tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85108030491236386032024-03-12T18:57:11.558-05:00XO MikeMike's log throughout his internship with One Laptop Per ChildMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-46524802036449964292010-02-25T01:50:00.001-06:002010-02-25T01:51:33.171-06:00I've Moved!I have moved my blogging to: <a href="http://xomike.wordpress.com/">http://xomike.wordpress.com/</a><div><br /></div><div>Please feel free to follow me there. I will be covering what I am doing now, mostly covering the photos that I am taking.</div><div><br /></div><div>Xiau</div><div>-XO Mike</div>Michael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-36106984874911474202009-08-20T23:41:00.001-05:002009-08-20T23:42:36.987-05:00PicturesIf you're still reading this I've added my pictures to flickr.<br /><br />You can visit the pictures at: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwing49/collections/72157617887267509/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwing49/collections/72157617887267509/</a>Michael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-47214770855006524732009-07-30T12:31:00.003-05:002009-07-30T12:38:01.929-05:00Server WorkThis week I spent almost every hour of our student training in the other room working on our server. We realized that we need to setup the Moodle installation (digital classroom for testing, turning in assignments, etc.) to display Portuguese. We also came up with the idea of creating a student created school Wikipedia. Both of these tasks were above what I knew how to do but I am powering through.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Work%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Work%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The biggest problem this week has been dealing with the slow internet; at the school we have the fastest connection I’ve seen on island, but even then we average 6KB/s downloads. To put that in perspective, Comcast will get downloads around 300+KB/s; 50x faster. Whenever I wanted to Google something I would need to wait a while just to let the page load and realize it isn’t what I need/want. The second biggest problem is that the power will go out and the worst moments. Some of the download managers I was using were able to save partial downloads and continue later but others weren’t as fortunate and after a 30 minute power outage I would start over.<br /><br />Moodle needed to be addressed first and all of the manuals I would read online would tell me to click on this one item in the administration panel that I didn’t see. I thought I must have a different version of Moodle and kept reading post after post about how to set the global language to Portuguese. After hours of frustration I finally gave up and decided that the “admin” account on the XS (XO Server) is a crippled account which only allows limited access. Reuben, the technical guy from OLPC, replied to my email, with directions on how to activate the true admin account. Once I set the global language I realized there was another problem…<br /><br />When we first setup the XO computers we register them to the server so that they are enrolled as students in Moodle and the server begins automatically backing up their files. When they were enrolled in Moodle’s database it set their default language preference to the only available language at the time: English. I searched for a “Bulk User Language Change” command but found none. I thought, how bad could it be changing each individually, there are only 85 accounts. When I went to edit the first user I realized that the registration automatically set their language but did not select a country, city, surname and two other fields, all are necessary to be able to save a language change. The time required was starting to add up and I put this job on hold.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Work%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Work%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Getting the Wikipedia server setup on our XS was one of the most confusing processes I have ever been through. Not knowing where to begin I tried downloading the 10MB file from Mediawiki which includes the Wikipedia server. Unfortunately I found out I needed several other packages to be able to make the Wikipedia site visible to users. I told the server to download Mediawiki and all the necessary dependencies for the server and after hours and hours (maybe 15 hours of actual download time, 36 real life hours) I thought I finally had everything I needed. When it didn’t work I tried to determine the problem and found out that it didn’t install everything it needed like it should have. I installed a database server and still it didn’t work. Despite downloading and installing the database server, I needed to run an install script which installed what I just installed >:-O !!!<br /><br />After four days of work I am left without the site switched entirely to Portuguese and a Wikipedia page which has no template and is in the most unusable layout. This weekend is going to be kinda lame as I work on fixing these problems.<br /><br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-78024333313898480442009-07-27T11:45:00.005-05:002009-07-27T11:57:50.807-05:00Student Training – Week 2 – Days 3 and 4The second half of our week two training involved teaching Paint, Distance and Chat; this was the most frustrating and embarrassing training yet.<br /><br />Paint, led by Chika, went rather smooth and students now understand how to draw with a traditional brush and how to paint predesigned shapes in various sizes. The worst part of training students in Paint was that the program has a complex color choice system. The system allows you to graphically choose a color or to put in the color numbers. To graphically choose a color you need to select which color you want in a wheel and then the hues of the color appear in a triangle within the circle. After selecting the circle color, you need to click again to choose the hue of the color you want; finally you click OK and can start painting in a different color. If it sounds confusing, it is; far more complex than necessary given the applications limited functions. Unfortunately, this was just the start of our frustrations with the design choices on the XO for the day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Days%203%20and%204%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Days%203%20and%204%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After painting pictures and having the kids become comfortable with the program, students switched to test out Distance. Distance is an activity which requires two laptops. The two connect to each other and play a “CHHHH” sound and measure the time it takes for the other laptop to hear it. By knowing the speed of sound the laptops determine the distance between the two computers. Problems arise when there is lots of noise pollution and when the XOs choose to not connect to our network and server.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Days%203%20and%204%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Days%203%20and%204%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As we started introducing the idea to kids, we started noticing that some computers decided not to auto-reconnect to our network. When we manually told the laptop to connect to the network it would try and then eventually stop. Because of the simplicity of the XOs interface, there was no knowing why the computer could not connect. The teachers that were helping us in the classroom were looking at us asking for answers but we really didn’t have one. There was nothing wrong with the access points or server because other computers connected fine but there was no explanation why the computer wouldn’t connect. When we moved onto Chat, we had the same problem where computers were on different networks and some kids were unable to join the same chatroom as their friends.<br /><br />The days were difficult to get through and it really shows the delicate balance between open-source and product oriented development. Using open-source programmers to collectively build and patch problems leads to unfinished, unpolished projects which have yet to be fully thought through. We are waiting to hear back from other Corps teams to see if they know of a way to work around the problems.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-85457704312148814542009-07-26T17:16:00.004-05:002009-07-26T18:15:12.235-05:00Student Training – Week 2 – Day 2In order to better teach Class 2, Chika and I chose to do a demonstration (his idea) which would get the kids playing with the commands in a real world situation.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/scratch-s.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://ec.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/scratch-s.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The Scratch interface.