4:30: Wake up, brush teeth, and throw on some clothes.
4:45: Run about a mile to the gym and get about a half hour to 45 minute workout in and then run/ walk back. On the way back, the sun is usually rising which creates pretty views over the canals that wind through the town.
6:15ish: After getting back and showering quickly, we get dressed and ready for camp and head downstairs for breakfast. Both of us get eggs and Vietnamese bread with iced coffee (sometimes with condensed milk).
At around 6:30 we both head to the back kitchen to get our daily coffee refill. The owner of the hotel is expecting us and as he gets our refills we exchange a few words in both Vietnamese and English.
6:40: The bus driver honks his horn signaling that it is time to leave. We board the bus and we’re off! Aaron turns on his speaker and plays music; it will remain on until the end of the day.
6:55: We arrive at camp to a mass of 6th graders excited for the day. We begin the day with our color teams for some team bonding before beginning classes for the day. Each morning we teach two sports classes and two academic classes along with one life skills class. Aaron teaches physics and baseball, Daniel teaches math and basketball.
9:30: At the beginning of the second academic lesson, one of the camp directors comes into class with a snack, a highlight of the morning for everyone.
11:00: The camp ends. The counselors usually kick around a hackey sack or “dacau,” a Vietnamese object similar to a birdie in badminton, for a couple of minutes before the bus driver honks his horn and we head back to the hotel for lunch. When we get back, a lunch prepared by the family who owns the hotel is on the table. After lunch most of us take a nap.
12:40: The bus driver honks his horn and we get back on the bus to head back to camp and repeat the morning, this time with 7th graders.
5:15: We get back to the hotel following camp to a home-cooked dinner on the table. Following dinner, most of us shower and do some laundry (which we do by hand).
7:00: We all gather in a room to lesson plan for the next day.
8:15: We finish lesson planning and some of us hang out and talk or play a couple of card games.
9:00: Bedtime. We go to bed early as we are all tired from a long day and have to be up early in the morning.