Locals and Peace Corps volunteer alike are struggling with the new American polisy that requires Samoans seeking visas to the U.S. to visit the embassy in Auckand, New Zealand or Suva, Fiji for paperwork, instead of completeing the application here in Samoa.

Apparently the reason for the change in policy is security following 9/11. I fully understand considering what a threat Samoans represent to integrity of the continental United States.

Several PCVs with Samoan significant others have had to deal with this new policy that's going to make it all but impossible to bring their boyfriends/girlfriends or husbands/wives home with them.

American policy upsets locals
by Malia Sio
16 August 2003

Local resident Avalogo Tony - who has been trying to get an American visa for his mother to travel to her cousin's wedding in Hawaii - is very unhappy.
The American Embassy in Apia is enforcing a new United States policy that became effective on 1 August.

This requires many applicants for American visas to now travel to Auckland for a personal interview with a consular officer at the American Consulate-General there.

This is despite the Americans having an embassy in Apia, which was previously able to handle most visa applications.

"The new policy is very inconvenient," he said. "We really cannot afford to pay her fare to New Zealand, when even then we will not be sure if she will get the visa or not."

He said his mother was booked to leave this week. But because of the difficulty getting a visa, the village pastor has taken his mother's wedding present on her behalf.

COMPLAINTS
He is not alone in his displeasure. Local travel agencies said yesterday they are getting many complaints about the new policy.

Patsy Annandale, of Polynesia Travel and Tours, said:

"People have been complaining and I don't blame them. Who can afford to travel to New Zealand then if the visa is not granted, fly back?"

A representative of Jane's Travel and Tours, who did not want to be named, said:

"It is just so expensive and inconvenient now for the people. It is just so complicated to travel to Hawaii or the U.S. these days."

The head of Air New Zealand operations here, Ricky McFall, said:

"The new policy has surely made it inconvenient for the general public to travel. The new travellers that do not have former American visas are really finding it hard."

Air New Zealand operates direct flights between Apia and Los Angeles.

Mr McFall added that it also means some people now also have to get a New Zealand visa, so they can go to Auckland to apply for their American visa.

He said the process is "just too costly now".

Mr McFall said that not only have Samoans been affected by these new policies, so have other Pacific Islanders.

SUVA
For example, Tongans who had previously been able to send their passports and applications to the United States embassy in Fiji now have to travel to Suva personally.

The visa policy applies to most people between the ages of 16 and 60 who are using Samoan passports who do not have American multiple entry visas. Exceptions include those who have multiple entry visas that have recently expired.

The American embassy charge d'affaires in Apia, Joe Murphy, said that it does not surprise him that this new policy has caused inconvenience to some people.

He also confirmed that those who are interviewed in Auckland are not guaranteed to be granted an immediate visa.

However, he urged people to understand that the new policies were made in light of the heightened security caused by the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on America and other threats.

"We have tried to make it a little easier for the people by asking the Consular General in Auckland to accept local people without appointments," he said.

The travel to New Zealand is an added expense, he agreed.

He also added that local Samoans can also travel to Suva, Fiji , to apply for a visa at their embassy or anywhere in the world where visas are being issued.

"However, the New Zealand office is taking in people on a walk in basis," he said. "The other countries might require an appointment first."

I met the vet from the APS (Animal Protection Society) at the government building to see about poor Jake. The vet, a volunteer from Japan named Kazuo, de-wormed her (I found out he is a she) and gave me antibiotics to make sure her wounds don't get infected. He also removed a large piece of fur/skin that was hanging dangerously from her nose to the top of her head. It was painful for her, but I think it's for the best.

I'd like to take her in, but my house is already a crazy managerie with my two kittens. And I don't know how they'd take to her. I'm going to try to find her a new home, but if I can't, I will consider adopting her, but only if I move to a larger place.

I brought her some food today (stuff my kittens didn't want to eat) and she was grateful she was purring the whole time she stuffed her faced. It was so cute.

Posted by andrew at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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The harbor is chok full of sailboats at the moment. There's more than 20 now with more arriving every day. It is amazing to see. It sort of happens in slow motion, or maybe time lapse, since the harbor never changes really, just more and more yachts show up. One day there are none, the next day there are twenty.

Boats should continue to arrive in increasing numbers until the Teuila Festival in last August. Then they will disappear, just as slowly as they make their way towards safer anchorages to hunker down for cyclone season which kicks up about November.

At some point I'm going to get a ride on one of them, even if it's just over to Savai'i.

Posted by andrew at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love this image, not because it's particularly beautiful or well-composed or anything, but just because it's so damn cute. I saw these two as I was getting ready to take a picture of the harbor and I just had to follow them and get a shot. I love that they are wearing the exact same outfit, right down to the matching single strap backpack.

Posted by andrew at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Jake" is the tabby who hangs out behind the government building where I work. I hadn't seen him in while. Then yesterday he was sitting in the shade, as usual, but he looked like he just went 10 rounds with Rocky Marciano (hence the name).

He was missing his left paw and his face was all bloody and smashed up. Who knows what happened. He might have been hit by a car. He might have had a run in with a dog. He might have had a run in with Samoan children.

I called the APS (Animal Protection Society) to come have a look at him and make sure he doesn't get a nasty infection. Poor little guy. Jake is going to tough it out. He's a bad little mutherfuka.

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There's an interesting article on Salon.com about Mel Gibson's forthcoming movie, "The Passion", an anti-Semetic opus about the life of Jesus. The basic complaint is that the movie portrays the Jews "as bloodthirsty and vengeful" killers. I find this a trfile disturbing. When are people going to get over the "Jews killed Jesus" thing? I suppose never. Apropos of nothing, but didn't the Pope absolve us a few years back?

There are a few of "Jesus killers" amongst us in Samoa. For me, it's not such a big deal, since I live in Apia and don't have to go to chruch. I have a colleague, however, who lives in one of the most remote villages off the main road on Savai'i. She told me that her faifeau, or pastor, once referred to her as the "Anti-Christ". It would be pretty funny if weren' so damn scary.

You know what I say? Thank goodness for the healing powers of organized religion.

Mel Gibson vs. "The Jews" The "Mad Max" and "Braveheart" star says his new Jesus biopic "The Passion" could never be anti-Semitic because it's historically correct -- a dumb, and dangerous, claim to make.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Christopher Orlet

Aug. 14, 2003 | Think of it as "Mad Max Meets His Maker." Only this time the bad guys are Jews -- and lots of them -- donning the vestments of holy men. It's been a while since Hollywood's bad guys wore sidelocks and yarmulkes instead of funny little mustaches or bedsheets. In fact you'd have to time-travel back to 1947, when the U.S. Motion Picture Project was set up to prevent negative portrayals and stereotypes of Jewish characters in films.

The film that has so stirred so much feeling among Jewish and Christian scholars is Mel Gibson's "The Passion," a retelling of the execution of Jesus of Nazareth, with apparently all the usual Gibson gore. Following a recent screening of the film, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) voiced concerns that Gibson's film, which he co-wrote, produced and directed, "will fuel hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism," and could kick off another round of bloodshed by disconsolate Christians who had just about gotten over their savior's death.

Rabbi Eugene Korn, the ADL representative who was present at the private screening at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, accused the filmmakers of portraying Jewish authorities and the Jewish mob as "forcing the decision to torture and execute Jesus; of weaving a narrative that oversimplifies history; and of committing numerous factual and historical errors, including relying on the visionary writings of a 17th century anti-Semitic nun."