</span><br /></div><br />Scratch is setup in three columns: on the left are possible commands in natural language (move 10 steps, play sound “miau” (meow in Portuguese), wait 2 seconds, etc.). In the center is the commands window where you construct the operations you would like your sprite to perform. On the right is the viewing window to see what your animation does and below you can switch to different sprites. Chika and I drew similar screens on the chalkboard and asked the kids to give us commands.<br /><br />We started with the kids giving me the, “move 10 steps” command. I wrote it down and did nothing. I then explained that they need to tell me when to do it and we added the, “when you clap your hands:” command. When they clapped their hands, I moved 10 steps. We added more commands and then added a second sprite, Chika. Chika received his own set of separate commands but we both started when they clapped their hands. We had the kids running us into walls, putting on glasses, saying “Ola!” and other movements which had them interested and constructing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%202%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%202%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Critically thinking.</span><br /></div><br />The switch to using the program was easier than the previous day but it is still difficult to get the kids to remember how to click and drag. Pretty soon the kids were able to get their animations moving and we finished what we had accomplished the previous day in just over half the time. We were able to explain how to paint and change backgrounds to the second class and, because of time, we are going to let that diffuse to the other class.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%202%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%202%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Pleased with how well day 2 went, Chika grabbed a candid of me.</span><br /></div><br />There is a very fine line between being a good teacher and a bad teacher. We were lucky to have a second chance at the program but it is difficult to know what works and what doesn’t before trying it. Danielle will be using a similar demonstration lesson to teach Memorize (a flash card game and learning tool when you make your own flash cards).<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-9263464339762476142009-07-26T16:39:00.002-05:002009-07-26T16:47:19.344-05:00Student Training – Week 2 – Day 1Training continued in week two starting with a day of Scratch training. Again, I was running the training and I tried to mimic how I taught the teachers. The training did not work too well because the kids were exploring the program rather than listening to some crucial bits of information such as how natural language commands will control the object. Furthermore, many of the kids found the button which adds a random new sprite (animation object) and after they had added 30 or so different sprites the program would become exceptionally slow due to hardware limitations and they would need to create a new project.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%201%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%201%20%281%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Working with the students can be fun and rewarding.<br /></span></div><br />After struggling with the kids to keep them roughly guided down a path I changed gears and tried to have them work in groups to create an animation with two sprites which both move and say something to each other. The students quickly arranged their desks into groups but did not understand the concept of group work. The students appeared to start individual projects but it became apparent that they didn’t understand, or at least want to understand, individual work.<br /><br />The group I was working with couldn’t stay close to on task. I tried to let them explore the program but at a certain point, they needed to begin participating in the creation of new animations rather than being entertained by example animations and adding new, random sprites.<br /><br />As my frustration grew it became increasingly difficult to be effective in helping; I was thankful when music started blasting outside our classroom 30 minutes before we dismissed. We could barely hear anything over Nelson Mandela’s birthday celebration and packed up to prepare for the following day.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%201%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 479px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Student%20Training%20-%20Week%202%20-%20Day%201%20%282%20of%202%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">One of our students with a South African flag for Mandela's Birthday.</span><br /></div><br />While the day was not a failure, there were several things which should have been executed differently teaching for children. When we got home we had a meeting to discuss how we should teach the same material to class two on the following day. Check back to see how we reacted.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-14682455800435224182009-07-25T13:20:00.004-05:002009-07-25T13:42:59.801-05:00Pico de Sao Tome – Day 2 of 2As Judy, Corey and I climbed out of our tent into the bright and chilly morning, Brice got the fire started again. We munched on some bread and bananas that we had brought for breakfast and just as we were starting to warm up Brice announced that we would go to the peak now. It was still 50 degrees and about 6:40 and he started to change into his t-shirt and told us we would want to do the same. I didn’t fully believe that I would get hot but I took his word and followed suit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%285%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 481px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%285%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%286%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 118px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%286%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We set off for the peak and my legs finally felt refreshed. The cold air woke me up and I was excited to reach the peak. 15 minutes into the climb and I was warm as we stopped to look out across the mountains. In the distance Brice pointed toward a mountain and said it was Mt. Cavallo, the peak we had crossed the previous day. I was stunned to see how far we had walked knowing that the path was anything but straight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%281%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%281%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After 15 more minutes of near vertical climbing we reached a clearing and a small monument marking the peak! The view was incredible and we could see most of the north half of the island. To the south vegetation was blocking our view but it gave me a sense of pride to know that I had made it to the top. We were standing at 6,640 ft when the previous morning and that night we would be at maybe 15 ft above sea level.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%282%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 396px; height: 264px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%282%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%283%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%283%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%284%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%284%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Although there were no artifacts left behind by previous climbers (Brice explained as few as one group a month reaches the top) we scrambled to find the first Illinois memorabilia we could find. We decided to leave Corey’s hat behind, affixed to the pole after all signing and dating the bill. We returned to our campsite after a few minutes of glory and were back within an hour to prepare the last of the remaining Shpaghet and some tea brewed from the bark of a tree we passed while climbing.<br /><br />After packing up our tent and gear we left our campsite and headed down a different route headed towards Neves, a city on the northwest side of the island. Walking down was much easier than climbing up however it was still difficult trying to keep your feet from sliding out beneath you, keeping your toes from jamming too hard into the front of your shoe, and trying to keep yourself from moving too fast down the hill.<br /><br />We passed by new plants and trees and Brice explained them to us; my favorite was the petrol tree. The petrol tree produces a highly flammable sap that will burn for quite a while when lit on fire. He also showed us two holes in the ground with spider webs around the area; with one word he had me on my way, “tarantula.” We continued our path down and eventually met the ruins of an old abandoned plantation circa 1800s. I expected we were close to the coast because there were the remains of a path which had been cleared for a train to travel along the mountain. We started to follow the path and it was much easier than cutting through the dense jungle.<br /><br />Back and forth we switched down the mountain, it was an easier slope but it slowed our progress. I can’t believe how any colonists found this high place and designed plans to lay this much track while moving huge quantities of earth to create flat land for the tracks.