Trick or Treat! Smell My Feet!

Give me something good to eat! :) We didn't actually teach the kids that, but there were some tricks, some treats, and some good eats at our Halloween Costume Party!

All day Friday was spent in preparation for the festivities. In the morning Emily and I finished getting the food stuff together, planning the games, making sure all the supplies were ready to go, and taking care of the odds and ends. I went to church and got there around 2:30 to make some decorations and set up. Emily came later with Aida and they set up the food, brought the stuff for games, and the prizes.

Around 3:45 I went upstairs in the building to help Olsa do her make-up for her costume. She had asked me earlier in the week if I could help with her make-up and had asked if I would lend her some jewelry for the night. I said sure. I knew she'd give it back. So I took the things up there and it caused a little bit of friction between Olsa and Neda. See, Neda was jealous that Olsa was having her make-up done and that she was wearing my jewelry so she got pouty. I explained that Olsa asked for help earlier in the week, so we'd planned it and that's why she got to do it. Neda didn't feel better, but that was her choice. She said she wasn't coming to the party, but of course, in the end, she couldn't resist. :) After all, she had a cat costume, complete with headband ears that Emily had made for her.

When I got back downstairs, Aida helped me with my costume. Boy was that funny! I put on white long underwear and got out the toilet paper I'd bought for the costume. She proceeded to wrap me up with the TP. It took a half hour to get it on and secured. She'd wrap a few times around and then put huge long strips of packing tape down my sides to hold it in place. It was so funny because people kept coming in just to watch. lol Plus, once she was done, I really was like a mummy! I could hardly move! I had to take little baby steps and she'd wrapped my arms straight so I could hardly bend my arms to do anything. But as little places ripped, it became even funnier because then it looked like I was ragged and coming to life just a little. It was perfect. Everyone was laughing at me--even the adults and parents when they dropped off and picked up their kids.

Emily was a marathon runner and totally looked the part! She had the runner's spandex and a number and everything. She made a great costume for Aida too. She took a green sheet, two big green paper circles, green mittens, and a green winter hat and made her into a pea pod. It was great! She helped us run the show and when she told the kids what she was, they all laughed. About half of the kids came in costumes. They ranged from Batman, to a princess, to Dracula, to Santa Claus, a ghost (dressed in black with white make-up), a phantom, a ninja, a cat, a superstar (the lead singer for a group called the Pussycat Dolls), etc.

Aida was an amazing help to us because we had waaaaaayyyyyy more people show up than we ever expected! That was good, but it got too crowded and too crazy. The craziness happened because there were people standing outside the church looking in and causing a ruckus, trying to come in and take over, and kids inside being rowdy because they don't know how to behave. Despite this, it turned out well and everyone had a good time.

We did a costume fashion show and had everyone vote for the best costumes. Third place went to Batman. His costume was a towel cape and a homemade mask, but all his little friends voted for him and he's a very polite well behaved kid, so I was glad he won a prize. Second place went to Santa Claus. She got my vote because she was the most petite, smiley, and skinny Santa Claus I've ever seen. What a hoot! And first place went to Dracula. She had all black and a high collar on her shirt and her make-up was done really really well! It was pretty awesome.

Then we played a game called "Trick or Treat" where everyone picks a card. If the card sais treat, they got a treat right away. If it said trick, they had to do the trick on the card before they could get their treat. Before we started the game, Aida helped me explain the idea of trick or treating and the saying, "Show me a trick and I'll give you a treat." Then she explained the game and we had fun playing it. The tricks included, singing a song, doing a cartwheel, whistling a song, walking like a duck, clucking like a chicken, dancing like a fairy, barking like a dog, hopping like a frog, walking like a spider, snorting like a pig, laughing like a witch, doing jumping jacks, etc. It was pretty entertaining. :)

Then we had some yummy snacks. Emily brought back candy corn--the yellow kind and the brown kind--along with some of those pumkin candies that taste kind of like candy corn from the States. She mixed some of those with peanuts, pretzels, and pumpkin seeds to make a Halloween trail mix. We also made popcorn and bought some mandarins. (They're orange, cheap, and very tasty!) There were also black and orange drinks to go around since we bought Coke and Exotic Fanta sodas. The snacks went over very well and were gone quite quickly. Well, not the candy corn and pumpkin candy. That was too sweet for most of the guests. They're not used to such sugary candy. lol

Despite the loads of people, the noise level, the temperature in the crowded room, and the rowdy crowd outside, we had fun. It was a huge mess to clean up, but we took our time because we weren't in a hurry. By the time we got home, we were exhausted and it wasn't even 8pm yet! Haha! We were completely spent. Just plain worn out. Aida came back with us and we had some supper and just hung out for awhile so it was a nice relaxing end to a very busy day.

Here's the link to the pictures. The album also includes a few pictures from other activities too. The captions explain the pictures so you'll know which ones were from Halloween. The costumes might be a give away too. ;)

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=125600102&k=X3ET3VSXV5XM5FCGYK23RW

Today was church and it was a full house. We had a lot of children there because it was our first week of practice for the children's choir. The practice went really really well! I taught them "Praise Him, Praise Him, All Ye Little Children!" I wrote the words on the board in English and Vitori had translated it for me, so I wrote the translation so they could learn what the song meant. They were impressed that I can read Albanian, even if it's not perfect and I don't know what it means. Hee hee! But it helped them understand it a bit. They love to sing and caught on really quickly! We learned the whole song in a half hour, complete with actions and without looking at the words. There were 12 kids there and I gave each of them the chance to be the leader either individually or with a group. They were awesome!

I'm so excited for next week because I anticipate more kids. When they have fun doing something, they tell their friends and the group expands. Go figure. lol Next week we'll review this song and I'll teach them a new one. The week after that we'll practice reviewing both songs and the week after that we'll sing for church.

In unrelated news, today was a typical day in Albania. I rode my bike through crazy traffic, did some cleaning, and went for an evening walk with Emily. The weather was very warm today--upper 70s--and I wore summer clothes. On November 1! That is crazy to me! Compared to WI weather, I think I'm going to like "winter" here. The kids always ask me if I'm cold because I don't wear a coat. lol It's jeans and a t-shirt weather. Why would I be cold? Haha! It's all about perception, right?

Oh, I saw something new today. On my way home from church, I saw a man carrying two dead chickens in one hand and a dead lamb in the other. The dead chickens are a usual thing to see. People buy them at the market, take them home, de-feather them, and get them ready to cook. The lamb was a new one. I hadn't seen that before. Although I will admit that I thought to myself, "That guy's going to be eating real good later!" (Poor English, but thoughts don't have to follow grammatical rules, do they?)

Emily and I went out for sufllaqe (pr. soo-FLAH-chay) for dinner (the Albanian version of a gyro) before our walk and when we got back we had some tea, too much candy, and played Boggle. Emily kicked my butt, but I told her I'll get my revenge when we play Scrabble. lol Aside from that, we're relaxing for a big day of prep work tomorrow. Lots of work to be done planning classes, activities, choir stuff, and other little ideas. Stay tuned to see what we cook up! ;)