The fact that an ADL representative was allowed to see the film at all is somewhat surprising, and comes only after months of pressure by pro-Jewish groups and intense media scrutiny. Until this week, the film had been screened only by a handpicked traditional Catholic audience and a few Jewish Gibson supporters, many of whom report that the Jews do indeed come off looking rather guilty of deicide. (The film itself won't be released for another seven months, but trailers for "The Passion" are already popping up on various Web sites.)

But it is not only the sometimes touchy ADL that is troubled. The Guardian newspaper this week quoted a panel of three Jewish and six Catholic scholars who translated and studied a draft script, and concluded that the film is indeed anti-Semitic and theologically inaccurate, portraying "The Jews" as bloodthirsty and vengeful. "All the way through, the Jews are portrayed as bloodthirsty," said Sister Mary C. Boys, one of the panelists and a professor at New York's Union Theological Seminary. As for stirring up anti-Semitic passions, Sister Mary told the New Republic that she has already begun receiving "vicious letters filled with personal attacks and anti-Semitic drivel." Confronted with these accusations, Gibson, a fundamentalist Catholic who has bankrolled an obscure Los Angeles sect that refuses to accept the Second Vatican reforms, including the Vatican's apology for Jewish persecution, readily admits the film may ruffle a few Jewish feathers, though it is not meant to. "It's meant just to tell the truth." Besides, he says, the Holy Spirit was dictating what really went into the film.

Of course, anything an Academy-Award winning actor and director produces is going to have an air of legitimacy about it, whatever the facts may be. But is "The Passion" an innocent Hollywood entertainment or a medieval passion play of the sort that in the Middle Ages stirred up the passions of the Christian mob and led to the butchering of the local Jewry?

Gibson has bragged about the historical veracity of his script, going so far as to film the movie in the Aramaic and Latin languages without subtitles. Scholars, however, have been quick to point out the film's obvious historical inaccuracies, which, it turns out, are legion. Indeed, any theological or biblical scholar could have told Gibson that few Roman soldiers were in Jerusalem, and rather were local draftees who would have spoken one of the local dialects, Mishnaic Hebrew or, based on funerary evidence, Greek. Similarly Pilate and the chief priest Caiaphas would have communicated in Greek, not Latin.

But Gibson's biggest sin, critics charge, is his portrait of Jewish culpability in Jesus' execution.

It should be noted that to Jews of the first century, Jesus of Nazareth was simply another false messiah, one of hundreds -- a Galilean village preacher with a ragtag following of Jewish fishermen who, in various statements, claimed to be the Jewish messiah, God's son and the Jewish king all wrapped into one. The traditional Jewish messiah, however, would not be a deity, but a bellicose homo sapiens, with a hankering to lead an uprising against the Romans, perhaps someone with the stature and nobility of Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar. To claim you were the messiah but that you were unconcerned with this world was absurd. Likewise, to preach that you were God's son was the supreme blasphemy, as well as the ultimate absurdity. God had no son, and whoever uttered such absurdities sealed his own doom.

So who was to blame for the execution of Jesus of Nazareth? The Jews? The Romans? Jesus himself? Christians who believe Jesus died for their individual sins are logically themselves responsible for his death, and have no cause to scapegoat "The Jews." But if we believe the Nazarene was simply a Jewish reformer executed by his own tribesmen for the crime of blasphemy, then he suffered the same fate as thousands of reformers from the Jewish Matthias to the Christian Savonarola. Or, we may believe that Jesus was crucified because of some perceived threat to Roman authority. Rome was, after all, interested in but one thing: order. If the Romans executed Jesus it was because he was seen as a considerable threat to the stability of the empire. The gospels hint only vaguely at this, in a scene showing Jesus causing some seemingly minor disturbance at the Jerusalem temple. No doubt there was more to the story. Writing in the New Republic this week, Paula Fredrikson, Aurelio professor of Scripture at Boston University and a member of a panel of scholars who studied Gibson's script, writes:

"The fact that Jesus was publicly executed by the method of crucifixion can only mean that Rome wanted him dead: Rome alone had the sovereign authority to crucify. Moreover, the point of a public execution ... was to communicate a message. Crucifixion itself implies that Pilate was concerned about sedition ... Jesus' death on the cross points to a primarily Roman agenda."

Sedition, then, seems the likely cause of Jesus' execution, and not some minor theological squabble among Jews.

Of the five discrepant biblical accounts of Jesus' trial, composed decades after his execution by men absent from his trial, none are very helpful, nor are the disciples very trustworthy sources. We know that early Christians put great emphasis on staying on the Romans' good side lest they lose potential converts or, worse, be massacred or driven out of Rome and Jerusalem like their Jewish brethren. It is not surprising then that early Christians would blame "The Jews" (who were even then the universal scapegoats) for Jesus' death, and that Matthew would make sure that 2,000 years hence "The Jews" would still be on the hook, by attributing to the Jewish multitude the fantastic quote: "His blood be on us and on our children." A peculiar thing for a Jewish mob to shout, it must be said. The Gospel writers are exceedingly clumsy in dealing with the trial of Jesus. Again and again the Roman prefect Pilate comes off not as the iron-fisted autocrat we know from history but as a lame, ineffectual pamby who is prevented from setting Jesus free by the bloodthirsty Jewish mob. The scene stretches credulity. Likewise, many scholars dispute the accuracy of the Jews' claim that Roman law forbids them to execute Jesus. In fact, the Jews of Jerusalem executed each other all the time. They stoned Jesus' brother James, and only a year or two after Jesus' death they stoned Stephen, the traditional first Christian martyr. A well-known sign (in Greek) in the Jerusalem temple promised death to any non-Jew who invaded the inner sanctum.

The most damning piece of evidence for Jewish culpability, however, comes down from the Roman-Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, who wrote in the early 90s C.E.: "About the same time there lived Jesus, a wise man for he was a performer of marvelous feats and a teacher of such men who received the truth with pleasure. He attracted many Jews and many Greeks. He was called the Christ. Pilate sentenced him to die on the cross, having been urged to do so by the noblest of our citizens."

"The noblest of our citizens" urging Jesus' execution would seem to vindicate the gospel writers. And yet historians readily admit that early Christian writers monkeyed with Josephus' text, adding references to Jesus' resurrection, and, likely, the sentence about the "noblest of our citizens."

The fact is that the truths surrounding Jesus' execution will never be known. And what has been handed down to posterity is legend, vision, conjecture, superstition and doubtlessly historically inaccurate. But does the Gibson film discuss the differing accounts, the historical inaccuracies, and the political nuances involved in the trial and execution of Jesus of Nazareth? Don't count on it. The audience would soon be snoozing in their seats. Instead "The Passion" will most likely offer up the familiar puerile, stereotypical view of the evil Jew calling for Jesus' blood and the clueless Pilate begging him to reconsider. It is a view guaranteed to stir anew the passions of the rabid Christian, and one that will send the Jews scurrying back to the dark corners of history.

Posted by andrew at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found out some bad news today. The grant I wrote to bring ICT equipment nd training to a local telecenter in Samoa was turned down by the Global Knowledge Partnership. [Apolima Telecenter Project (30K)]

It might not have been the quality of the grant that determined the outcome. There were 540 applicants and only four were selected. The winning grants were for projects in Nigeria, Cameroon, Mexico and the Solomon Islands. The successful grants also all orginated from non-governmental organizations whereas mine came from a government ministry. I don't know if this had anything to do with us being considered or not, but it is interesting.