<br /><br />After another hour or two of walking the tracks we reached an active area of cropland. We rested for a few minutes and Brice asked if we wanted to walk to a waterfall only 5 minutes away. Of course I wanted to walk to a waterfall… until I saw what we had to go through. Much of the area’s natural streams are channeled into aqueducts which carry the water to a hydroelectric plant. We walked on top of an aqueduct and reached a tunnel.<br /><br />The tunnel was a narrow rounded arch only five feet across at the base. The tunnel had a concrete divider in the middle which allowed for the aqueduct to channel the water on one half while allowing access to the other side of the mountain. We took a few steps and it was sticky three inch deep mud. After twenty feet Brice stopped and said, “Agua, querem ir?” Water, you want to go? I figured water could only clean me at this point and we pressed on. The light at the end of the tunnel seemed infinitely far and it quickly became pitch black in the tunnel. Using my hands on the divider and the arch wall to my left we pressed through; I was thankful I couldn’t see my shoes, socks and jeans and expecting them to be ruined.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%288%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 479px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%288%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%287%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%287%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When we reached the end I looked left to see a 300 foot high waterfall; it was beautiful. We washed our faces off in the water and took lots of photos before we had to trek back through the tunnel. There are two ways to get to the waterfall, a 300 yard tunnel or a 200 yard tunnel; we took the 200 yard tunnel. After reaching the end I stuck my feet in the aqueduct to let the rushing water rinse my shoes, socks and jeans.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%289%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%289%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%2810%20of%2010%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%202%20%2810%20of%2010%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After another five minute journey we reached our rendezvous point and were told our ride would arrive in 20 minutes with some snacks. Lucio and his buddy arrived with some beers, sodas and cookies. It was good to finally be done with the trip and during the 45 minute drive back to the city I passed out, bobbing my head back and forth, intermittently waking up during a big bump. When we arrived at home I already wanted to schedule another trip the following weekend.<br /><br />Brice and Lucio laughed at how much we loved the Shpaghet and invited us back to Monte Café to have dinner with them in the future. We exchanged numbers and I went into the house to fall asleep.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-4555675841315416382009-07-24T02:11:00.004-05:002009-07-25T12:18:44.963-05:00Pico de Sao Tome – Part 1 of 2After speaking with our wonderful tour guide/taxi driver, Erneau, Corey, Judy and I were setup with a guide for the adventure of a lifetime. We all came to the island wanting to climb <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> mountain in Sao Tome but our expectations of the difficulty were nowhere near the requirements of the trek. Brice (Breecee) and Lucio, brothers from Monte Café, were going to take us on the trip. Brice would be our guide while Lucio would be our driver to and from the start and stop points.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%281%20of%208%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%281%20of%208%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We left Friday morning at 5am and headed inland to Monte Café which would be our starting point. After 30 minutes of driving we had reached our destination and met Brice before our two day trip to the top of Mount Sao Tome. After driving further up into the mountains we stopped and saw the signs toward the peak.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%282%20of%208%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%282%20of%208%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Brice said that he would make dinner and bring two tents and that we were responsible for lunch and breakfast. We took off on a gentle hike towards the national park passing by farmland on our way. Brice stopped a few times at different plants to explain their name and their unique properties. When we finally hit the national park the incline increased greatly and the higher altitude and climbing had me breathing hard.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%284%20of%208%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%284%20of%208%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After two hours or so we reached the clouds and humidity hit 100% as it somewhat rained with visibility around 20ft. Farther we climbed, not walked, on a narrow winding path with near vertical drops to our side with no ropes to protect us. The path was slippery with the high humidity and rainfall and it was evident that there had been several large landslides across our path.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%285%20of%208%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%285%20of%208%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As we reached above the clouds our path became even narrower as we climbed along a ridge of Mount Cavallo; we had yet to even reach Mount Sao Tome. We reached the peak of our first mountain and I was satisfied and although I still had energy, if that were the end of the trip, I would have been satisfied. We ate a quick snack and disappointingly headed down the mountain towards Mount Sao Tome. After another hour or two of climbing, we stopped and had lunch.<br /><br />We stayed at the site for about 30 minutes having a bite to eat and a short nap before heading back up the mountain. This was our first real break since 6am and it was already 11. We continued up the mountain and after a particularly difficult portion Brice said to us, “Americans are very strong, this is where the Portuguese cry.” I could go for a little crying at this point.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%286%20of%208%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 265px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%286%20of%208%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />By 1:30, after 7.5 hours of climbing we reached our campsite, 30 minutes below the peak. We were greeted by a large owl as we approached the site and I took it as a good sign; I haven’t really figured out what the sign was but it was really exciting to see such a large owl so close.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%287%20of%208%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%287%20of%208%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After two hours of rest we needed to refill our water supplies and headed down the mountain about 10 minutes to a natural spring. The path to the water was the most difficult section of both days and I’m glad we only needed to go once. The water was crystal clear, cool and safe as we drank it without any filtration. My fear of heights had been eliminated through the day of climbing inches from hundred foot falls and the fifty foot drop two feet from where we grabbed water no longer fazed me. Climbing back to our campsite took longer as we had to search for strong roots to grab onto and pull ourselves up. When we reached the top our guide asked if we wanted to go to the peak, we were caught a little off guard as we expected to go first thing in the morning and not knowing how far or difficult the climb would be, we declined and hung out in the sunshine and cool mountain top breeze.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%288%20of%208%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 397px; height: 289px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Pico%20de%20Sao%20Tome%20-%20Day%201%20%288%20of%208%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As night fell, Brice prepared spaghetti and tuna (shpaghet, as he called it). The way he prepared it was unlike anything I have ever seen. He started with the sauce in one pot (homemade and canned by himself), added the tuna and let the mix come to a slight boil. He added one liter of water and let that boil (still in just one pot). He added the noodles and let it cook for about 10 minutes before the mixture was ready. He did not strain the Shpaghet but it was ready all in one pot and not soupy. It was some of the best Shpaghet I have ever had.<br /><br />When the sun set, it started to get cold; I mean really cold. I was wearing jeans, wool socks and a fleece jacket and I was still cold. I expected to be alright to sleep in this outfit but I was soon regretting not insisting on Brice getting us sleeping bags. Corey, Judy and I all huddled into one tent as a way to conserver all of body heat we could.