The month of March marked two major milestones (alliteration unintentional) for this blog: the 15,000th unique visitor since the blog first went public in the Fall of 2009, with one of the last of those representing the one hundredth sovereign nation. (Tajikistan). Concerning the first, that’s only unique visitors: the number of total hits has been roughly ten times higher.
While the numbers are gratifying and ego-boosting, they and similar analytics also reveal a great deal about the international movement – not the least of which is the sheer scope, if there are individuals in 100+ plus nations who are curious about el Sistema and want to know more. Every continent save Antarctica is represented, and the site content has been translated into more than 30 languages via Google’s online service. Alas, I cannot as yet report any visitors for whom Azerbaijani or Galician is a native tongue.
What pages are being viewed is also interesting and indicative. For example, the pages most accessed by a large margin are all those relating to the Five Fundamentals concept. The natural conclusion to be drawn is that there’s a significant demand for a simple framework clarifying the concepts behind el Sistema. Coming in at a surprising second to the above group of pages is the profile of núcleo director Roberto Zambrano. He’s a maverick – an admirable one – but in his utmost care and concern towards his charges in his núcleo he is certainly representative of the leaders within Fundamusical Bolivar as a whole.
(Yes, the name has changed. The unlovely acronym FESNOJIV has now been replaced by the equally unwieldy “Fundamusical Bolivar.” I have taken it upon myself to rechristen the organization the “FundaBol” for the sake of simplicity.)
Coming in third is Carachaos Theory, an explanation of what the Maestro meant when he said that “Chaos” was an important element in Sistema. This remark has been taken out of context so many times, in a somewhat offensive way stereotyping Latin Americans as incompetent or disorganized, that I felt it important to set the record straight. It’s good to know that the rest of the world seeks clarification too.
The number of visitors is important in that it validates a strategy I undertook at the start of this site/blog: to have, in the very very greatest part, only original content on this site. It’s quite easy to throw up any of the myriad links online as an excuse for a posting, but to my recollection I’ve only done that once, the video from Cape Town. I even do my own site design, manage my content, and create all the headers for the postings as well. I won’t change a thing – although I may refer to quantum mechanics less often in future. Unlike the New York Times (what a presumptuous comparison!) I’m not going to start charging for content, and in fact, I intend to dispense with the existing advertisements on the page (brought to you by WordPress) at the earliest opportunity.
I appreciate your visit, but I can’t help wondering who you are. Please, take a moment and introduce yourself through any of the ways offered on the main page, or subscribe to the page. I won’t add you to a mailing list or spam you into submission. I might even be able to connect you to a geographically-close individual of like mind. It would be my pleasure.
Jonathan Andrew Govias 
Bravo, Jonathan!
No wonder the great landmarks:
Your blog shows sincerity, high spirits, very good humour, and clear, deep thinking! It is also a source of many kinds of information.
Thanks from this frequent reader.
PS. I still laugh when I remember the poor tuba player and the cat that always comes back!
Thanks Eduardo! You reminded me of two other things worth mentioning:
1) There’s a definite link between where I go and where the blog traffic comes from: there was a huge increase of traffic from Brazil after my trip there
2) The report from Brazil is actually the 4th most visited page on my blog AND was climbed to that position the fastest. It took 5 months for the “Five Fundamentals” page to reach 1000 visitors, but less than a week for the Brazil report “Keeping me honest” to accumulate the same number of views. Muito obrigado!