Getting into a routine

Teaching in Thailand has now really begun, I taught some grammar for the first time and they actually got it! It took them an entire week, but at the end, they were able to write down 10 sentences in simple present and present continues. ( or at least most of them were)
I was very surprised by it, because i thought it would take way more time.
At the end of the week, they were so very happy about it that some of the monks even followed me around and invited me to have lunch with them.
it felt sooooo good to have a succes moment with them, it just made my day!
Every morning the monks have a very extensive schedule, they get up around 4.30 to start praying, then meditating, and then breakfast. Just before school there is another ceremony (see pictures) and then class starts. The students have 1 break during the entire day, which is from 11 - 12:10 after midday the monks are not supposed to eat anymore until the next morning. Classes start again at 12:10 and end at 15:30
To say its warm in the school would be an understatement, the classrooms are open theres no doors, no glass in the windows and no airconditioning. Since the temperatures are between 30 and 40 degrees, it is very unpleasent to have to teach/learn there. It happens quite a lot that students just fall asleep during class, at first I was annoyed by it and took it personal, until i realised how hard it is for them to learn in this situation. Its not that they don't want to learn, its just less than ideal circumstances. Last wednesday there was a birthday party from one of the participants, to celebrate she invited us to go to a ladyboy show.
It felt a bit uncomfortable, but it was very cool, and im really happy that I went. Some of the men are obviously men, others look soooooo real ( as women) that its hard to see the difference sometimes. The show was really cool, at the end the birthday girl was taken upto the stage and the entire club sang "happy birthday" for her.

Thursday I went to the movies, (Warcraft the Beginning) which is really good. I noticed that the love for the royal family in Thailand goes deep. Theres a "commercial" dedicated to them before the movie starts, and everyone has to stand up and pay respect to them. (if you do not, it is punishable by severe jailtime) soo different from home XD

Yesterday I went to the Chiang Mai zoo since I was not able to go with my family at the start of this month. The zoo was huuge. It was so big that there were roads inside of the zoo, and people could drive through by car, and get out at certain points to see specific animals. I walked, but it took hours and I was not able to see everything. It was nice though, the first time in my life that I actually saw a live panda (soo awesome) I also got to feed a Jaguar! super awesome!

Enjoy the pictures!

Rob