Today we officially accepted the members of Group 76 into the volunteer community. They had their swearing-in ceremony in their training village which has not been done before (to my knowledge). I was unable to attend because – you know, I have a JOB that I have to take care of, but it didn't rain here so hopefully it was nice, clear day. The one good thing about having a big event like the swearing in ceremony in the village is that there will definitely be plenty of food. We are having their swearing-in party at Apia Central tonight, so I'll get to find out how everything went then. Now this group gets to be the newbies for about 2 months before Group 77 comes – quite a fast turn around.
As for me, life has been kind of hectic these past few weeks just getting everything done for the last 2 weeks of school. Over the weekend I finally sat down and got three computers up and working again in one of the labs, that took like 5 hours to do – no fun there. I am also trying to get 4 more computers up and running to set up in a teacher's lounge type area so the teachers will have computers to type on during the finals period instead of flooding the secretary with their exams. All the while, I'm getting my kids prepared for their last CAT (Access for both Year 12 and 13) and some kids get it and others don't. Mix this last minute preparation with a dash of frustration at the people who run the computer studies program in the government and dealing with class retreats and it makes for quite a fun time, but nothing really to write home about. But the beauty of the situation is, I only have 3 teaching days next week because the last two days are dedicated to Culture Days (English and Samoan) – the days shall be picturized.
I think if there's one thing you learn about yourself while serving in the Peace Corps is how much you're able to stand your ground. I've faced a lot of pressures here that have asked me to compromise what I stand for and what I believe in. In the states, I could usually just ignore those pressures or have wise council to go to. But not here – it's just me and my integrity. It's one of those things that I never really expected when I signed up for this gig, but it's a nice bonus to know I can look someone with 'power' in the eye and say 'No, I'm in the right and will not be compromised'. Just another day in the life I guess….L8r.
PS – Group 76 also got to appear in the paper a few days ago, I'll be posting the clipping from it as soon as I can.
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