I'm very disappointed since I put in a tremendous amount of effort into the grant and it would have provided me with some very meaningful work over the duration of my Peace Corps stay in Samoa. I'm going to press on and try to find another source of funding.

GOVERNMENT OF SAMOA

Ministry of Women, Social Services & Community Development

APOLIMA ICT TELECENTER PROJECT

MISSION STATEMENT
To improve the capability and affordability of information communication technology (ICT) for rural Samoans by adding computer terminals and Internet access to existing telecenters in Samoa.

VISION
Information and Communication Technologies for Every Samoan

THE OBJECTIVE
The aim of this project is to have a well-equipped & financed, fully-functioning, and self-sustaining computer telecenter in the village of Apolima that addresses the needs of rural residents by providing access to a modern telecommunications facility and provides a successful model for other villages around the country. The Telecenter will be managed by the village Women’s Committee with guidance and support from the Ministry of Women, Social Services & Community Development.

MINISTRY OF WOMEN, SOCIAL SERVICES & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The Ministry of Women Affairs was established by Act of Parliament in 1990 and opened office in April 1991. This made Samoa the first Pacific Island country to set up a separate ministry to address women’s issues. It is the principal means of promoting and ensuring the full development and advancement of women. Up to 1990, women’s issues were coordinated by a Women’s Desk in the Prime Minister’s Department. In 2002 a realignment of Samoan government ministries brought together Women’s Affairs, Internal Affairs & Youth into a new ministry, the Ministry of Women, Social Services & Community Development.

WOMEN’S COMMITTEES IN SAMOA
Women’s committees play a key role in organising educational programs for women in the rural areas. About 78% of Samoa’s population lives in the rural areas 48% of which are women. Rural women constitute about 78% of the total female population. Rural is here defined as the areas outside the Apia urban area. Rural women are highly organised with the traditional social hierarchy playing a major role in organisation throughout all spheres of rural life and with links extending to the urban center once families migrate internally.

WHAT ARE TELECENTERS?
Telecenters are strategically located facilities providing public access to ICT-based services and applications. They are typically equipped with some combination of:

· Telecommunication services such as telephony, fax, e-mail and Internet (via dial-up or ISDN, high-speed telecommunications network);
· Office equipment such as computers, CD-ROM, printers and photocopiers;
· Multimedia hardware and software, including radio, TV and video;
· Meeting spaces for local business or community use & training.

The main role of the telecenter is to provide drop-in or scheduled access to the wide range of communication and information services that are now obtainable through various ICTs thus allowing organisations and individuals to obtain information, transfer knowledge, make transactions, and generally increase their ability to communicate. Some examples of the activities taking place in a telecenter would be:

· The general public communicating regularly with people in country and internationally.
· Students and teachers using educational software, downloading courseware, and accessing on-line libraries and distance instructors through the Internet.
· Farmers obtaining guidance on agriculture, weather information, and monitoring market prices.
· Local administrators and society leaders using up-to-date information on basic social services such as water supply, sewage, education, infrastructure, and health (e-governance).
· Businesses conducting commercial transactions, obtaining office services such as fax, e-mail, and copying, and perhaps finding new markets.

Thus a telecenter can be seen as the point of delivery for government information or services, the community library of the future, a point of access to distance learning, a local or regional news service, or a business services center, depending on the needs of different users.

WHAT SERVICES DO TELECENTERS PROVIDE?
Telecenters provide the public with access to and training on basic information and communication technologies at affordable prices. These services are typically delivered using a common network infrastructure and software platform, such as the public telephone network, and may be subsidised for development purposes. They allow people access to the following services:

· Telephone calls (make calls, receive calls).
· E-mail and Internet access (send/receive e-mail, browse the web).
· Word processing (typing and formatting of letters, job applications and other
documents).
· Desktop publishing (newsletters, flyers, stationery, business cards, tickets, circulars,
· pamphlets, logos and computer artwork).
· Spreadsheets and databases (financial budgeting, bookkeeping, invoicing and farm
management).
· Computer use (hourly or daily rates can be charged for this).
· Education and training (distance education, tele-learning, face-to-face Adult and
Community Education).
· Computer training (basic computer literacy - keyboards, mouse, Windows etc.,
computer applications: spreadsheets, e-mail, word processing. etc.).
· Graphic design (assist with presentations, assignments, adverts).
· Printing (laser printing and copying for promotional materials and presentations)
· Web Page design (have your own personal “home page” designed, launched and
· regularly maintained through the Telecenter)
· Professional writing (Prepare grant applications and funding submissions).
· Scanning (scan pages of text or graphics (including photographs) for use in a
· newsletter, e-mail or for printing).
· Photocopying (school study material, circulars, newsletters, license applications, etc.
· with different colored papers available).
· Binding (for professional presentation of documents and booklets).
· Laminating (protect documents, business cards, posters, by sealing them in a durable clear plastic coating).
· Fax communications (send and receive documents to and from anywhere in the
· country or the world).
· Business and secretarial services (the Telecenter could act as a message service).
· Service directories (development of a local community phone directory - this could be printed out on paper as well as be in electronic format).
· Video conferencing (two-way audio and video conferencing with other regions).
· Video or still camera hire (daily or weekly hire of photo/video recording equipment for private, professional, business or community events).
· Internet searches (have Telecenter staff research your topic on the Internet for study, business or pleasure).
· Information services (for example, a Telecenter can act as an employment agency, and advertise vacancies and staff availability. Government information, up-to-date local and world news, market prices, trade opportunities, classified advertisements and other information of interest to the community can also be made available. These can be made available online and also printed out and fixed to the bulletin board outside the Telecenter.)
· On-line banking facilities (financial institutions now make it possible for customers to conduct their financial affairs electronically. A Telecenter can help users to access the services offered by their bank).

Telecenters may be used to provide access to distance education, employment
opportunities, training and business enterprise. Telecenters allow entrepreneurs and
business people to plan and prepare their arrangements and to communicate with
partners and potential clients from a distance. Through the Internet students and
educators can register with educational institutions anywhere in the world; access archival material or receive online instruction from central national services.

Telecenters might also serve as community cultural and entertainment centers, using multimedia services and production to bring people together. An essential element is access to content relevant to the local community. To give users a tool to produce their own material, national or regional content platforms could be developed and made available locally. Besides allowing access to information, telecenters also need to facilitate contact with the organisations that provide it. Portals serving many telecenters can help build networks of communities and provide commercially viable solutions for developing and maintaining formal content.

THE NEED
Samoa is geographically and commercially isolated from the rest of the world. To offset this disadvantage, it has come to rely in particular on ICT to redefine a virtual geography, placing Samoa in a more favorable position to interact with the rest of the world, and partake in the momentum created by the global economy.

Indeed, its dispersed populations, small size and isolation from the rest of the world have long hampered the development of Samoa. These circumstances impose large costs on service provision in education, economic development, social welfare, health, travel and communication and have limited the growth of important industries such as fisheries, agriculture and tourism.

The Samoan people need access to telephones, faxes, photocopying machines, e-mail and Internet services to strengthen them personally and professionally, as well as for community development. If they have a sense of ownership of the telecenter, and they or their representatives are involved in the set-up and running of a successful telecenter, their self confidence will be boosted, negativity about effecting change will be banished and many other positive benefits for development in the community will result.

Even in advanced economies, there are rural and remote communities that have been left behind in terms of educational and technological equity and access. The technological revolution that is transforming our economies and societies into information economies and information societies meets with many obstacles in developing countries and is in danger of widening the now well-known “digital divide.”

