6th grade SALT trip

We wrapped up our SALT (see previous post for explanation of SALT) trip the past two days at Safari World and an elderly home.  I was pretty grateful on Thursday that the Safari World trip didn't require too much out of the chaperones as my sinus cold was getting worse throughout the week.  Our bus rode through areas with all kinds of wild animals, which were pretty cool to see, especially since I could see them from my air-conditioned seat on the bus.  We went to a couple of shows at the park where orangutans and sea lions did tricks and then after lunch I gave my group a map and a list of the items in their photo scavenger hunt and told them when to be back.  Meanwhile I sat in the shade and ate ice cream and chatted with one of my colleagues, and enjoyed getting to know her better.  That's the nice thing about having good kids in a pretty harmless place- they get to experience freedom and I get to experience adult conversation. 

Adult conversation was one of the main highlights for me of the three days.  Teaching can be so isolating, and usually I have just 35 minutes a day at lunch where I get to converse with anyone over age 14.  So being able to work more closely with a team and get to know some teachers that I never see in my daily routine was really fun.  It is definitely more fun to have other adults around when the kids do and say ridiculous things.  Plus, then you get to alternate telling them to sit down on the bus or to stay with their group or pick up their trash or stop kicking the seat in front of them.  Much like single parenting vs. having two parents, the tag teaming and moral support mean a lot. 

On Friday we went to a retirement/assisted living home where the students put on a talent show and then spent time interviewing the residents. I managed to have one short conversation with a woman (in Thai), though she was much more interested in telling me that she liked my hair than in actually talking with me.  Another woman chatted away at me and didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that I didn't understand a word she said.  I have a hard enough time understanding Thai when the speaker has teeth...  The students did a great job being open and friendly and talking with the residents seemed to enjoy themselves as well. 

Culturally, the idea of such a home is a bit odd in an Asian country.  It is much more typical here for an elderly person to live with their children, and homes like this are few and far between.  But as we talked to residents I began to get a clearer picture of why many of them lived there: they didn't have kids.  I don't know if they never married or didn't have children or if their children had died before them, but it did make more sense to me once I knew that.  That must be difficult for them, and all the more reason for our students to come and visit and spend time with them.  At one point I saw one woman with the rapt attention of three of our boys, very expressively explaining something or telling them some story.  I loved it. Those three don't ever pay that good of attention to me! 

The students stayed at school until 7pm Friday night (yep, teachers too) for fun and games and wrap-up to the week.  Luckily, by Friday evening my cold was beginning to improve a bit, though I'm still not at 100%.  I survived SALT year one and didn't have to teach for 3 days and have a couple of four day weeks coming up. 

The only picture I took at Safari World: Definitely something to be proud of!

The lady in the purple pants really liked clapping along to the songs, though the guy in front of her kept nodding off :)