Gustavo!

Man, how could I have forgotten to put this on here? Last week I’m in the middle of class with seventh grade when up walks Rudy (music prof) sweeping the floor outside my classroom. Then I realize, he’s not sweeping the floor, he’s sweeping the gigantic tarantula! The kids all jump out of their seats to see it, but of course nobody wants to even try and touch it. One of the kids put him on a piece of paper and then passed him into a glass box we have in the science room. There we let him sit for two days without food or water. Then on Thursday morning he was looking pretty sickly. We had already named him Gustavo and decided to keep him. So instead of having computers with the 9th graders we collected grasshoppers and pulled off their back legs so they couldn’t jump out of the box. Then we put some water in the box. By mid-day on Thursday Gustavo was looking pretty good. So for 8th grade science we made Gustavo a place to live. He now has lots of dirt, rocks, sticks, and even a cave in which to live! I think that he is finding his new glass box home quite enjoyable compared to his old, boring life of freedom. He doesn’t have to worry about getting lost, eaten by other things, or tired from too much running around. The question is, “how could he not love this new life?”
I am going to pass him off to the new science teacher, Nicki, and she can worry about what to feed him and how to feed him. I had a science book that said tarantulas eat bugs, insects, and beetles (not the band). We’ll see if he’s still alive tomorrow when I go into school. I’m writing this Monday night and we didn’t have school today because of Miriam’s funeral yesterday. I hope we don’t need another velorio and funeral procession for Gustavo.
-Cheque, he was alive...and still is.:)