Joining in the Halloween fun!

Because I am from the Philippines, I have a totally different concept of Halloween. In the Philippines, our idea of Halloween comes from Spain, which colonized the Philippines for over three centuries, just like what it did to much of South America. While we Filipinos are familiar with the October 31st Halloween that people celebrate in the United States, we celebrate it on November 1st, and we call it "Araw ng mga Patay," or "Day of the Dead." It is comparable to the Mexican "Dia de los Muertos," which means the same thing (remember that both Mexico and the Philippines were under Spanish rule for a long time).

While there are some Filipinos who go trick-or-treating while dressed up as something, we have more distinct practices during this holiday. For example, we visit the graves of our beloved ones who have passed away and hang out there for a while, and some people even stay the night in the cemetery. I have never really trick-or-treated in my whole life before, so I thought that even though such a thing exists, it is something that not a lot of people really do.

Only this year have I realized that Halloween is a much-celebrated holiday in the United States! I wonder how in the world I did not realize that while living here for two years! Yes, I've seen stores selling a lot of candies and costumes and anything Halloween, but it never quite occurred to me how big it is to Americans. I began to realize that when I finally joined in the Halloween fun!

This year is my the first time I dressed up for Halloween. At first, I thought I would be Francisco Balagtas, a Filipino icon-poet. I had my barong tagalog with me (a barong tagalog is a formal costume worn by Filipino men, although a version for women is also available. It is mainly made of pineapple fibers), and I could just top it off with a leaf garland on my head. I decided that it was not probably a good costume, so I decided to look for another one. In the interest of time, I knew that my choices were limited. I looked up sites and found a very brilliant idea: a mad scientist! I suddenly became excited right after reading about that! The next few days, I bought myself a lab coat and a pair of lab goggles, and I got two pairs of examination gloves for free from a laboratory supplies store in my school (!!!!!). On the night I put on my costume, I messed up my hair and put white foot powder (I know, weird) on it to get a mad scientist look! I absolutely loved it!



This year, too, I carved my first pumpkin!!! I was not quite sure what to do for my pumpkin, and just when I thought I'd settle for typical design, I got the idea to make a super happy pumpkin! I wanted something that reflects my sunny personality, so I carved a BIG smile out my pumpkin!



I really enjoyed Halloween this year! I can't wait to dress up again next year! I might have to do a better version of my mad scientist look or maybe something else for a change. Suggestions, anyone? :)