Conversely, the technological advances provide the means for “leapfrogging”—that is, the opportunity for developing countries to jump to a new paradigm before problems of delivery have been solved by traditional means, both in technical and economical terms.

There is now increasing awareness of the potential for public access facilities in low-income and rural areas to provide a broad range of low-cost communication and information services, ranging from phone calls and email to multimedia distance learning and e-commerce. These centers exploit the convergence of technologies to provide cost-effective services where most people cannot afford their own PC, phone line or Internet connection.

Improvements in telecommunication services and information technology now provide increasing opportunities for Samoa to overcome these circumstances by:

· Reducing barriers of distance
· Improving service delivery within Samoa and among the Pacific Community
· Reducing costs
· Improving the knowledge, skills and general development of its people
· Maximising its economic growth
· Affording the capacity to work more effectively

BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
People living in developing countries are becoming increasingly aware of the powerful role that new information and communication technologies can play to help them in their struggle for education, democracy, and economic and social development. However, with six billion people on the planet and only about 800 million telephone lines, more than half of the world’s population have not yet made a telephone call, let alone accessed the Internet. If this digital divide is not closed, there could be an even greater gap between the rich and poor of the world.

Telecenters have considerable potential for narrowing the “digital divide” in remote, rural and otherwise disadvantaged communities. They can be especially useful in help rural Samoan villages take advantage of the information economy, access education, government information, healthcare and other services, and develop socially and economically. While facilities and usage vary across telecenters, all reflect the intention to address the issues of access by providing technology, develop human capacity and encourage social and economic development.

One of the major barriers to telecommunication service provision in Samoa has been that the costs of installing, maintaining, and using the infrastructure are high, while income levels are usually low, so the investment in providing the necessary facilities to individual users cannot be justified. However, now that the infrastructure can carry a range of ICT services and not just voice calls, providing access has become more feasible, especially if the costs are spread across many people making use of a variety of services through public access centers.

PROJECT BENEFITS

· The Internet and Web — new and enlarged sources of information and knowledge
· E-mail and chat rooms — new forms of communication and “virtual organisations”
· The extraordinary pace of software development — generic and locally produced teaching, training and information material, with enhanced graphics, animation and interaction
· Public access schemes — greater assistance to lower income groups and disadvantaged communities
· Creating new markets for ICT technology - Telecenters allow public agencies and private telecommunications and information technology companies to assess the demand for products and services while creating the market through exposing the public to the applications. They thus provide a means to explore rural locations as potential markets for those companies.
· The lowering of bandwidth costs and emergence of enhanced cable, wireless and satellite systems — increased the speed of sustainability as well creating greater opportunities for videoconferencing, online learning, etc.

One of the advantages of telecenters is that they provide a means of delivering public and private services to rural and remote locations without incurring immediate large investments. In fulfilling these goals, they are expected to have a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the communities they serve, helping to:

· Develop rural and remote infrastructure
· Provide rural regions with better public services and improved local administration
· Generate employment and foster socio-economic development
· Integrate relatively isolated communities into the national and international information network and thus accelerate exchange of private goods and services
· Transfer expertise in a number of areas, such as agriculture, to and from the community
· Give local producers access to market information, thus reducing the need for middlemen and increasing rural incomes.

SUSTAINIBILITY
Long-term economic sustainability is the probably the most critical issue
for the Apolima Community ICT Telecenter Project. Sustainability is an essential goal for long term success. To be sustainable, the telecenter must become commercially viable fairly quickly. Telecenters that cannot finance themselves in the long run become a drain on public resources and are continuously at risk of failure.

There are three main aspects of sustainability that need to be addressed: physical, intellectual and financial.

Physical
A safe, secure and comfortable physical environment is a key to the success of the telecenter. The humidity and salt air of Samoa are detrimental to the health of computer systems and other electronic equipment. Therefore it is necessary to create an climate controlled environment. This will increase the life span of equipment as well as create a comfortable working space. The telecenter must also be safe and secure. A telecenter with good security and well cared for equipment will attract users and ensure a telecenter’s survival.

Intellectual
Training in the use and basic maintenance of computers will be provided by the Ministry of Women, Social Services & Community Development to build capacity and allow the telecenter to run independently. Training will include, but is not limited to, typing, Operating Systems, Microsoft Office, and use of the Internet.

Financial
A financial independence is the goal of the ICT Telecenter Project. To reach this goal, the telecenter will be a multi-use facility encompassing not only phone line and Internet access, but also printing, photocopying and digital imaging services.

Eventually revenues from all services must cover operation and maintenance, additions and replacements of equipment, and, ideally, part of the initial investment. The commercial viability of telecenters depends on connection to data transmission capabilities of reasonable quality, especially Internet access and connectivity to government information networks.

The Apolima Community ICT Project has an advantage over most telecenters in the world in that it is not a start-up. The infrastructure, both physical and human is largely in place and running successfully in many villages across Samoa. This project only seeks to upgrade the telecenter to include more ICT services.

Experience shows that this “phased in” approach to Telecenter expansion offers the best chance of success. The Telecenter starts out with basic services and adds to them as demand grows.

PILOT PROGRAM
The Apolima Community ICT Telecenter Project will be a pilot program, the first of its kind in Samoa. Once successful, the initial ICT telecenter will become a model for other villages around the country. The knowledge and experience of the women managing the center can be transferred from one village to the next.

After six months the ministry will be able to determine:

· The demand for services
· Whether users would be interested in any additional services
· What the favored operating times are
· What kind of marketing and outreach strategies are needed
· The number of local organisations that are likely to bring classes or groups to the Telecenter, and the size of those groups.

Once a knowledge database is created taking into account the above information, the business plan can be streamlined for optimum efficiency.

BUDGET – APOLIMA COMMUNITY ICT TELECENTER 1 USD = 2.9 WST

Item Quantity Unit Extended
Cost
Notes




3 Total Capital Costs 53,359.00 WST





6 Total Recurrent Costs 18,331.88 WST


7 Total Costs (WST) 71,690.88 WST

8 Total Costs (USD) 24,720.99 USD

Posted by andrew at 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I had a great food day yesterday.

It started off basic enough with cinammon and brown sugar porridge for breakfast.

For lunch I made seared tandoori yellow fin tuna. Very easy, very tasty, cooks in seconds. It's so nice to be able to get such good fresh fish, so cheaply.

For a snack in the afternoon I made rosemary macaroni & cheese with some blue cheese added. It was incredibly decadent and delicous. I'm definately going to have to have that again. You can pick up Kraft Mac & Cheese in town at MD's Big Fresh for 4 tala 30.

For dinner there was pizza. What else? The combination of rosemary, garlic and sausage (also from MD's) was sublime. The crust was amazing. Soft and sweet, but crispy on the bottom. It was one of the best I've made.

I'm running out of that incredible pizza sauce my brother sent me from Trader Joe's. It's looks like it back to Hunt's soon.

Posted by andrew at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MD's Big Fresh is out of kitty litter (they tell me they are getting a shipment at the end of the month), so I'm having to experiment with dirt in the litter box. There are noteworthy advantages and disadvantages.

The best advantage, of course, is while litter at MD's costs 29 tala a box and I go through a box a month, dirt is free and readily available in Samoa. Litter is also heavy and a pain in the ass to drag up to my house. Dirt is right out front. That's about it for the advantages, actually.

The disadvantages are strong. There's no doubt about it. The dirt fucking stinks. My little shack now smells like a New York City alley. With the litter, you couldn't smell a thing. The cats don't seem to mind, though they go outside more these days in the real dirt anyway. The dirt also doesn't clump so it's harder to clean the box and the cats little white paws get so damn dirty. On top of that, they track it all over the house.