<br /><br />There was a slight problem with the placement of the tent. The ground was very uneven and from how we needed to arrange our heads and feet in the tent, two of the three spaces were on a higher ground while my space was on a 30 degree angle from my right to left, away from the other two spaces. At first I started to sleep at the bottom of the ramp where it was soft but I was two feet from Corey and in much lower ground. I awoke at 2am damp and shivering and tried to climb back up the slope to reach some much needed body heat. Corey had moved to the very edge of the top of the slope and the only way I could be near him, absorbing his heat, was to try and curl up on the slope. I fell asleep near the top by Corey but woke up minutes later trying to crawl back up the slope to warm up again. This battle raged on for several hours until finally day broke and it was time to get up.<br /><br />After some of the most uncomfortable sleep of my life I had a full days climbing and descending ahead of me.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-23222862479751306252009-07-21T17:18:00.003-05:002009-07-21T17:29:28.386-05:00Student Deployment – Day 3 and 4Days 3 and 4 of our deployment were hectic, overwhelming and followed an unplanned, unexpected path. We had hoped to get the media during our initial passing out of the laptops but when they didn’t show, we cut our losses and moved on. As we started Wednesday we had plans to teach a bit of Write and Record; 10 minutes into training Paul showed up saying the prime minister’s wife, lots of ministers and the media would be there in another 10 minutes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%285%20of%205%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%285%20of%205%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The Prime Minister's wife giving a speech about the project.</span><br /></div><br />It was really encouraging to see the country excited about this project and it was great for us to be on the only national television station; now, everyone knows us and what we’re doing. The downside was that the day was not very productive for teaching.<br /><br />We are teaching two classes of 40 students and Class 1 meets Monday Wednesday and Class 2 meets Tuesday Thursday. Early on many of the kids did not understand this rotation and we had 70 kids in one room with another 25 adults from the government, parents, and media. Again, despite the setback in training, it was encouraging and beneficial to have so many people beginning to become aware of our project.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%284%20of%205%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%284%20of%205%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Too many kids in one classroom.</span><br /></div><br />The fourth day was, again, filled with too many students but we had more structure with fewer media and ministers in the room. We recapped what we attempted the previous day and made it clear that we would only allow students in Class 1 into the room on Monday. By the end of the day the students were able to take pictures, save pictures and insert their pictures into Write (Word). It seems like a small step but it is a major challenge when using a new interface.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-52582983949753678592009-07-20T17:10:00.002-05:002009-07-20T18:01:52.035-05:00Student Deployment - Day 1 and 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%283%20of%205%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%283%20of%205%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This past week we began our deployment to the students. Monday was our official launch, confirmed by the headmaster, teachers and our translator. What none of them told us was that it is a national holiday. These people really don’t ever want to tell us no even when they mean it. When we showed up at 8am ready to go it was a ghost town. We postponed our deployment until Tuesday…<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%281%20of%205%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%281%20of%205%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Tuesday morning it was the same drill: load the laptops into the car, head over to the school and set up shop. Today there were lots of kids at the school checking their final grades and hanging out with other children. We started checking the students in, registering their laptops to the network and the server and switching the system to Portuguese.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%282%20of%205%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Deployment%20Week%20%282%20of%205%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After we had around 50 students checked in I ran a short presentation about the handling and care of the XO: don’t touch the screen, don’t drop it, don’t bend the cord, etc. We let the kids play with the laptops for the rest of the day because we knew it would be hard to keep them focused. At the end of the day we explained that we would take the laptops back that night until their parents met with us to discuss the importance of not selling the laptop. We packed up the laptops and brought them home to charge for the next day.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-75247305659003160742009-07-19T17:04:00.003-05:002009-07-19T17:36:31.975-05:00Teacher TrainingThis post is quite outdated but my frustration during week prevented me from accurately describing the teacher training. Teacher training went with a few hiccups; first, people here do not like to say no even if that is the answer, second, using a translator who does not like to say no or contradict our understanding, even if it is wrong, adds a second layer of confusion, lastly, working with teachers who were not entirely sold or excited about the project led to late starts and uninterested exploration.<br /><br />Our week started by meeting two fifth grade teachers; we want to teach sixth grade students in two classes. After a few minutes of trying to explain that we wanted to work with the sixth grade teachers of our two classes we found out that the teachers are by subject and rotate to the different classes. That afternoon we met with the six teachers in charge of our classes. This uses an additional four laptops of our already small stock and we requested that the headmaster shrink our classes to accommodate four less laptops.<br /><br />When we first started working with the teachers we arranged to work for six days, two hours each day. We wanted to work with the teachers longer but they looked disappointed to have to attend these meetings. As we finally got started working with the teachers and laptops I started with a quick care and maintenance session before Corey started discussing the operating system and some activities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Teacher%20Training%20%281%20of%204%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Teacher%20Training%20%281%20of%204%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Over the next few days progress was slow as any communication took at least twice as long through our translator Abilio because we would say something, sometimes he would ask us to clarify what we meant, he would tell the teachers in Portuguese and then if they had a question he needed to do the process in reverse.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Teacher%20Training%20%282%20of%204%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Teacher%20Training%20%282%20of%204%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The teachers’ excitement gradually increased and as we started our fifth day I was in charge of teaching Scratch, an animation activity on the XO. I had taught scratch to the English club on island a week before but I was nervous to try and teach the program only using Portuguese. The training went exceptionally well and for homework I tried to assign them to figure out how to make the cat walk in a circle. There is no command for this action and it requires them to repeat the walk one step, turn a little, and repeat. Within a minute of me assigning this task one of the teachers had perfectly demonstrated what I wanted. I spent a good hour trying to get the English club to realize what to do and this guy had done it in less than one minute! After he taught the class how to do it we revamped the homework to be creating some animation between a cat and a mouse.<br /><br />The following day some of the teachers had not completed the assignment but those that had included changing backgrounds, relational logic (cat moving towards the mouse while the mouse moved away from the cat) and custom sprites (controllable objects); all concepts and ideas which they greatly expanded from what I taught them in a short amount of time.<br /><br />When training ended we invited the teachers to continue learning by helping us work with the kids. Despite a rough start, the teachers are warming up to the idea and starting to create ways to implement the laptops in the classroom.