Asma, Sameera, Maryam and Zubaida

Today was the first 'activity' day at college, marked by a trip to the cinema for all two-hundred students. Many of our them, having spent all their lives in remote-ish villages throughout Oman, have never set foot in a cinema and so there was understandably a bit of a buzz about the day.

We booked out our local cinema and gave the choice of two films; Kung Fu Panda or The Mummy 3. Having seen both of them before, I knew in advance that Kung Fu Panda was the best choice (The Mummy 3 is in my Top 5 worst films ever made) and so any student that asked for my advice ended up alongside me!

It was really nice to see the students' reaction to the film. All the way through there were audible laughs, oohs, aahs, gasps and sporadic rounds of applause. Arabic subtitles run along the bottom and you could see the delight when they understood the dialogue without referring to them. They loved it, and it restored my faith in the power of movies out here.

I of course had Blipfoto on my mind from the off and started snapping away with my N82. Many Omanis (especially girls, and even more especially those mentioned in paragraph one) shy away completely from photo opportunities but others can't wait to group together and strike a pose. These four girls are from my top group and are a lovely bunch.

The girl on the far right, Zubaida, has been on Blipfoto before long before I knew or taught her. Those who follow my journal may remember it; check out the entry where she first appeared here.