All in all, I'd have to give dirt a big thumbs down.

Posted by andrew at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When your blender explodes, spraying your strawberry milk concoction all over the living room floor, the cats not only will lap it all up, but they will do it with enthusiasm and ask for more.

Look at the little guys go! You have to admire their desire to keep my place neat and tidy.

Posted by andrew at 07:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I really enjoyed this book, although I was laughing at it initially. The book is divided into two parts. The first has three types of chapters that alternate: those that follow Howard's life, those that follow Lucy's life, and intercolary chapters about the history of Callimbia. In the second part, Howard (a palaeontologist) and Lucy (a travel writer) meet (and fall in love) when they are taken hostage on their way to Nairobi.

If you haven't heard of Callimbia, don't worry. Penelope Lively made it up. It's a small country tucked in between Egypt and Lybia. I was laughing at this book because in order to give Callimbia veracity, Lively calls upon historians and writers famous for being in Egypt to give accounts of the history of the Callimbia. When I first came across an except from Herodotus about the geography and people of Callimbia, I laughed out loud. It was not a pleasurable, oh this is funny, sort of laughter. It was a derisive, oh this is absurd, sort.

Then I got over it, because the characters are interesting and the subsequent excperts from Plutarch and Flaubert didn't bother me much. In fact, the one from Flaubert is great because it pokes fun at his penchant for whoring.

This is the second book I've read in short order about love during a hostage situation in a fictional or vague developing country (Bel Canto is the other). I think I enjoy this genre. I wonder if there are any other novels out there with this theme.

Here's a quote from the book about travel that I really enjoyed:

We do indeed live in global times, she thought. That is the problem. The globe has lost its mystery and its terrors. It no longer has oceans, deserts and forests, it is reduced to time zones, flight numbers and the logo of an airline. We are all travelers now. In the airport departure lounges she contemplated the boredom and the composure of those who circumnavigate the world today, in tracksuits and anoraks, slung about with electronic goods and cheap liquor, surprised by nothing, lords of the universe. It has come to this. Once upon a time a stranger was to be wondered at, questioned, attacked maybe, but never, for heaven's sake, accepted with indifference and a yawn. In the linguistic babel of arrivals and departures the itinerant hordes are barely aware of one another, moving between destinations as impervious as the baggage trundling around the carousel. Only language survives, and the cast of an eye, the color skin.

Posted by andrew at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning I bought a barracuda from the fish market. I've never cooked (or eaten) barracuda before so I have no idea what I'm going to with it. It was just too cool and too cheap (10 tala, about $3.25) to pass up.

I had it cut into steaks. I'll probably fry it up with some onions maybe in Satay or Tandoori sauce. If it tastes like crap, I can always feed it to the kittens.

I also picked up four pounds of Yellow Fin tuna fillets. Yellow Fin is the tuna used in sushi bars around the world to make sashimi. It's one of the best fish on the planet. This huge chunk that I bought today would probably cost about 500 bucks in any run of the mill sushi bar. It cost me less than 6 It's only 5 tala a pound).

Ah, the benefits of living in the developing world. Adios, it's sashimi time.

Posted by andrew at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There's a song on that getting tons of air time on Magik 98.1 FM in Samoa. It's by a rapper called 50 cent and I think the song is called "21 Questions".

Anyway there's a lyric in the song that goes something like this:

You know I love you like a fat kid love (sic) cake

Once you get over the basic problem of subject-verb agreement, you have this incredibly odd simile. Certainly, there is no finer love than that between an obese adolescent and his baked goods, but come on, this can't be serious. Are you with me on this ladies?

Call me old fashioned, but can you imagine Sinatra crooning about portly children and cake?

How much do I love you?
I’ll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?

How many times a day do I think of you?
How many roses are sprinkled with dew?

How far would I travel
To be where you are?
How far is the journey
from here to a star?

How much do I love you?
How much does a fat kid love cake?

Hmmm, maybe it does have a certain ring to it.

Posted by andrew at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stop by the The Dullest Blog in the World if you want laugh out loud. It could be that my threshold for humor has slipped during my ten months on Samoa, but this is damn funny...

Posted by andrew at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Never again in your lifetime will Mars be so spectacular!

In August, the Earth and Mars will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of-2.9 and will appear 25.11 Arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.

Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the East at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history.

So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share with your children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever see this again.

Red Planet will be as near to Earth's orbit as it has been in at least 5,000 years

by Martin Merzer
10 August 2003

On Aug. 27, Mars will be 'only' 34,646,418 miles away.

Talk about once-in-a-lifetime visits: During the next few weeks, our planetary neighbor -- Mars -- glides ever closer, ultimately making its nearest approach to Earth in all of recorded history.

"The last time people looked up and saw this, Neanderthal man saw it," said Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the planetarium at the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium. "This is going to be so stunning."

The reason: By Aug. 27, Mars will be "only" 34,646,418 miles away, pretty much the galactic equivalent of idling in our driveway. With a little bit of luck, the view will be spectacular.

And you don't have to wait until the end of the month. Mars already is much closer and appears much brighter and larger in the southeast sky than it did at the beginning of July, when it was 52 million miles away.

Observers have been giving the light show glowing reviews. Astronomers say you have never seen anything like this. Neither have your parents. Or their parents. Or . . . well, you get the idea.

All experts agree that Mars hasn't been this close in at least 5,000 years. Most astronomical calculations raise those estimates to 59,619 years.

"I've already been watching, and over the next several weeks it will be getting bigger and brighter," said astronomer David Menke of Plantation, former director of the Buehler Planetarium on the Broward Community College campus in Davie. "It will just be fabulous."

GRAVITATIONAL DUET

Every day brings Mars closer, the result of a gravitational duet around the sun that produces neighborly visits every 26 months but rarely such close encounters.

The condition that will occur on Aug. 27 is called "opposition" -- when the sun, Earth and Mars form a straight line, bringing Mars and Earth relatively close.

But the elliptical orbits of planets make some oppositions closer than others.

This one is so close that sky watchers using nothing but their eyes might be able to tell if Mars is awash in dust storms. It turns out that the Red Planet is not always so red, especially when viewed from Earth.

"If it appears to be mostly gold with no hint of ruby whatsoever, you're probably seeing a dust storm on the planet," Horkheimer said.

"If you see a hint of red with the naked eye, you're seeing the surface," he said.

And if you use even an inexpensive, 100-power telescope, you might be able to discern Mars' southern ice cap -- though Earth's shimmering atmosphere often frustrates viewers.

Long a source of fascination for Earthlings, Mars continues to intrigue scientists, who have recently determined that the ice cap is made from water rather than frozen carbon dioxide.

That, of course, raises profound new questions: How much water once existed on Mars? How much still exists underground? What does this imply about the prospect of life on Mars?

SCIENTIFIC PROBES

A new squadron of scientific probes -- including two ground rovers -- is en route to the planet, and experts hope the devices will help unravel some of these mysteries. In addition, visionaries still muse about human colonization of Earth's closest planetary neighbor.

"Mars has always captured our imaginations," said Menke, who teaches at Coral Springs High School. "Its blood-red color made it representative of the god of war and there's always been a lot of folk lore associated with Mars."

So, you'll probably want to catch this opportunity rather than wait for the next "perfect opposition" of Earth and Mars.

That one comes along on Aug. 28 . . . 2287.

