My vote for the happiest man on the planet

I remember first reading in high-school about the concept of a muse. William Shakespeare, Monet, Albert Einstein and the guy that wrote Peanuts all had muses. Actually, I’m not too sure about the others, but I know that the Peanuts guy did.
Muses were supposed to be the inspiration for these artists. When they were feeling down in the dumps or couldn’t figure out what they should create, their muse inspired them to continue on. I always thought that the concept was an interesting idea, but I never knew where to find my muse.
I have found my muse in the city of Antofagasta. His name is Juan.

Juan is 12 years old and is a student in my class. From the start I noticed there was something different about Juan. He was born with an ailment that does not allow him to sit down for more than seven seconds at a time. When the seven seconds are up, Juan must leap out of his seat and run up to my side. When he does this he either is trying to draw on the board to assist me with the lesson, or he has the dictionary in hand and is trying to discuss what I can only guess as some deep mystery of the universe. At first I tried to listen him, now I just look over and say “sit down Juan”, and Juan sits down, until seven seconds later he is at my side again. Without exaggerating, I probably say the phrase “sit down Juan” about 20 times a day. I’m waiting for a circular trench to be worn into the floor between the front of the room and Juan’s desk. Most students would be discouraged after being told to sit down. If you haven’t figure out yet, Juan is not like most students.

When I do have the time to talk to Juan, it’s always an interesting experience. With his brow deeply furrowed, a fire of concentration in his eyes and usually an open dictionary in his hand, Juan tries to communicate with me. This brings me to Juan’s second ailment; Juan seems to have repetitive amnesia. After the first words in English, usually a ‘you’ or an ‘I’, Juan forgets that I don’t speak Spanish and unleashes upon me a flood of words with such earnest, that I can’t do anything except hope that through shear willpower I will understand what the heck he is trying to communicate. After he is finished speaking he looks at me expectantly to see if THIS time I have actually been able to understand what the he is saying…..sadly, as of this time, I have not. Then, with a huff and a little shake of his head he mumbles something and wanders away to contemplate exactly where the lines of communication broke down between us this time.

Most of the time a student like this would have annoyed me to the point that I would wish that they wouldn’t return to school the next day, but a I said in the past, Juan is not like most students. He seems to take everything in stride and is happy, no matter how often he isn’t able to communicate with the teachers or how many times he is told to sit down.
At the beginning of this last week I realized that Juan is about the only student who has 100% attendance in my class. I also realized that at the start of the day I would expectantly look around the school to make sure that he was there. It was then that I realized that if I didn’t have Juan in my class, it wouldn’t be the same at all.
There are so many stories about Juan that I would love to share, and maybe in the future I will write some of them down. Sadly, I don’t have the time, but ask any of the other MIT students that came down to Chile and they will be happy to tell you about how Juan touched their lives. I know this because as I mentioned Juan to the other volunteers here at the school they all started talking about Juan and sharing similar experiences. We all agreed that if there was anything that we could take home from this city, it would be Juan. We would put him in our carry on baggage and stick him in the over head compartment on the way back to the States. Once we got him back to Spokane, we would make a little nest of donated blankets and shredded TWS drafts in one of the corners of Hawthorn hall and keep him as the mascot of the MIT program. Personally, I think that Juan would believe it to be a very neat idea as well.

As tempting as having a pet Juan, Jake and I have already discussed visitation rights between us, I don’t think it would be right to take him from his current environment. I say this not for Juan’s sake, but for the sake of Chile. I truly believe that if there is any hope for the future of Chile and the future of the world, it will be found in individuals like Juan. People who never quite seam to comprehend about what they are “suppose to do” in a given situation are, but darn it, they are going to have fun all the same. After this trip is over and I return home, I doubt I will ever see Juan in this life. Part of me is sad about that. However, I know in the deep cockles of my heart that Juan will make something great of himself, and that knowledge warms those cockles.
Juan, I wish you the best of luck. I hope you never remain seated.