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-86751666320556559252009-07-13T17:17:00.004-05:002009-07-14T02:09:51.099-05:00Roca Sao JoaoSaturday we went south and visited Roca Sao Joao, a plantation owned by the televised chef, Joao Carlos Silva. Ashley and Danielle went with the intentions of teaching a short English class while Chika and I planned to fix the computers dropped off last year by Paul. Paul, Andy, Judy and Corey were along for the ride and along for the gourmet meal.<br /><br />The drive to the plantation took about 90 minutes because the roads were horrible. There were times driving down the road where I thought it was going to turn into a gravel road; instead, the road had a 40 foot long pothole the width of the entire road. Winding dangerously close to 30 foot falls to the sea we made it to the plantation safe.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%286%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%286%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The bed and breakfast of Roca Sao Joao</span><br /></div><br />Danielle and Ashley started their English lesson while Chika and I worked on the computers. There were two at the site and both were out of service. We switched a hard drive, memory and a video card to get one computer working and the other is completely shot. The site does not have internet but the students at the plantation and school create jewelry and other crafts to sell; the computers could be used to keep track of inventory and sales.<br /><br />Part of the plantation has been converted into a bed and breakfast including an African fine dining restaurant. We were asked to dine by the owner and chef for repairing the computers and teaching English. The meal is 40 Euros for guests and tourists and the 15 course meal was the best I’ve ever had. All of the food that was served is from the island and before Carlos begins preparing the meal he arranges all of the fruits and vegetables he will use on a long table for viewing next to his ancient wood burning stove.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%288%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%288%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The display of fruits and vegetables in the restaurant.</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%287%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%287%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Classic wood burning oven used to prepare our meal.</span><br /></div><br />While waiting for the food there are comfortable reclined chairs and hammocks to relax in while browsing visually appealing wine and food books. The restaurant is entirely open air overlooking the coast and surrounding jungle.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2810%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2810%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%289%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%289%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2811%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2811%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Carlos Silva and myself.</span><br /></div><br />On our return trip we stopped at Boca de Inferno, the mouth of hell. This naturally formed rock structure forces the waves into an increasingly smaller channel before reaching a wall when the water shoots up towards the sky. James and Paul wanted to head back after only a few minutes but Judy and I have plans to return later this week.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2812%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2812%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Corey near the boca de inferno.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2813%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%2813%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Myself overlooking the ocean near the boca de inferno.</span><br /></div><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-68621813224910972842009-07-13T16:19:00.003-05:002009-07-13T17:16:14.301-05:00Roca de Agostinho NetoFriday, Corey, Danielle, Chika, Judy and I all went to see one of the largest plantations on the island. After negotiating a cab to drive us there (30 minute drive for $2 per person) we arrived without any guide but with the determination to talk to people and discover what was there. Our driver admitted to have family which lived and worked at the plantation and he offered to walk with us and explain the different parts of the plantation.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%284%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%284%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Within a few minutes, another worker from the plantation had joined our party showing us different parts; minutes after that we had an elder join us with keys to take and show us to the drying room. While the plantation was quite at the time, the elder told us that during September and October the plantation produces 3-4 tons of cocoa per day!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%283%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%283%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The plantation used to be home to one of the best hospitals throughout Africa. The buildings now lie deserted with most of the materials being reclaimed for other uses. The hospital had many large buildings and has its own hydroelectric power plant for the plantation.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%281%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 479px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%281%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">View from the water reservoir for the generators.</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%282%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%282%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Children rolling down hills on their cars.</span><br /></div><br />While we were exploring the hospital campus we found lots of kids playing on homemade cars which created an excellent photo opportunity. Some of the better carts included movable front wheels to allow them to steer the vehicle.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%285%20of%2017%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Independence%20Weekend%20%285%20of%2017%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Ripe cocoa fruits in dark red.</span><br /></div><br />To end the trip we took a trip through the former headmaster’s house and botanical garden. The plants in the garden were fascinating: cinnamon trees, plants which retracted when touched, kola trees, and the tree which made the plantation possible, cocoa trees. We finished by taking our driver and local guide to lunch before heading back to town. It was really interesting to get an inside view into the plantation.<br /><br />The plantation is now owned by the state; however most of the families which work there are the same families which were enslaved. Since the leave of the Portuguese, the plantations output has dropped severely and there is no financial aid for the workers to increase production.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-24296137488384930122009-07-07T19:39:00.005-05:002009-07-08T04:54:48.255-05:00Building a Server BoxToday I had arranged with James to meet a carpenter and work with him to build our server box. I have a good general knowledge of carpentry and had designed what I wanted to make but I have no tools here, don’t know where a lumber mill is, and don’t know where a hardware store is for the necessary hinges. When I arrived at the carpenters (8am I might add) we walked two blocks to a lumber yard tucked away in an alley. Two (roughly) 12’ pieces of hardwood one foot wide each ran about $10 but it looked like the wood had been tortured before being stacked for sale. I saw three of what would be the only power tools here but the planer did not seem to smoothly plane the surface and the tablesaw cut crooked edges on the already warping boards.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%281%20of%207%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%281%20of%207%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We walked the boards back to his shop and I realized this was about to get real. All of the tools and workbench were before me and the tools that I would use to get the job done in the USA were nowhere to be found. The carpenter started marking boards and making cuts according to my specifications and quickly grabbed the wood plane to begin reshaping the boards into flat, smooth surfaces with 90 degree corners. I watched and tried to learn as much as I could.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%283%20of%207%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%283%20of%207%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The first challenge which I had never undertaken was to join two panels of wood to make panels wide enough for the sides. The carpenter was methodical and precise with everything he did and before long there were two panels which are at first glance, one board.