Posted by andrew at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I got another one of those Nigerian scam emails this week. This one is fascinating. Apparently one of my relatives living in Nigeria, a man by the name of Allan Hecht was killed in car crash (I didn't know I had family in Africa!!!).

Mr. Hecht left a sizeable fortune, over 10 million bucks and his scrupulous lawyer, incongruously named Mr. Abba Naaabba, esq., has scoured the world to contact me about my share of the inheritance.

From: "abba naabba"
To:
Subject: HELLO
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2003 19:32:28 +0100

Dear Hecht,

I am Barrister Abba Naabba, a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney to Mr Allan Hecht,a national of United States,who used to work with Shell Development Company in Nigeria. Hereinafter shall be referred to as my client.

On the 21st of Oct 1999, my client, his wife and their two Children were involved in acar accident along sagamu express road. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost there lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to the embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives this has also proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided tolook for somebody reliable to receive this fund hence I contacted you.

I have contacted you to assist in claiming the money and propertyleft behind by my client before the bank confiscates or declare the fund unserviceable. Until his death,he has,and maintained a US Dollar currency deposit account with a closing balance of USD 11,403,994.50 with a Security Company, The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company have written to recover all such dormant and unclaimed accounts to reinvest it with other Fund through the capital market, but we have cleverly informed them that a member of his family as next of kin has shown interest to claim the deposited amount.

It is for the urgency of this claim that I write toyou to stand and receive the money as Mr. Allan's next of kin since I have been an unsuccessful attempt in locating the relatives for over 2 years now.I seek your consent to present youas the next of kin of the deceased since I can perfectly procure allthe vital documents that would aid the transfer into any account of my choice abroad.

I am prepared to disburse the money among ourselves in following ratio:

Beneficiary/next of kin 30% plus 10% for Bank and legalexpenses while my colleagues and I in the chamber shall have 60%.

If this proposal is acceptableby you and you do not want to take undue advantage of the trust we intend to bestow on you and your company, then kindly respond immediately through my private e-mail: ,furnishing me with your confidential telephone and fax, e-mail address, and I have all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may make.

As soon as I receive the aforesaid I shall furnish youwith the text of theapplication that would be sent to the finance company for fund clearance.

All I require is your honesty and cooperation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Best Regards,

ABBA NAABBA (ESQ

I wrote back immediately:

Dude, I am so, like, all over that. It sounds like the
answer to all my problems. Whao!. Let me know what I
have to do to recover that fundage.

peace out,

Hecht

I can't believe that I received a response to this letter (it came this morning). I wonder how far I should push it. I think I'm going to tell him that I live in Samoa, but don't have a phone or a fax machine and see if I can get him to come here.

I also suppose I should be indignant about Mr. Naaba's 60% fees, but then again, this is all a big joke.

From: "abba naabba"
To:
Subject: thank's /detailed information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2003 16:53:47 +0100 Dear Andrew Hecht,

This is to acknowledge the receipt of your mail and to also express my profound gratitude for your acceptance to work with me and I want to assure you that at the end of this transaction, you will forever be happy that you are involved as it will bring about a mutual financial long lasting relationship between us and our
families and business to the fourth generation.

As the Next Of Kin of my late client Allan Hecht, you are absolutely entitled to know the details of the transaction so as to avoid mistakes. And it is quite simple and easy. The late Allan Hecht, my client, died in an auto accident in company of his wife and children in one of his official assignments. In view of the fact that I am his personal attorney and in charge of his estates, I am in the know of all his belongings and so I have been searching for anyone that will come up to claim relationship with him so that I can present him to the FINANCE COMPANY, where he has the sum of US$11,403,994.50 left in his account.

Now the bank contacted me forthnight(2 weeks) ago to provide the Next Of Kin of my late client within twenty-one days otherwise the money would be confiscated through the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation in line with the Federal Government Financial Edict. It is however on this premise that I write to inform you so that you and I can work together and have this money transfered into your account for our private use instead of the government returning the fund into their treasury as unclaimed fund.

It would interest you to note that this transaction is a 100% risk free, besides I am a human right activist also a lawyer by proffession based in Nigeria. Be assured that the transaction does not have any legal implication on both parties. If it were to be I would not have involved myself given my profession. So all it entails you to do is to act as the next of kin to Mr.Allan Hecht This will take pla ce because I will write an application to the bank presenting you as Mr. Allan's next of kin.

If you are ready and interested to work with me sincerely and honestly, advise you to send me your telephone and fax numbers. As soon as I receive it, i shall send an application to the bank on your behalf as the next Of Kin to my late client with some vital documents of my late client. I as the attorney to Mr.Allan Hecht will invariably and inevitably become your attorney and will take care of any legality that comes out should there be any.

My dear, it is my expectation and believe that with this you will be absolutely satisfied and assured that you are on safe ground. Should you not be convinced, feel free to ask me any question that bothers you, but as for me, I am quite sure that we are going to work out together to your satisfaction.

I advise you to call me through my number 234 -1- (24 hrs). Also, do please give me your telephone and fax number for I know it is the best means of the bank getting across to you. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and assistance while unequivocally assuring you of my genuineness. I await your immediate response and hoping for a good success.

Best regards,

Abba Naabba.

Posted by andrew at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I recently helped another PCV (Jim in Pokhara , Nepal) put a COS (Close of Service) countdown on his site. I don't know why, but its fun to help out other volunteers with their sites. Just being in contact with volunteers around the world is pretty damn cool.

You can find Jim's site here:

Jim Lengel's Peace Corps web page

Posted by andrew at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

You can usually get fresh mushrooms imported from New Zealand at MD's Big Fresh. They are a little pricey, about 10 tala a pound, but the alternative is buying cans of what are ambitiously labeled "champignons" or doing without.

Occasionally I splurge and pick up half a pound or so. I bought some the other day and made a mushroom pizza last night.

Sadly, this one looks much better than it tasted. It wasn't the mushrooms, they were great. It was the crust.

I decided to experiment and try to make a thin crust pizza. My pizzas tend to be on the fluffy side, which is fine, but I like a little variety. I've been slowly reducing the amount of yeast that I use which has had little effect on the "fluffiness" of the crust so I tried making dough without yeast. What a huge mistake.

It all looked fine when it came out of the oven: golden brown crust, bubbling cheese and great looking shrooms. But the yeast-less no rise crust didn't cook all the way through and it was dense as brick, so tough, in fact that I had a tough time cutting through it with my serrated knife. The crust was thin and damn crispy, though. I'm going to have work on that recipe.

Posted by andrew at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Champ of Champs is one of the biggest sporting events of the year in Samoa. It brings together all the winning athletes from the secondary school district competitions all over the country.

I wanted to go and take pictures. The colorful outfits and all the excitement of the students in the would have been great to shoot. The venue, Apia Park, is also just down the way from the Peace Corps office. However it was raining so hard that it was going to be unpleasant for spectators and horrible for shooting.

I went to have lunch at the Steakhouse with a few other volunteers and found that the Champ of Champs was on television. So while we waited for our burgers, we watched this guy from Avele College blow the field away in the 800 meters.

On my way home on the bus, we passed Apia Park with soaked students streaming out of the stadium. Maybe next year it will be sunny.

Posted by andrew at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're wondering what other volunteers are doing around the world, check out the Peace Corp Blog Web Ring.

I set it up to gather as many web logs by currently serving volunteers in one place. So far there are only 8 other sites listed, but we're just getting started and the ring is growing steadily.

There are member sites at the moment from Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Krygyzstan, St. Lucia, and Bulgaria.

