Letters to Leah 26 Sep 98 10:13:05 PDT Leah, How are things at Linfield? Things are good here, I'm getting ready for my first Rugby game which should be exciting, especially since I'm going off 1.5 hours of sleep last night and an average of 4 the entire school week. I'm still really busy and learning a lot. I also recently took a psych test which was week compared to Dempster's but covered as much as we did all year, don't know what I got, they don't tell us our grades here, we have to special request to see them, it's all about learning not proving it. Sorry I missed the ballroom dancing, but I just couldn't do a Tuesday night. I don't know what happened to the Linfield trip, I'm at the mercy of people with cars. Keep me posted on your comings to Portland, I'd really like to see you, I miss you and our coffee/hot chocolate outings. I must go, take care, learn, learn, learn, bye -ben oh, please send me ericas email address, thanks ______________________________ 01 Apr 99 00:24:47 PDT Leah, sorry I took so long to write back. Things here are intense. I'm currently taking a study break at the library. I'd been sitting reading in the same position so long I feared I'd get a bed sore if I didn't move. I'm glad to hear you had a nice break in such an historic and educational setting. Your jelly beans remind me of cross country, good times. How did you adjustment go? I was utterly incompetant for two full days after I got back from my most wild trip yet. After flying into Boston standby via Seattle and St. Louis with my budy Ethan, caught a ride up to his mom's house in Bar Harbor Maine and spent 24 hours on his island which is part of Arcadia National Park and beautiful. I meet a bunch of his friends and family, saw a lot of the area, talked with lobstermen and had a nice lobster dinner with his family before leaving in his 1987 Subaru. In the following six days we drove 6300 miles. First we went down the coast back through Boston and twards New York but then cut inland and took a route through the Appilacians to the deep south and New Orleans where we spent the bulk of Tuesday listening to Jaz, taking a ferry on the mighty Mississippi, and exploring local culture. That night we headed out for Texas, stoping at Rice University in Houston to visit a friend of Ethans at 3:00 in the morning, nice school, and then heading west again deciding that night that we were making such incredible time, and have proven ourselves invincible and immune to danger on so many occasions that Mexico was in order. It should be noted that we did not stop to sleep but took occasional naps as the other drove and stoped frequently throughout to play Frisbee, Mexico was a wild experience. We crossed the Sierra madres on horrible roads and didn't see any Americans till the third day when we reached the beaches. Out of necessity I spoke some decent Spanish and managed to keep us out of jail and the car in working condition. I'll tell you more about Mexico later I got to get back to work but it was awesome, you would have been proud. We ended up spending till Friday night/Saturday morning there and crossed back into the U.S. near Yuma Arizona. We then booked it back to school in 24 hours with a couple hour stop at my Grandma's in L.A. I didn't sleep more than 3 continuous hours the entire time and the care is basically worthless now but made it the entire way. My technical birthday was spend driving from Maine to somewhere in Alabama. How are you doing? How was your Easter? When do you get out of school? I haven't seen you in a long time and I'm about do for some faith in humanity. Back to work for Ben, take care, and learn, learn, learn. -Ben ______________________________ 15 Oct 99 00:05:32 PDT Leah, I was wonderful to hear from you and for the past weeks I've been intending to write you a nice long email explaining the secrets of the universe and such but to this point failing to materize such a document I decided to just say hi and let you know you have a huge fan here at Reed. In 20 hours after somehow learning volumes of information and applying it during examination I will go to the Porland airport and board a plane with two good buddies bound for San Jan, Puerto Rico. The following Sunday I'm booked for a flight home from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. What lies between is a great mystery with many possibilities. I will give you a full report upon my safe return. Two weeks ago I got certified as a SCUBA diver and hope to soon employ this skill in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. Things ar going well here but I'm extreamly busy with school work. I thought last year was hard, but I can honestly say I am pushing myself to the utmost extream, five more minutes of work a day and I wouldn't make it a week. I've learned lots of cool stuff especially in Orgainic Cyemistry, and Philosopy and also in Physics and Calculus. I must go, I'm really stressing my O-Chem test tomorrow and haven't slept for a long time. Take care, love life, and learn, learn, learn. -Ben ______________________________ 27 Oct 1999 17:54:13 PDT Leah, I'm back safely and had an amazing time in Puerto Rick and the Dominican Republic. We covered a lot of ground and met some really neat people, not to mention some nice white beaches and warm water. You would be proud of my Spanish, I'm inspired to learn more. We were just gone for a week and it was for my Fall break. I'm glad you had a nice break and finaly got to meet Dani and see Jeff. I would like to write more, actually