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%282%20of%207%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 476px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%282%20of%207%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After walking to the market to purchase hinges, latches, locks and screws we continued work. The backing on the box was misunderstood and therefore the shelves were too long so we needed to fix their lengths to fit the box. I thought I had seen a fair amount of how to use the plane and set to work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%285%20of%207%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 479px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%285%20of%207%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now, I’m from the technology age and I’ve really only used power tools for my projects. I started by cutting the board with a handsaw (which was dull and further complicated the matter) and it did not end straight when the carpenter had showed countless perfect cuts. I grabbed the plane and set about squaring the corners and shaping a straight edge. The planer took more skill and practice than any tool I have ever tried to work with; however, I got the edges straight enough for my purposes with this box (the carpenter brought them up to his standards).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%284%20of%207%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%284%20of%207%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%286%20of%207%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%286%20of%207%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After nine total hours of work we finished the box for just under $35 and we paid nearly double what he quoted for the project because of the outstanding workmanship. This box is incredibly sturdy and I realized how few tools that I actually need but want to get a small chisel set with my next project. I have learned a lot today and can’t wait to apply it to another project at home.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%287%20of%207%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Server%20Box%20%287%20of%207%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Michael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-11094667778999912702009-07-07T19:00:00.002-05:002009-07-07T19:02:54.515-05:00Fish Eyes and African DogsToday three more Americans arrived on island from Illinois: Judy Tolliver, my informatics advisor, as well as two Illinois faculty also working for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications doing research about malaria modeling. To somewhat celebrate their arrival we went to a restaurant near the airport which is situated beneath the wings and tail of an old plane.<br /><br />We ordered fish and although I had heard that the eyeball is considered the best part of a fish in Sao Tome, I had yet to try it. There was one redfish with the eyes still in their sockets on the fish on the table. Chika and I took the challenge and each scooped out an eyeball.<br /><br />Now I expected an eyeball to be soft and mushy but television has never deceived me this much. I put the eyeball in my mouth and felt the chewy fleshy part but I also encountered something very hard. I played with it for a second between my teeth and with my tongue before I asked James, our local contact, if it should be this hard and what to do with it; he said you just need to chew hard. I bit down into the consistency of a rock solid Skittle. The ball did not crunch, but slowly smashed between my teeth compressing into the crevices on my molars and finally sticking to my teeth. After a minute I had worked out all of the bits from my teeth and we went on with dinner but it left a taste in my mouth that, although not bad, was not good. Water could do little to wash away the new taste.<br /><br />At the end of dinner we all had bones scattered with small scraps of fish meat on our plates and two stray dogs and a small cat had been wandering around our outdoor table. James grabbed a fish carcass and was about to throw it to the dogs when many of us Americans stopped him because we worried the dog would choke on the bones. Looking back this city could do with a few hundred less stray dogs but we tried to save these two. James’ response was, “African dogs are very strong,” and he threw down the carcass to waiting mouths. Sure enough the dogs ate it up and looked back at us waiting for more. African dogs are very strong indeed.Michael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-57676646542779157112009-07-06T06:47:00.009-05:002009-07-07T19:48:11.290-05:00Music (Re-updated with songs working)I really like the music here and I’d like to share two items with you.<br /><br />This is some Cape Verde music that Dany, STeP UP’s director’s driver and employee, shared with us. The artist is Bana and the album is Livro Infinito. The songs are pretty slow but talented and beautiful.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/Songs/01%20Lua%20doce.mp3" width="400" height="27" allowscriptaccess="never" quality="best" bgcolor="#ffffff" wmode="window" flashvars="playerMode=embedded" /></embed><br /><br />This song is more of a club song but it get’s everyone moving. There is a part where he says something to the effect of, “guys make noise” and then tells the girls to clap three times. It’s really fun to hear this in more of a party environment. The artist is Afroman and I can’t recommend anything else by him. It’s probably best that I don’t know what he’s saying.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/Songs/01%201,2,3.mp3" width="400" height="27" allowscriptaccess="never" quality="best" bgcolor="#ffffff" wmode="window" flashvars="playerMode=embedded" /></embed>Michael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-51698294350410210152009-07-06T06:24:00.004-05:002009-07-06T07:02:13.770-05:00Fourth of July Weekend<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%283%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 451px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%283%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Corey and our cake</span><br /></div><br />Yesterday we celebrated the 4th of July in Sao Tome City. We planned a party and invited somewhere around 80 guests plus their friends. We expected the Prime Minister to come to the party; however he missed his flight and could not make it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%281%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%281%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Two feet of Barracuda</span><br /></div><br />Without the Prime Minister we still had a lot of fun. We had the back half of a four foot barracuda, tons of rice, calalou (the Sao Tomean national dish) and a few improvised hot dogs. There was plenty of beer (Paul planned most of the party and this was top priority), as well as wine and sodas. I would guess we had around 60 guests throughout the day and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, including ourselves, the hosts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%282%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 265px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%282%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Our group with some local friends.<br /></span></div><br />That night we were invited to a big party at the Beach Club, a very upscale discotheque. We got to the party around 11 and by 11:45 the dance floor started to heat up. Sao Tomean dancing is much more fun than American dancing because people actually dance! Danielle and I hit the floor throughout the night and it was a great time. The one complaint I have about their dancing is that their slow dances turn everyone into napping zombies on the floor. People don’t move and they rest their heads on each other while tens of couples stand nearly motionless for two or three songs in a row.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%286%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%286%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">A view of the full beach from our almost private beach.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We left the club very late and during our party we had agreed to go snorkeling with the Taiwanese doctors on island at 9am. That hour came far too soon but we drove to a beach on the north end of the island near the blue lagoon. We drove to a beach that could only be reached by a 4x4 and it felt like we arrived at our own personal beach. The sand was soft and had about 40 feet of ocean between two high rocky outcrops. Chika, Ashley and I went with Dr. Wang and another physician although only Dr. Wang had a snorkel even though he failed to find any fish. The water was cool and I spent a while out swimming while Chika practiced using my camera and Ashley looked at the water from the safety of the sand because she fears sharks. There are only hammerhead sharks (won’t attack humans) near the island and there have been no shark attacks according to locals. We headed back after a while and later went to Ned’s to spend the afternoon reading, blogging, or like me: listening to music while drifting in a hammock at the end of his pier.