It's ineresting to think how different my life would be right now if I had taken a different assignment...

Posted by andrew at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It must be a director's dream to not only be able to completely direct every aspect of the shot, but also to have a team of the finest digital animators in the world to make it a reality. The animators at Pixar are just absolute geniuses. There's no question about it. Their unbelievable attention to even the smallest detail is amazing. I have so much respect for their work. The animation is simply brilliant.

I saw Finding Nemo last night at the Magik Cinema downtown and was floored by how good it was. There are so many aspects of the film that would be interesting to talk about, but what I liked the most is how well they nailed the accents for the fish.

It's one thing to have a grizzled Angel Fish and get Wilem Dafoe to voice it. It's entirely another thing to have lobsters with Boston accents, a Great White Shark from Australia, and dueling Swordfish speaking with upper crust English accents.

My favorite of them all was Crush, the turtle. It might be that I just swam with turtles over the weekend and have tortugas on the brain. Or it might be the California surfer accent is just so perfectly suited for the laid back easy going tortoises, that I just fell for it.

Whatever the case, I my admiration for Pixar continues to grow which each successive opus.

Posted by andrew at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

You're probably wondering who Richard Kalin is. I, myself, wasn't even aware of his existence until a week ago. However his passing has hit me like a ton of bricks.

Richard Kalin was formerly the CEO of a small company called Micronetics that my father used to run back in the 80s. I have a few shares of stock in the company which I hadn't thought of in a long time until lately when shares of NOIZ (the company makes radar jamming equipment, amongst other things) started climbing precipitously.

I was reading one of their press releases and decided to write them to find out what they thought about the prospects for the company and the stock. It was only after I sent the email that I realized that the address on the release was for the Richard Kalin, the CEO of the company.

I didn't expect a response but I got one within the hour. I was shocked, but pleasantly. It's to own shares in a company that is so responsive. Here's the email:

Andrew,

I remember your father.

I am optimistic about future growth, but no one can no for sure. I expect the current rate of growth and increased profitability to continue. I think we are developing some momentum.

RSK

This morning, when I checked my email, there was a note from my dad saying that Richard had been killed in car accident.

I didn't know this man. He had very little effect on my life. However, since I just corresponded with him last week, it seems crazy, even unreal, that he is gone.

It just shows you how quickly everything you have in world can all just vanish in an instant. It's enough to turn anyone into an existentialist.

Micronetics says CEO Kalin killed in car accident
Friday August 8, 12:31 pm ET

NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Micronetics Inc. (NasdaqSC:NOIZ - News), a maker of microwave and radio frequency components and subassemblies used in defense and aerospace, on Friday said Richard Kalin, its president and chief executive, was killed in a car accident on Thursday.

The Hudson, New Hampshire-based company, which also makes and designs equipment that tests signals used in communications equipment, said its board of directors appointed David Robbins interim CEO and a director. Robbins was recently senior vice president of Micronetics' defense electronics group.

Trading was halted in Micronetics shares prior to the company's announcement. The shares last traded on the Nasdaq at $5.14, down 77 cents, or 13 percent.

Posted by andrew at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This book, , is a little treasure. It was such a surprise find. One of friends had it on her shelf and I read it one morning. It's less than 200 pages, so it's a quick read.

Packed in those few pages is a great story of defiance in the face of Mao's Cultural Revolution. The tale centers around two friends from the city who are shipped off to one of the most remote parts of China to work in the fields. Their struggle for survival is helped along with the find of a cache of outlawed western novels including some, of course, from Balzac.

This is one of my favorite passages from the novel:

Watching them during fittings, Luo and I were amazed to see how agitated they were, how impatient, how physical their desire for new clothes was. It would evidently take more than a political regime, more than dire poverty to stop a woman from wanting to be well dressed: it was a desire as old as the world, as old as the desire for children.

The book really turns the Cultural Revolution on its ear. These youths who are sent to the countryside are not only not "re-educated", but instead infect the villagers with their "western" ways through their storytelling.

At first the village headman sends the boys into the closest town to watch North Korean movies and retell the stories to the peasants. When they find a suitcase full of books, they start reinacting the stories from this library of classics. This all has dramatic effects for everyone they come in contact with, especially the Little Seamstress.

Posted by andrew at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I love that "The Terminator" could possibly be the next governor of the great state of California. Arnold hasn't make a decent movie in a long time and he needs a new gig, so this makes perfect sense. We also have a long history of bad making actors making their way into the Governor's Mansion. He can't possibly do a worse job than the current holder of the office.

To get the feeling of the effect of Schwarzenegger in office, look into the mirror and say the following in your thickest Tyrolean accent:

"I wrote the legislation. I directed the legislation. I am the legislation".

Schwarzenegger Ends the Suspense
Actor Announces Gubernatorial Bid After Weeks of Speculation
By Brooke Brower

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7 — Arnold Schwarzenegger knows how to grab an audience.

The former Mr. Universe and perpetual action hero kept Californians, Gov. Gray Davis, the Republican Party and national political reporters in suspense all day Wednesday before finally revealing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno that he will run for governor in the California recall election.

The actor told Leno, "The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing."

"The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis," Schwarzenegger added.

Surprise Announcement
Schwarzenegger told many people last week he didn't plan to run. He reportedly held many meetings over the last few weeks with his friend and neighbor, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, to discuss whether one of them would enter the race.

Some even speculated Wednesday that Schwarzenegger would use the Tonight Show appearance to announce Riordan's candidacy. But Schwarzenegger kept them all guessing until the last minute.

"He fooled everyone," ABCNEWS' George Stephanopoulos said on Good Morning America.

The actor finished a promotional tour for his new movie Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines last week. "As I always have said, when I'm finished with my Terminator promotion, I would deal with this issue of whether I would run or not," he said at a news conference after the Tonight Show taping.

Schwarzenegger also met recently with GOP leaders including former Gov. Pete Wilson. Schwarzenegger had been telling people he did not plan to run, at least in some part because of the wishes of his wife, journalist Maria Shriver.

According to sources, Shriver softened her opposition to a campaign when she realized how important it was for her husband to make the run.

"My wife told me that she would support me no matter what the decision is, and I decided that I would run for governor of this great state," the former body builder told reporters at a press conference.

"If she had been against my campaigning and my going for governor, I would not have done it," he said.

‘Carnival-Like Atmosphere’

With California's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, saying Wednesday she will not run, Democrats seem to have already lost their marquee candidate. In a statement Wednesday morning, Feinstein said the recall race was becoming "more and more like a carnival every day" and that she thought staying in the Senate was the best thing she could do for her state. She later said Schwarzenegger's announcement would not make her change her mind.

Late Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the Democrat who currently serves under Davis, announced that he will join the race for the governor's job, striking a blow to Democrats' hopes that Davis would not face any serious opposition from within his own party.

Schwarzenegger's entrance will certainly do little to lessen the carnival-like atmosphere of the recall.

"I will go to Sacramento and I will clean house," the actor told reporters Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger is seen as a relative moderate compared with some of the other Republicans mulling a run, including 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon and Rep. Darrell Issa, who largely financed the initial recall signature-gathering with his own money.

Issa is expected to announce his candidacy and file papers in San Diego today. Republican State Sen. Tom McClintock filed papers to run on Tuesday.

Schwarzenegger cited the state's $38 billion deficit and an education system that he described as "the last in the country" as some of the reasons motivating him to run.

"We just see things declining, declining and declining," he said. "California is being run now by special interests … and we have to stop that."

