Field Trip

Today I was a chaperon on Jacob's field trip to the Red Cross Snake farm. There were four parent volunteers. Interestingly, two of the other parents were also involved in cub scouts. Megan is now the pack meeting and training coordinator. Last year she was the assistant den leader for Jacob's den. Greg also chaperoned and is currently Jacob's assistant den leader.

Ms. Rodgers split the class into groups of four students. My group included Jacob, Tobi, Ploy and Prong; two boys and two girls.

The bus ride to the snake farm was about an hour long. Megan and I chatted to pass along the time. I haven't really made much of an effort to make a lot of friends here in Thailand, but Megan is one of the people I consider a friend.

When we arrived at the museum, the kids had a snack and then attended a presentation by the head of the snake farm. He brought out half a dozen or so varieties of snakes, and was a wealth of information about the scaly creatures. The only downside was that it was somewhat difficult to understand him with his Thai accent.

My favorite part was when he explained to the third graders that the male snakes have two sex organs. He turned to me and asked me why. A few answers popped into my head, "for double the pleasure", "cuz there are two lady snakes for every boy snake", "snakes like to party all night long and they don't make snake Viagra". Of course none of these answers were appropriate for a third grade audience, so I just shrugged. The snake expert explained that since snakes didn't have hands to help them hold on, they had a sex organ on each side so that they could copulate on whichever side was easiest. One of the mothers was laughing hysterically at his explanation. That or she was thinking of the same answers that I did.

After the presentation, we explored the two floors of the snake museum. The kids had twenty or so questions that they had to record in a little booklet that Ms. Rodgers had made. A few highlights include the number of rows of teeth pythons sport (6), the largest poisonous snake (king cobra), the eye color of an albino python (red) among others.

The kids then watched a presentation where they milked the snakes for venom to make anti-venom serum. Around this time, a group of female Thai students swarmed the place. There were probably half-a-hundred, and they all moved together. It made things a bit crowded, and there was just enough room for the kids to watch the milking. I walked off to the side and played suduko on my iTouch for fifteen minutes.

After the milking show, we ate lunch. I packed some fake-crab sushi, and the kids had sandwiches and a brownie. We took a few pictures together, and then got on the bus and returned home.

The kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Well, Prong said that she didn't like snakes at least ten times, but I suspect that she still enjoyed herself. Ms. Rogers sent out an email saying that this was the best field trip ever. I'm not sure if that was just flattery, but I do think it was a really good blend of learning and fun.

I had fun as well. Before we got on the bus, I told the kids the story about the two boys hiking in the woods. One gets bit by a snake in the behind, and the other runs back to town for help. The doctor tells the boy that he has to go and suck the poison out of his friends wound or he'd die. When the boy returns, his snake-bit friend asks what the doctor said. "He said you are going to die." Jacob and his friends thought it was funny.

This is part of what I enjoy though, getting to go on the trips with the kids. Jacob really likes it when I go. I know I had better enjoy it, because in a few years, I'll be less fun.