Sunday, November 4, 2012

Halloween in the Amazon

I have never seen anything like it, but I got to celebrate Halloween in a whole new way this year.  While La Aljaba itself does not celebrate this holiday, I ended up getting trapped in it.  As it was the last day of the month, I had to go to the bank, so I headed into town.  As I walked in the burning hot sun, a new for Halloween, I began to see all kinds of creatures, princesses, pirates, army ´men´, and the like emerging and descending upon the center of town.  It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and I began to watch as all of the beautiful children stopped at stores along the way to their destination.  I finally got to the bank and discovered that I did not have my debit card with me, so I needed to walk to the house that I live in, about 30 minutes one way.  So off I went and as I walked, I was stunned that the entire way, I was meet kids all decked out in the Halloween attire.  I was neat to see all of the handmade costumes they wore.  The parents clearly took much time and care to work on these.  After walking to and from the house, I found myself back in the center of town, but I was not at all alone.  In the time that I had been gone, the streets were filled with people, music, and candy.  The entire city was having one huge party.  There were places that you could make photos as a family, places to get more candy and the park was full of fun for all ages.  It was clear to me that this was not a festival to celebrate the dead or scary things, I only saw 2 scary costumes, but one for the family to come out and enjoy time together as a family.  It was truly a joy to watch.  The only disappointment was that I did not have my camera with me for this great day.  Oh well there is always next year.