The entrance of both the relatively moderate Schwarzenegger and Gov. Davis' own second-in-command will make it much harder for Davis and fellow Democrats to argue that recall effort is simply a coup of right-wing interests.

In July, a Los Angeles Times poll of registered California voters showed Schwarzenegger in fourth place behind Feinstein, undecided and Riordan. With those two candidates eliminated, and with Riordan's supporters behind him, his numbers could rise quickly.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger. Finally a candidate who can explain the Bush administration's positions on civil liberties in the original German."
~ Bill Maher

Posted by andrew at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last night, I got a great surprise when my phone rang and on the other end was my mom.

I hadn't talked to her in about 10 months and it was so strange to hear her voice. I almost didn't recognize it at first, that's how long it's been. It was also the first call I've recceived from overseas. I'm very happy it was her.

She bought some kind of phone card that lets her call Samoa from the States for 29.5 cents a minute. That's reasonable, I suppose, but I bet there's some better deals out there. If anyone know of any, please lt me know.

I love my mom. It was really nice to catch up with her and hear her voice.

Posted by andrew at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wherever I go, cats inevitably follow, which I suppose is nice considering how much I like their company.

My surprise guest this weekend at Jane's Beach Fales was a wizened female tabby who took a liking to me and starting hanging around the balcony and sleeping on the mat inside the room.

This cat was a funny one. She would follow me down to beach (only a few feet away from my doorstep, but still adorable). When I put her outside she would climb back in through one the windows (you couldn't close them). She was insistent that sleep inside the room (I had to admire that). She was so old that when she opened her mouth to meow nothing would come out. It was very cute.

Posted by andrew at 09:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

GALLERY: Seta'olepai Turtles

This afternoon I swam with turtles. It was amazing.

There is a small, unfunded, family-run conservation project in the village of Seta'olepai on the north coast of Savai'i. The family buys turtles, mostly green turtles and hawksbills, off fishermen (who would otherwise eat them) and keep them in a large fresh water pool. They have even built a sandy beach in the the enclosure to compel the turtles to them to lay eggs.

The setting is so serene. Nothing but palm trees, traditional wooden fales for resting and few well designed fresh ponds that have the feel of water gardens. The place is few hundred meters off the main road so there's there's no one around, no cars whooshing by and it's blessedly quiet.

There are something like 15 turtles at the moment. They are so incongruously graceful as they float around their pool. I wish I had an underwater camera. The view under the water was surreal. The dust from the bottom hung like a mist from the turtles would emerge like some kind of beneficient prehistoric beast. I was entranced.

I swam with them for about half an hour in the cool waters of the enclosure. Then I sat by the edge of the pool, taking photos as they would glide by or breach to breathe and check me out. This is one of the best things I've seen in Samoa.

Posted by andrew at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

There's nothing really exceptional about this picture. It's your standard portrait of a mom and her son working at the family fale'oloa.

What I love about this shot is her t-shirt. Here's this woman wearing an "I want my Monterey Roast Beef Sandwich" from Jack in the Box in one of the most remote parts of Samoa on the island of Savai'i.

The thing is, this is hardly remarkable. I find Samoans wearing t-shirts like this all over the country. For a long time I wanted to start taking pictures of these people and their incongruous ofus.

I always wonder where these shirts come from and how they get to Samoa. My training host family had a bunch of them (which they made me wear). My favorite was the sleeveless Washington State University sweatshirt.

Posted by andrew at 09:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tomorrow I'm taking off for the big island of Savai'i where I'm going to plant my ass firmly in the sand and do nothing for the entire weekend but eat, sleep, swim and lie in the sun (that is if the weather cooperates, which today, it is not doing). There's no computers, so no blogging until I'll get.

It's going to be my first real vacation where I've had nothing to do since I arrived in Samoa. The country is also being very cooperative - Monday is a holiday, so I don't have to be back to Apia for 4 days.

Monday (the 4th of August) is also my birthday (my brother's birthday too, incidentally - happy b-day, Brian). I'm turning 33. I don't feel 33. Not even close. It feels very odd to say that and even odder to write it and see the number staring at me in the face.

A number of people have expressed concern to me about the ability (or lack thereof) of the USPS to get packages to Samoa in a timely manner. This is a huge problem for us. But don't fear. If you want to give me a gift, and let's face it, you're chomping at the bit to do it, there are many ways you can achieve your goal:

1) Make a donation in my name to the Human Fund.
2) Go to a bar, have a few drinks and thank god you're not in the Peace Corps stuck on rock in the middle of the Pacific.
3) Send a few bucks to my account at and help me buy a new digital camera.

Fa'afetai lava to all of you who have already chosen option number 3.

Posted by andrew at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

I wasn't planning on it, but I went shopping today for new shirts. There's a store in town called CCK (stands for coffee, cocoa & kava, none of which you can buy at the store-go figure).

CCK is a two floor shop, new clothes on the bottom and used stuff upstairs. I head straight upstairs where there are a dozen racks of previously loved and incredibly cheap stuff.

I picked out four blue XL short sleeve button down shirts, which is mostly all I wear here. The best thing is that CCK takes credit cards. So I'm going to have a tiny charge on my bill and 4 new shirts in my closet.

A little goes a long way at C C K

Posted by andrew at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday I looked in my box to get my mail (we get mail on Tuesday and Thursday) and there was something horrible inside: a letter stamped, "Return to Sender - Moved Not Forwardable". It was addressed to Anita Torres.

Anita is a old friend of mine. She was a fellow student in the Classics department at UC - Santa Cruz. She graduated and went off to the University of Chicago to get her PHD. I went to Atlanta. That was in 1996. We lost track of each for years.

Then, out of the blue, I get an email from her in January. You know those emails. "Hey, just checking to see if this is you". blah, blah, blah. I wrote back several times, but never got a response.

Then in April a package arrived, postmarked Brooklyn, NY from Anita. It was a Christmas present, books, and Andy Warhol calendar, a cute card with a googly eyed Santa.

I wanted to email her to thank her for the gift, but this was during my fiasco with Yahoo. I might have been able to send her an email from another account, but I needed to get access my account to get her address. Fuck.

When I finally got back into my account in May, I emailed Anita straight away and got one of those "mailer-daemon" responses. Apparently, the account had been closed.

I remembered the box with the return address in Brooklyn. I printed out a few emails, wrote a long letter and stuff it in the mail with 3 tala 90 worth of stamps. That was the 17th of June. After what I can only think must have a pleasant stay in the States, the epistle returned yesterday.

What to do? What to do?

Last night I scoured the Internet for her name and any mention of the University of Chicago. I found a page for some Classics conference with her name and email (also, doesn't work) and the emails of several of her colleagues. I wrote them all explaining what was going on. I got an email back from one of them, Laura Slatkin, who, incidentally, also went to UC-Santa Cruz, although we didn't know each other (I don't think). She gave me Anita's email address, which turns out to the be the one that Anita used to email in the first place that no longer works. Damn.

So I'm at an impasse. I suppose she can easily find me since my email hasn't changed in years. However I think she might be angry at for not thanking her for the Christmas gift. She has no way of knowing it would take 4 months to get here and I had no way to thank her. It's just a theory anyway.

I don't know what to do or where to look. I'd really like to find her. Any suggestions?

Posted by andrew at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Stacy, the Samoa CD, is out of the country, so I've been riding out town without a hemet with impunity, more or less. It's so great not to have that unwieldy brain bucket on my head which makes me feel even more than a freak than I already feel.

Posted by andrew at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)