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%284%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 266px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%284%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Myself playing with Ashley's underwater camera.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%285%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 267px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/4th%20of%20July%20Weekend%20%285%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">It was a bit cold that early in the morning.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;">-XO Mike</span><br /></div></div></div></div>Michael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-92198942769595390182009-07-02T18:46:00.000-05:002009-07-02T18:47:13.830-05:00School SetupTuesday morning we had our meeting with the teachers scheduled however it didn’t go as planned. Our understanding was that we would be working with two classrooms and therefore two teachers. At this school the teachers are specialized to a subject and rotate between the classrooms. We went from working with two teachers to working with 6 which also required us to decrease our class sizes by two each to free up four extra laptops.<br /><br />In the afternoon we had sorted out the problem and arranged to meet the teachers. It became very difficult because the teachers will now need lesson plans which will work for the 3 non-XO classrooms and a separate plan to incorporate the XOs in the two XO classrooms. The teachers did not seem motivated to learn the new system but after we showed a few ways of how it can be incorporated into classroom environments some started to warm up to the idea.<br /><br />Corey, Danielle, Ashley and Chika worked through the operating system and some basic concepts after I gave a quick lesson on handling and care of the laptop and an introduction to the hardware. While the rest of the group began training I started testing how the wireless would work around the school, which should be fine. I have designed a box which we will have made to hold and secure the server, switches, access points and their associated power bricks. <br /><br />Tomorrow we will continue working with the teachers and Dany will bring the plans to a carpenter to get the un-white-American-taxed price. The plan is that he will provide the boards that we need as well as the screws (if only there were a Home Depot) and I can assemble it this weekend. Hopefully nothing is lost in translation.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-27338796580581332042009-06-29T16:03:00.003-05:002009-06-29T16:23:32.696-05:00More Pictures<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%285%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 245px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%285%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Next door to James' Aunt's house where we had lunch some kids had an impromptu dance performance.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%286%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 386px; height: 257px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%286%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">More impromptu dance pictures.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%283%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 433px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%283%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Walking on water... that's how I roll.<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%284%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 395px; height: 263px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%284%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Training the computer repair class from STeP UP. They wanted to learn about the project.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%282%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 379px; height: 284px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%282%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">At our deployment school. We brought a soccer ball as a gift for the headmaster.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%281%20of%206%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Sao%20Tome%20%281%20of%206%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Dinner at our house. This is our screened in porch.</span><br /></div>Michael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-10762237824978920072009-06-28T13:11:00.005-05:002009-06-28T14:04:34.962-05:00Exciting WeekendWe had a very exciting weekend filled with trips to the Blue Lagoon, Neves (Nevish), the beach, and STeP UP’s 5th birthday party. Friday night we went to Pestana, a luxury resort with nightclub and it cost way to much money. I wasn’t excited about going when I heard it was $10 to get in the door. Anyway, we went and it was empty because no locals can afford the entry fee while still having a good time. We want to go again as an end of the trip celebration but it’s just too expensive.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/STeP%20UP%20is%205.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 300px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/STeP%20UP%20is%205.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">STeP UP's Birthday Cake<br /></span></div><br />Saturday we started nice and easy at the beach before heading to STeP UP’s 5th anniversary party. The Minister of Education was in attendance and there was great food as well as cake. After we headed to a soccer game where security was tighter than the airport; army personnel with guns, police with riot gear and a barbed wire fence surrounding the entire field. The game was calm, thankfully, but it had a lot of energy and I found myself yelling at the officials with the rest of the crowd during a few bad calls.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/OLPC%20Sand.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 300px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/OLPC%20Sand.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Fun in the sand. OLPC.<br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/High%20Security%20Soccer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 300px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/High%20Security%20Soccer.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Riot Gear: These Police appeared to be the officials personal guards</span><br /></div><br />Sunday we started bright and early with a trip to Neves to eat crab. Neves is located at the north west end of the island, about an hours drive. We stopped at the Lagoa Azul for a quick photo opportunity. Driving through the country shows a completely different side of Sao Tome. Despite having a much lower quality of life, fish and fruit are abundant year round on the island so no one is going hungry. We ate fantastic fresh crab and took the trip with two other Americans from Seattle who are with the Mobility Project, an international NGO setup to provide wheelchairs to third world countries. Tuesday they will deploy 60 wheelchairs as a trial run for the 200-400 they would like to bring in the future. After eating we left to go to James’ (our local contact) aunt. We had another meal (again, fantastic) and met lots of his cousins and uncle. We were witness to an impromptu dance performance at the house next door and eventually returned home.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Big%20Tree.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 300px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Big%20Tree.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Old Tree near the Lagoa Azul<br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Crab.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 300px;" src="http://mikestein49.com/mikestein49.com/XO%20Images/Crab.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Crab in Neves<br /></span></div><br />This week we will start working with the teachers to get the ready to teach lessons using the XO.<br /><br /><br />Lots of pictures! YAY!<br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-69840118916657236732009-06-25T05:39:00.004-05:002009-06-25T05:47:21.332-05:00Paul 2, Corey 2, Ashley 1We’ve had several accidents while here in Sao Tome. It all started with Paul at the grocery store trying to buy a few beers. Here, they stock their fridges with individual bottles well above the max capacity of the refrigerator. As Paul went to grab one, another started to fall which created a domino effect sending a few bottles to the floor; one of which broke. Paul 1.<br /><br />We went shopping for a pitcher to make our water purification process easier. The best we could find was a carafe which has a glass core container surrounded by a plastic protective casing. As Ashley went to pick it up it fell to the floor shattering the glass core. Ashley 1.<br /><br />Danielle is working on a mapping project and received about 20 large maps with together make up the entire island. To lay them out Corey, Danielle, Ashley and Chika cleared out our living room. As Corey went to pickup my XO he dropped it on the floor and broke the screen (these aren’t indestructible). I replaced the screen with one of the spare XOs as this is the administrator computer. Corey 1. Mike -1.