School has started once again! Before all the students arrived in early September, I decided to take some pictures so I could present my job.
Lama-Prévôt high school is located just outside of Cayenne in the suburb of Rémire-Montjoly. It's one of the newest high schools in French Guiana and is supposed to be very ecological with all of its solar panels. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Although solar panels are an excellent idea, this means that all of the classrooms are exposed to full sunlight-- shade is to be found nowhere. What's more, there's no air conditioning or fans-- just windows to open for air. As we're situated on a busy avenue, the roaring traffic and noisy motorscooters often make it hard to concentrate or even hear one another during class.
Here's our un-airconditioned school cafeteria. Sometimes there's no wind despite all of the open doors and windows. We all get really hot and sweaty as we eat our hot lunches.
The classrooms are mostly bare, just furnished with tables, chairs, and a whiteboard. Although it's possible to temporarily borrow equipment from the computer technicians, I've found this a very long and tedious process. Therefore, like most other teachers, I've purchased my own laptop computer to bring in, my own videoprojector, and my own computer speakers in order to work in more modern conditions. For the moment, we're also not yet linked to WIFI for internet access.
Although my working conditions are exhausting, I find the students globally pleasant and well-behaved. Also, the surrounding hills and vegetation are simply a gorgeous backdrop to the high school.
