A Sweaty Recife Halloween

To my extreme disappointment, I missed out on the consulate's Halloween festivities this year. My children had school Halloween parties scheduled at the same time, so I had to choose one. I figured I could rock out in a festive costume, fawn over the adorable children,  and maybe even meet some local moms. I even was assigned to bring juice! Unfortunately, I found out too late that the parties were only for children and thus found myself uninvited to a party I apparently was never invited to attend.  So when the time came to get ready for school, sighing in resignation, I dressed Deets up in his much anticipated costume and Margo in a party dress. Incidentally (and my apologies to Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Tom) Margo's costume, though listed to fit children ages 2-4 didn't quite fit her growing toddler body-  I squashed her into the pink taffeta dress, but instead of looking like a glowing princess, she looked like an sweaty encased sausage. A very unhappy sausage at that. 

Waiting outside for the school bus to pick up the kids, a perfect stranger sitting in his car saw Deets in his Dr. Who costume. Summoning him over to his car, I warily watched as he reached into his bag. I was curious to whether it would be candy or food- an occurrence that happened frequently in Romania but I hadn't experienced it here yet. Back then Deets would get anything from oranges to chocolate cake from bread to pork chops.  I figured this time would be something also food related, but no.  What else would the driver produce, but... a spiral notebook? An unused, hardback, lined notebook- not too shabby for a random, road side gift. I realized that the guy probably thought Deets was a professor for Halloween thus adding to his persona. For whatever reason, Deets was stoked and decided he'd use this notebook to specifically write his name and draw light sabers, sperm whales, and Daleks. Margo wasn't too pleased with the whole matter.

It got me thinking about the random things strangers have offered me and the family. Margo has been gifted cakes, ribbons and jewelry. On multiple occasions Mark received liquor often homemade, stored in water bottles or in little green bottles labeled with a cross. He got copious amounts of religious material and on one occasion received both at the same time in Bratislava. I have been given mostly benign items like pins or flowers, but once I was given two peeled hard boiled eggs from the pocketed sweatpants of a patient who came to the urology clinic I used to work at. How she didn't crush them on her lengthy metro ride into the city, I'll never know. 

In the end, after my lonely pity party I did some yoga and felt immensely better about my lack of pedagogical judgement. The kids came home exhilarated with copious amounts of candy, Play Doh, and books- and the prized possession of all time: vampire teeth. The two of them shoved those food crusted, spit soaked plastic fangs in our mouths with such joy, I had no choice but to revel in their happiness. It was a very good Halloween after all. 

Despite the heat, he was ALL about his 100% unbreathable polyester jacket.

At the newsstand practicing with their makeshift Sonic Screwdrivers.

The one notebook-two kid ratio is its own form of torture.
Thanks guy.