Happy Halloween!!

Halloween in Cairo is really not a big deal, except the kids dress up at school. I think the American school in Maadi has a trick-or-treat time, but we don't get to go to that since it's not our school. Luke's school has a Halloween party, though, and the kids get to bring costumes and dress up at school. The teachers change the kids into their costumes, so I always try to keep it simple for them. This summer Mimi made Luke a pirate hat, so he was a pirate this year for Halloween. We made him a hook out of the top of a plastic coat hanger and a sword out of cardboard. I had some fabric scraps, so he got a sash and a kerchief, too. This little outfit with the stripy top worked as his pirate clothes. I taught him a pirate joke to tell, "What's a pirate's favorite letter?"

"AARRRRRR!"

He loves saying "Aaar!" and "Ahoy, matey!" and pretending to be Captain Hook. I made a sword for myself and we like to have Peter Pan vs. Captain Hook fights, using his bed as the pirate ship. It's lots of fun!

At our school, the kids get to dress up all day, which makes for a fun day for teachers... I (very intelligently) scheduled my OBSERVATION for Thursday - smart. The kids were wonderful, though, not too distracted by each other's costumes, and everything went well. We did a super-cool lesson using 3-D glasses to learn about warm and cool colors. It was great.

That's about it for our Halloween here--not too exciting. Now we have to figure out Thanksgiving and where we are going to get a turkey at a reasonable price. I brought pecans back from home so we can have pecan pie, and I am insisting that we have rice this year with our turkey - last year it was mashed potatoes, and so this year it's my turn to have my traditional food! We will do our "traditional" dinner with our friends here (Can 2 years be a tradition? I guess in the transient world of international teacher it can be...) at our house. I am already looking forward to cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, yummmmm...