Mummia! Una Mummia!

I was a mummy for Halloween. Wrapped in a two-punch of toilet paper and paper towels. And I hid in a closet from 9:30 am until 2 pm scaring students at Joan Miro and shuffling around the English classroom with my head tilted and my arms straight in front of me. The idea was a good one. Lauren, the full-time English teacher, decorated the class until it was completely dark and hung the kids' giant spiders made from trash bags from the ceiling. She even had a mosquito net set up in the back corner of the classroom draped in orange and black streamers as her witch tent. But somehow by the end of the day, the streamers lay on a desk, totally disassembled from their previous state; a majority of the spiders were missing their legs; cobweb stuff covered nearly every surface; the apple bobbing station was dripping water onto the floor; the "jello feels like brains" station dyed Lauren's desk pink and the pin the tail on the black cat game was missing the tail. Lauren, Jill and I surveyed the damage as the last group of kids sat in a circle on the floor and scared each other with Halloween tales. Lauren said decisively, "I am so glad that Halloween is on a Saturday next year, because I am damn well NOT doing this again."

For the students, the Halloween spooky classroom probably was a success. Close to the entire school passed through our door and the screams combined together were enough for me to stay hidden in my closet space. For all of us running the show, the experience was the beginning of a meltdown. I recall a particular moment during the break while sitting downstairs with the rest of the teachers. And, you should know, none of them were dressed up. I was still wrapped in my mummy wear although it was falling apart because of the many hands that had grabbed at it. One of the classes decided that it was a brilliant idea to use me as a jello wiper and by the break I was splattered with pink goop. And then one of the teachers walked in, stopped in her tracks and just laughed at me. Laughed and laughed. And then she left. And of course my Spanish isn't good enough yet to understand conversations, so I just sat in the room picking at my toilet paper and watching the activity around me until it was time to head upstairs and resume my position in the corner. And I did. And the children kept coming and screaming and losing all control of themselves as the raged through the class leaving pieces of paper, costumes, blood? and craziness behind them. It was a day to be remembered for sure. And then I drank and stayed out until 4 am in my own celebration of the Halloween holiday.

And on a more serious note, I've organized my first tutoring session with one of the teachers at my school so now I am tutoring her four year old son and her for an hour and a half every Wednesday. I charge 12 euros an hour. That is all for now.