Halloween crept up so fast this year….being in another country during “American” holidays is difficult because you don’t know what to expect, or what to do for that matter.

Many people told me about Halloween “parties” at many clubs, but all were VERY expensive and finding a costume was such a challenge! I am used to going to the mall where can find many stores that sell costumes, or going to Goodwill and making my own, but needless to say, they don’t have those here. I was told there are “costume stores” so I decided to go check them out. The costumes there were all used, and you rent them, which didn’t sound very…clean, to me. But I was told that is what everyone does, or they make their own costumes, buying material, and little things here and there. Because time didn’t allow for this for me, I decided to do something more American.

A few American students and I met up with a friend from England, who also didn’t know what to do for the night, and we decided to eat candy and pizza, and watch scary movies, while waiting for trick or treaters, but again……we forgot to think about the fact that kids may not go trick or treating. So we waited, and waited, and ended up eating all the candy ourselves because nobody came!

Later on we found out that there aren’t very many kids that go trick or treating, and the ones that do go in the richest districts, and do it just as it begins to get dark…which makes sense for safety.

Although it wasn’t what we thought, it ended up being a fun evening. We also found out that October 31st isn’t just Halloween, but also Día de los Muertos, and the Día de la Canción Criolla, so many people were gathered in the cemeteries, as well as center squares and parks in each district, to eat and drink and celebrate.