<br /><br />Paul owns a motorcycle on island and the other day he asked me if I wanted to take it for a spin. I went around the neighborhood and before long, Corey wanted to try his luck. I asked him if he knew how to drive and he said yes. I told him which lever was the clutch and he responded, ok that’s what changes the gear… I knew we were in for trouble. I showed him the pedal which actually changes the gear and after a few more minutes of training he wanted to go. We told him to give it a little gas as he slowly releases the clutch. Corey hit the gas and dropped that clutch, popped a small wheelie and rocketed away for about 10 feet before the bike tipped over and he hit the ground. Corey got up OK but the bike’s clutch lever snapped off. Within about 1 minute James had someone coming to repair the bike and it was fixed within the hour for a very small fee. Corey 2.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3NSj0VYoL-8FX6uyQhQuCAgTzV7yEcLYHDQnsFUbGgDTL_Fel0dE5mS1BzYBzXYHetq8YakJzln1uYgDcAv9_HhcZBfi1Ynvfmui_GMjH9u8k1RFFGjifakI3mvbXmtpDSdZi2agL1l8/s1600-h/Broken+Moto.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3NSj0VYoL-8FX6uyQhQuCAgTzV7yEcLYHDQnsFUbGgDTL_Fel0dE5mS1BzYBzXYHetq8YakJzln1uYgDcAv9_HhcZBfi1Ynvfmui_GMjH9u8k1RFFGjifakI3mvbXmtpDSdZi2agL1l8/s400/Broken+Moto.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351214383135670626" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Corey with the broken parts from the moto. He'll try again this weekend.</span><br /></div><br />Last night we wanted to make spaghetti for dinner. In Sao Tome you can’t buy pasta sauce so we got a small can of tomato paste as a base for our sauce. We forgot that we don’t have a traditional can opener so we had to use the triangular end of a bottle opener. As Paul dug into the can, the tightly packed paste shot out all over Paul’s white shirt, Chika’s white shirt and half the kitchen. Paul 2.<br /><br />Hopefully the rest of our trip will be incident free although we have a long way to go.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-48948462601550168152009-06-25T05:07:00.003-05:002009-06-25T05:14:04.773-05:00The Minister of EducationWe just had our meeting with the Minister of Education and it went very well. We found out, during the meeting embarrassingly enough, our school our contact at STeP UP recommended was a politically charged move and we have since moved to a different school. One main drawback from the meeting is that the minister didn’t want the students to take them home for fear that their families would sell the laptops. This will be a focus of ours to convince the community that it is in their best interests not to sell the laptops and to convince the community that by buying the laptops they are hurting students.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31GhMKh-jg_u8bH-p8ZvbauBsFy0LKyVwwwI6QKa6_DWGuAMzMEKnzPzyArMYlzxKU2cMwXjsoX7VNngy1EEwjEjV_6ixLWi4WJHnqnzLLetSk4iKfR1dlw5tK7v70phYONnd_fUqIwk/s1600-h/Minister+of+Education.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31GhMKh-jg_u8bH-p8ZvbauBsFy0LKyVwwwI6QKa6_DWGuAMzMEKnzPzyArMYlzxKU2cMwXjsoX7VNngy1EEwjEjV_6ixLWi4WJHnqnzLLetSk4iKfR1dlw5tK7v70phYONnd_fUqIwk/s400/Minister+of+Education.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351205634270227554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Left to Right: Chika, Corey, Danielle, Ashley, The Minister of Education, Paul, Myself</span><br /></div><br />After our meeting we visited our school and determined that the fifth grade class has 45 students and the sixth grade class has 40 students. The school has power and we have word from the ISP on island that they will provide internet at the school. We are looking to saturate the two classes and recycle the laptops to the next fifth grade class after the year. This afternoon we will work with the teachers to develop a laptop learning schedule.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-76509407664147422352009-06-25T04:36:00.000-05:002009-06-25T04:37:27.781-05:00TiAYesterday was sort of a bust. We had plans to go visit our potential school and meet the headmaster and several classrooms. Our contact at STeP UP told us to meet her at 11am. Paul suggested we arrive around 11:30 because she would be late. At 11:30 we arrived and started waiting for our contact, Roberta, to arrive. At 12:30 we left and went to lunch. It’s 8am the following day and still no word from her.<br /><br />The plus side is that we’re about to go meet the Minister of Education and let him know what we’re up to. Even more exciting than that is we confirmed a rumor that the Prime Minister received a gift of 500 XOs from Portugal and because he doesn’t know how to deploy them, they are sitting in storage. We are going to push to get to help deploy these laptops. In order to get more time with the Prime Minister we are going to have a meeting as well as invite him to our 4th of July party. This party should be HUGE. Several ambassadors from various countries, several ministers, and many friends Illinois has met over the past three years.<br /><br />Off to our meeting.<br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-86133243619195614642009-06-23T12:32:00.000-05:002009-06-23T12:35:38.100-05:00Daily Life in Sao TomeSo far our day to day life has been much different than expected. The sun rises around 5 and sets at 6. We can accomplish actual work from around 9 until noon and 2 until 3:30 or 4. The rest of the time people are at home. <br /><br />A lot of our day is spent figuring out what to eat and when to make it. Nearly everything here is imported so to save costs we go to the open markets to get the best prices. There is a general goods market where we can get any produce which is locally grown and there is a fish market to get anything from the sea (we had barracuda last night). Once we go to all the markets and find what we want (we do this everyday because our refrigerator is too small) we need to bring it home and prepare everything: gut the fish, season the fish, chop the vegetables, cook the vegetables, etc. Eating has become a full time job.<br /><br />To help with the extra time life takes in Sao Tome and to give back to the economy we have hired several people around our house. We have hired a housekeeper who comes on MWF to do laundry, clean around the house and cook (if we’re home). When we moved in our house had been vacant and neglected for a year so we hired someone to clean up the yard, when he was done he asked if he could stay on as our gardener so we agreed. We also hired a night watchman and he is about the scariest person ever. It gets dark around here and with his dark skin it is impossible to see him at night. One of the first nights the power went out and Corey and I were near the front gate and I said, shouldn’t the watchman be here by now? At that time we took another step towards the gate and from inside our walls a man appeared and opened the gate thinking we wanted to leave. He had been there for a while without us knowing and I nearly wet my pants.<br /><br />At night we have been relaxing playing cards (last night it was hearts and Danielle is going to teach us rummy later) or watching TV episodes and movies we have on our computers. If we want to get online we can walk 3 blocks to the national library and sit out front but the mosquitoes prohibit prolonged usage. <br /><br />Another bit about African mosquitoes; while they may carry deadly diseases, their bites are way less annoying and I only get a small dot of a bump that goes away by the next night. In the US I get obnoxious bites which itch for days.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8510803049123638603.post-58009018557220414202009-06-22T15:37:00.000-05:002009-06-22T15:41:16.134-05:00HospitalityMy first full day in Sao Tome started with me going with James and Chika to get some power strips for our house. We went to a Nigerian merchant and James introduced him to Chika who is also Nigerian. They found out that they were from very close towns and they spoke the same language. The man invited us to a party that night.<br /><br />When we arrived at the party we realized that it was an entire block party, at least a few thousand people spread out over a few blocks including live music, DJs, dancing and lots of vendors. We went to Mr. Cato’s house with about 10 in our group and we quickly outnumbered his seating arrangement. He left and after a minute or two came back and told us to follow him. We walked into a little (two table) restaurant and found the management kicking everyone out to make way for us.<br /><br />It was a great night and Mr. Cato took care of food (cooked sea snails) and beverages. The way that everyone moved out of the way for visitors and took every step to make sure that we were comfortable was incredible and has really challenged me to better welcome people in the US, particularly foreign exchange students.<br /><br />-XO MikeMichael Steinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563928598184049542noreply@blogger.com3