The traveling carnival that made its rounds in the city branched out into the villages, and incidentally landed right in front of ETA Ian Morse’s house. That meant three weeks of blasting techno beats and revving motorcycle engines, not to mention the hundreds of people who would try to enter the former school that was Ian’s apartment.

What Ian did not expect though, was that more than just a handful of students would want to drag him out of his house to attend. At school, they made him promise, then at night they would make sure he kept his word. The most popular ride was the “kora-kora”, a swinging boat powered by a single tire on overdrive placed below its metal frame. Ian ended up riding four times with seventeen students. He joined some in the haunted house one time. It was a pretty simple walk through a dark structure, but Ian pretended to get lost at the end. His students couldn’t find him – that is, until he appeared behind them with a mask to scare them.

There was a motorcycle around-the-world show, a human-powered spinning hexagon ride, and several stands selling bracelets and fried rice. Some of the bracelets made it into the gift bags for students participating in Ian’s WORDS Competition. It was loud every night, but the carnival certainly brought out the joy in the town.

Ian Morse is currently teaching at MAN 2 Gorontalo, North Sulawesi