When we were on tour there were two shows every day except on the day we arrived and set up. There were also rehearsals for new acts. We had to work for the ben Ahmed family. Juliana was in effect the maid and I had similar duties. Three times a day my sister had to wash the dishes. There was no place in the cramped caravans where dirty dishes could be kept. My job was to dry. Every day I had to fetch water from the central water pipe that was set up at each new pitch for the staff and the animals, and every day I had to polish the whole family's shoes. The pitches were often muddy, especially when it had rained, and then the shoes were especially dirty and hard to clean. I had my ears boxed regularly when they weren't clean enough. And in addition I had to look after our foster parents’ two young sons.

One of the first things a circus child learns is how to stuff the bag of straw that serves as a mattress. At the beginning of the summer tour the management would have some bales of straw piled up and the performers and technical staff could fill their bags from that. At the end of the season the straw would be burnt. After six to eight months it had gone to chaff and was often full of vermin. In the old days all the occupants of circus wagons were constantly fighting those vermin, mainly bedbugs. The bedbugs nested inside the wooden partitions and could survive even the coldest winter, when the wagons weren't occupied. I still feel sick when I think about it. When it got too bad, we smoked out the caravans with sulphur for a few days. Then things would go quiet for a few months. But we never got the infestation fully under control.

There was a strict and respected hierarchy in the distribution of caravans. First came the manager's wagon, which often had rubber wheels or tires; then the performers in the star numbers, which included aerial acts and the trainers in the wild animal and elephant numbers; then the so-called ground troops, jugglers and vaulters, members of the circus orchestra, male and female dancers.