I would prefer to tell you all about it in person but I didn't get back till Monday evening and am swamped with work and need to get back to it, if I survive this week I'll write more. Take care, be careful of those slick Special Olympic athletes and learn, learn, learn. -Ben ______________________________ 09 Nov 1999 21:56:56 PST Leah, it's great to hear from you, sorry your so stressed out. I completely understand how you feel, things have been very intense since I got back from my break. It's to the point not were I'm completely de-sensitized and I don't really get stressed out, I'm just always busy and accept that Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday I don't sleep for than 2 hours in a row and just Gotten use to the situation. I haven't necessarily masted dealing with it, but full acceptance is a good step. I am learning a lot and I'm in an especially good mood because Phoebe called last night from Germany and I haven't talked with her since she left. Your right on about not worrying about grades and just learning but it is hard to get out of the mentality from 12 years of public schooling (I have not idea what grades I'm getting). I'm planning on being home for Thanksgiving and if possible would really like to see you. I must go now and meet some buddies and do our Physics. Take care and I hope everything works out for you this week. -Ben ______________________________ 04 Feb 2000 18:26:28 PST Leah!, So nice to hear from you, I'm glad you had a good time in Mexico and are excited about your classes. Brazil was amazing, it's hard to believe I was there a few short weeks ago that seem like an enternity, the contrast of activity and mind set is almost too much for one man. My classes this semester are awesome, Organic Chemistry, Modern Political Philosophy, Calculus, Physics, Advanced Open Water Scuba Certification, Underwater Hunting and Rugby. As for sleep, and work load, new heights are reached every day. I must go now, I have a Physics problem set due tonight and want to get a lot of work done tonight so I can celebrate Peter's birthday with style tomorrow, I tell him you say hi and happy birthday, take care, love, live, and learn, learn, learn. -Ben oh and please send me your phone number at school, thanks ______________________________ Fri, 06 Oct 2000 20:35:37 GMT Leah, how are you? Just wanted to say hi from the University of Oregon and see how you were doing. I'm liking it here pretty well, it's a whole different world than Reed but one that offers more control and a lot less stress. I'm living in a co-op, taking the maximum class load, and being pretty good to myself with sleep and excersise so far. I'm also in the course of planning some more South American adventures, so if you have any leads down there let me know, also if you could forward me Erica's and Jeff's email addresses that would be super. I hope all is well, take care, and learn, learn, learn. -Ben ______________________________ Sun, 14 Jan 2001 05:18:56 -0000 Leah, thank you so much for that hat, its great and you know how I am about hats. I'm so sorry that the only time we spent together in Newport was marred by more dominating conversations and unproductive paid work hours. I went out to sea for a couple weeks and returned to your gift and news you we're back in school. I still want to hear all about Ecuador and more urgently in the next day or two before I leave anybody I should call up if I end up down there. I guess next time I see you it better be a lunch or dinner situation, as it has been far to long for coffee alone. Take care and the best of luck at school this term. -Ben ______________________________ Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:51:52 -0000 Leah, so good to hear from you, I just got off the bus to Buenos Aires a couple hours ago and am exploring the city, I have had a great trip so far traveled to Trinidad with Peter he got a ride north on a sailboat and I went south through Venezuela which condured up many cool memories of our Spanish club trip, I spent all last month in Brazil took a boat down the Amazon from Manaus to Belema and then spent Carnival in Olinda which was completely ridiculous in a very fun way, from here will head over to Chile and up the Pacific coast. My flight leaves from Costa Rica on May 28, so I plan to be home for my brothers graduation, is Nathan giving a validicorian speech? I have been very healthy but was pretty sick last week, getting better every day, especially excited now as theoretically Phoebe will be getting on an airplane today and meeting me tomorrow down here for her spring break. How are things going with you? I cant believe I forgot about pi day, too long away from school. Take care Leah, pura vida, and learn, learn, learn. -Ben ______________________________ Sat, 13 Oct 2001 20:19:35 +0000 Leah, How is life? I hope one of these addersses will find you. I just went to the linfield web site looking for you address and saw a picture of you studying away, I hope you're adjusting well to the life of a celebrity. I am happy with my decsion to go to school down here at the University of Oregon. I'm taking 20 credits this term and keeping pretty busy. My current thinking is to get a double major in Biochemistry and International Studies, but we will see how things develop. How about you, do you graduate this year? How is the rest of the Newport contingency doing up there? Take care, love life, give my best to Matt and Nathan, and learn, learn, learn. -Ben ______________________________