August and Everything After

With my second school term drawing to a close, I am looking forward to the upcoming break. This last month has been both testing and rewarding for me. With the acquisition of the new computers, my school has been very accommodating to me, and has promised me an air conditioner among other things. The matter is now wrapped up in committees so I don’t know how long it would be, but it would greatly increase the life span of the computers. The trying parts has had much to do with the swine flu and the two weeks of school that we lost because of it. Many students coming back from their unplanned holiday had no interest in continuing school, and I had a very hard time getting them motivated again.

In other news, Leulumoega Fou College has a major renovation planned for this year. The reason has to do with the fine arts museum that is beig built nearby, but it seems as though it has been a long time coming. All of the school buildings will be torn down (I recently found out there is asbestos in the roofs). The buildings themselves are over 30 years old and in dire need of repair. This is also good for the computer lab, since expanding the size of the room is also being planned for. I’m guessing that the air conditioner and some additional electric outlets will also be a part of the renovations of the lab. They will be breaking ground when the school break starts, the week of September 7th.

Next month will be interesting. For one, my friends from home will be coming to visit, and I am very excited about that. Other than that, Samoa will have to deal with the road switch. I don’t want to go to much into it for fear of seeming to favor one or the other side (PCVs are required to remain neutral with regards to local politics) but I find it very interesting from a political science point of view.

The final project for my Year 12 computer students included creating a DVD cover for a movie that they made up. Some of them used ideas like a Samoa tourism video or a wedding video, while others went home and made copies of movies they had lying around. Instead of taking pictures from the movies themselves I had the students pose for pictures in the vein of the movie. Below are a couple of examples.

A Thank you note to ARK for their generous donation

Some of my students showing off their ata (picture)

My students enjoying their new computers

Helicopter landing behind the gov’t buidling, a rare sight

One of my students posing as Miss Samoa 2011

My students reimagining Welcome to the Jungle, staring The Rock