Bananas of the World Unite!

I woke up at about 5am this morning to the sound of roosters crowing. Movies are quite deceiving in regards to the fact that a rooster will only crow a few times and then stop. Well, let me be the first to reveal this falsity. They definitely have some crowing endurance. I laid on the ground for a good two hours trying to be asleep before I finally gave into the crowing. I decided I could go for breakfast anyway. We had Chinese donuts and some kind of rice soup, which may have been good at another time of day, but it didn't quite strike my fancy for breakfast. After breakfast, we all packed up and headed to the school to start our English day camp. We spent the first hour singing songs. I got to help with the "Form Banana" Song, which is by far my favorite one to do-especially when we get to the "rock the mullet" verse. After the songs, we all got assigned to a different grade. P'Gahn and I had the tenth grade class. I definitely have a new-found respect for my teachers because it was so hard to get some of them motivated to learn and participate. P'Gahn said that by high school a lot of the students had lost interest in learning English because they didn't see the point in it. I wasn't quite prepared for them knowing so little English either, but we did what we could. By the end of the morning session, we had found a game where I describe words and they have to pick up the correct card for the one I am describing. After the morning lesson, we broke for lunch. I definitely needed a break by then. For our afternoon session, P'Gahn and I decided to go outside. We played some games incorporating vocabulary words for animals, colors and body parts. I think the best game was where they had to touch one of their body parts to a different one on their partner's (i.e., elbow to nose). It was funny to see their reactions to all of the random body part combinations. When we ran out of game ideas, we divvied up the Oreos, and they were definitely a big hit. After the afternoon session, we all met in the cafeteria again for a last round of songs. It is really fun acting all crazy and goofy with the kids. I am sure they think I am completely out of my mind. Being around all of those people that don't really speak English can bring out some strange reactions from your brain. I have been getting this urge to start speaking in German when my small Thai vocabulary has been used up. I don't' think German would be any easier though. After we said our goodbyes, we headed back to Chiang Mai. I decided to sacrifice looking at the scenery for some Dramamine, and I slept most of the ride back. When we got back to the zone, we discovered that our floor had flooded. The water ended up frying my computer charger, so hopefully I will be able to purchase a new one soon. I got unpacked and showered pretty quickly, and then I enjoyed a rice-free American dinner of a sandwich and chips. It was wonderful! The rest of the evening was pretty quiet. Tomorrow is our day off, and I am definitely looking forward to it!