehead decision to walk alone at night along a dimly lit street, but I didn't let the experience damper my otherwise amazing experience so far here in Santiago, the enormous capital of Chile. My cohorts, all around the same age range, are all very cool, and from all parts of the U.S.; Bruce and Andrea, my primary points of contact and the ¨executives¨ of TeachingChile, are the best bosses I could ever ask for; the neighborhood where I'm temporarily staying--Bellavista (Pretty View)--is an awesome Bohemian area filled with incredible graffiti art, hip cafés, and nice people; the food and liqour is cheap (don't worry Mom and Dad); the women are quite linda (pretty); basically, ¡todo está bien! It's all good!

That's all I'm gonna share for the moment, as I'm freezing my buns off in this internet café and burning through my plata (cash) simultaneously. I will start a picasa account where I'll share all my photos, but I'll post the highlights in this bloggerooski, so get ready for some cool pics, lots of information, and (hopefully) a bundle of insightful commentary. I have titled my blog ¨Los Cantos De Mi Lengua¨, which is a line from an essay by the Chilean poet Pablo de Rokha. It means ¨the songs of my tongue,¨ and the line ends ¨...tienen ojos y pies...musculos, alma, sensaciones, minimas, simplisimas, de recién nacidos, aúllan y hacen congojas enormes... ¨ and holy smokes does that line go forever, so I will not finish it, nor will I translate it--I leave that up to you! I think it fits nice with what I'm doing in my life right now, and am using it as my mantra in sharing my experiences, reflections, meditations with all of you :)

¡Que disfruten lo que comparto con uds.! May you all enjoy what I share! My next entry will probably be installed once I begin my job, which I am super amped to jump into. My school is in Paine--pronounced ¨Pie-nay,¨ a quaint town about a half hour south of Santiago. I hear good things.

Ciao!

Benja (akin to Benny)