Halloween was again a big day here in the village. 

I think every student between the ages of 5 and 18 went trick or treating and visited my house. There were people both younger and older that knocked on my door, and even a few people I didn’t know—and that’s hard to imagine for a village of less than 200 people.

Unlike many schools in the lower 48, we have fun with the day.  Many, perhaps most, of the children dress in a wide variety of costumes.  This year I went dressed in a traditional Arab outfit.  This is the costume I mentioned in the previous post that Lorraine brought up and wanted me to wear. I bought it while in Bahrain during the Gulf War. I also bought my wife Lorraine an abaya, but she said she wouldn’t wear it, even for Halloween.

Tim is the student with me in the picture.  He wants to be a Marine Corp officer after graduation and is dressed appropriately for that career.  We spotted each other early in the morning and, he said later, “We both looked at each other wide-eyed and pointed at each other and laughed out loud. Peace in the middle east.” We both thought it would make a fun picture.

A couple of days before this the principal had been up in the attic of the school cleaning and found this giant blowup pumpkin decoration. 

We have found many strange things stuffed in corners of the attic over the years.  In addition to old textbooks and novels there are enough old electronics to start a museum.  I’ve found sewing machines, lab equipment, and canned food.  I joke that the next thing stored up there will bring the attic down to the main floor.  Really, how much can you put in an attic?

Anyway, since we were going to a Halloween carnival the next day the principal brought it down and everyone had to have their picture taken with it.