Not well in my opinion. No, no Halloween was fun. :) Just different. As many of you know Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. Not Christmas, not my birthday, not St. Paddy’s day. Halloween. I’ve liked it ever since I was a kid and I don’t think that will ever change. You get to dress up into anything you want without being judged, AND YOU GET FREE CANDY!! (clearly I never made it past 7 years old, but hey, I like it.) Plus you get to hang out with friends, get some exercise, and munch on all sorts of goodies while you pass the time. I did get to experience a new type of Halloween, but clearly America wins this time. We got this holiday down pat! Spain might need a few years to catch up…
First and foremost, there are hardly ANY Halloween decorations here!!! Some stores tried to put some cobwebs up, or hang a skeleton in the window, but honestly I just don’t think they understand the Halloween feel. One lil cardboard cutout isn’t gonna make your store more inviting. Halloween is the only other time during the year in which people go overboard in decorating their houses. Pumpkins, lights, webs, scary yard things, luminaries, all the good things that I love about Halloween were absent this year. :( Maybe not absent completely, but definitely lacking by my standards. Not to mention people don’t even live in houses over here, so the only things that really get decorated are some restaurants and the select shops whose owners actually now what Halloween is. Decorating the house for Halloween is like my second favorite thing about October besides the trick or treating. It gets you thinking about scary stories, long forgotten tales, and creepy situations that have you questioning the realm of the unknown and your sanity! GAHHH! I LOOOOOVE Halloween. *Siiiggghh* Looks like I’m gonna have to teach these folk the true meaning of Halloween.
Secondly, kids don’t even trick or treat here!!! HELLO!? CALLING ALL SPANISH CHILDREN IN SPAIN. FREE. CANDY. NOW. I really can’t be the only one who understands this amazing concept can I? The kids here just dress up….aaaaaand that’s it. WOW…exciting. Like I was saying earlier, they just don’t quite seem to grasp the whole Halloween tradition over here. I understand it’s not from your country, but hell if America can celebrate St. Paddy’s Day and Cinco de Mayo that just proves it doesn’t matter what country you’re in, CELEBRATE LIKE YOU ARE! Funny story actually about trick or treating here…involves host mom, child, and the lack of connection to Halloween.
*Story Section*
So the day after Halloween, Jesse and I are sitting in our room doing our homework and studying for midterms when our host parents return home from, idk walking or something. Our host mom comes over to our room and asks us if anyone came to the door while they were gone. Jess and I look at each other with puzzled faces and then assure her that we didn’t open the door for anyone today. She then proceeds to tell us that last night (Halloween) the little girl downstairs came up to their apartment and rang their doorbell. Seeing as how it was the little neighbor girl Amparo (host mom) opened the door and asked what she needed. “Trick or Treat!” said the little girl and waited for something to happen. Amparo just kept staring at the girl and had no idea what she was talking about. I don’t think it was a language barrier problem either because the little girl doesn’t speak much English or much Spanish either for that matter, she’s only like 2, but no. I think it was more of Amparo had no idea what the girl was doing in a costume at her front door. I guess she said they talked for like a minute and then the girl went back down to her house. After almost bursting into laughter while listening to this story, we had to tell Amparo the tradition of trick or treating. See Amparo, they ask for candy…and you give them candy…then they go away….but you need candy…HELLO IT’S HALLOWEEN! Gosh…people here just need to get with the program!! It’s been in session for the past like 100 years!!! Clearly I need to go to the states if I want any chance of candy here. Lol
*End of story section* :)
And finally last but not least, no Halloween music. :( Usually you’ll hear the monster mash every now and then on the radio or the occasional scream over the radio announcing “scary low prices” but nope not here. :( Not even one little peep or mention of Halloween or scary sounding music. I feel like Halloween could have passed right by and I wouldn’t have even noticed..if I wasn’t freakin obsessed with it! Maybe I’ll throw myself a Halloween coming back party…haha!
Although my Halloween wasn’t as normal as it usually is, I still had a lot of fun. We went to a Halloween party the day before and had an amazing time. :) I didn't have a good costume though so I went as a genie and wore these Aladdin pants I got at the international fair here. They seriously look like the pants Aladdin would wear! They are all big and poofy and AWESOME by the way. :) By the end of the night I had acquired angel wings and a gangster hat that some people didn’t want from their costumes, sooo I don't really know what my costume ended up being. A mafia-angel-genie? Ya. Let’s go with that one.
Speaking of costumes…one other little tid bit of information I’d like to share before ending this blog also has to do with costumes. Here they did encompass one aspect of Halloween very well. Costumes. Interestingly enough, even though the kids don’t trick or treat I saw a lot of older people wearing costumes on Halloween night than I think I would usually see in the States! People my age and older were out and about on the streets just as we were, however they were more “trick-or-drinking” I’d say. Anyways, their costumes were actually scary!! Not like “omg I think you are actually Jason and going to kill me” but they were all about the blood guts and gore aspect of Halloween! None of this sexy nurse bullsh*t, but actual H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N costumes, not “dress like a stripper day” costumes. Everyone had fake blood and dark eyes. Perfect atmosphere for an overcast cool night. :) It looks like maybe the younger generations are starting to get the hang of Halloween, but forget anyone over the age of 40. I think they are beyond saving…
It kinda sucks you have to wait all of October to reach that one amazing day and then poof! It’s gone in a flash and then it’s on to another month. But I guess that’s the magic of Halloween. :) Like magic it disappears into thin air.
November is a good month as well and also carries an important holiday where all Americans get to do what we do best. EAT. Lol. Although I won’t be there this year to starve myself all day and then eat my heart out around 4:00, I will still try and find some turkey in Spain somewhere! Yuummmm….Thanksgiving food. Looks like Christmas is gonna be filled with Mexican food (enchiladas, tamales, and nachos), Thanksgiving food (stuffing, pumpkin pie, Yorkshire pudding, cherry pie, mashed potatoes, and caramelized sweet potatoes), and the all traditional Christmas party food (meatballs, weenies, eggrolls, ham, and taffy apple salad). Man I can’t wait.
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