Snippets: Camels

Jungle
It is Creative Expression day, which is the fancy term for art class. I am excited because today we are only drawing and coloring, not trying to make bi-planes, origami, or even- heaven help us -clay figurines. No, today will be the easiest of assignments: drawing and coloring a desert caravan.

I quickly load pictures of camels when I come in, and even show the kids photos of the desert so they understand the setting. Then, I find a video of camels making funny gargling and groaning noises. Suddenly, as I'm loading the video, the unthinkable happens. Bella begins crying.

There are different types of crying in children. There's the short, hiccuping sobs accompanied by a couple of tears. There's pretend crying which fools some people (particularly guys who don't know how to handle any type of crying) and there's also "I-want-my-mommy-I-just-peed-my-pants" crying. What Bella is doing can only be described as explosive crying. It comes out of nowhere, and leaves a frightening silence in its wake.

I am down next to her immediately, trying to discern what is wrong. Little girls gather around us, touching Bella's arm and asking her questions in English and Korean. I can see her pointing in Kevin's direction, but can't see him because he is under the table.

"Bella, sweetie, what happened?"
"Teachuh *sob sob* my thingie *sob sniffle* Teachuh *sob sob sob*
"Bella, it's okay. Just tell me what is wrong," I say.
"Teachuh *sob sob sob* he is not nice *sobbing*
"Oh sweetie-

GeeeeUPPPPPGGGGAAAAAHHGGGG
GAAAAAAHHHHRRRRRGGGGGg!
BeeeeeAAAAARRRRLLLLLLEEEEE!

This is when I realize that I left the camel video running. The computer is on the other side of the room from Bella so there is no way to stop it. Oh dear.

"Bella, are you okay?"
"Nooooooo!!! *sob sob sob*

On the screen, the camels are standing in the desert, their tongues flapping in the wind while they groan loudly.

"Okay, well, just sit down and we'll take care of this," I say.

Now the camels are burping and gargling.

"I no want sit down. He not nice!" Bella says.

The camels remind me of zombies, staring straight into the camera while screaming. I gently pat Bella on the back, struggling for composure.

"I want my Mom!" Bella wails.
"EEEEEEEUUUUUAAAGGGGHHHHLleee," the camels cry.

Suddenly, Kevin emerges from beneath the table with a stuffed baby chicken. Bella snatches it from him and continues crying. The camels whine on the screen, sounding like a group of accelerating motorboats. Kevin and I exchange a glance, both of us worried for different reasons. He doesn't want me to punish him for whatever he did to Bella's precious chicken. I don't want him to see that I'm laughing.

"Sit nicely, Kevin," I say, turning towards the front of the room. I stop the camels mid-gargle, and a few minutes later the class is drawing with some desert music playing loudly in the background. They are so absorbed that they don't notice me squatting behind the podium giggling. Ah, the joys of teaching.

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