Halloween in Colombia

So now that it's actually close to Halloween (as in tomorrow) I feel like I can share my Halloween in Cali, which I have celebrated twice already.  With two costumes.  Yes, I'd hate to admit it, but I was one of those people who was dressed up and at a party on October 22nd, but please, hear me out.  It really wasn't my fault, nor the fault of anyone else, except maybe the Colombian government.  You see, they decided to hold elections today, the day before Halloween, thus making this what we call a "dry" weekend in ALL OF COLOMBIA.  Yep, you got it.  No alcohol was sold this weekend anywhere.  Well, actually I found out Friday it didn't start until 6pm last night, but whatever.  Yes, we could have bought alcohol last week and partied it up much closer to Halloween, but then you run the risk of having someone call the police on your party and apparently you can get in a lot more trouble when it's supposed to be a dry weekend.  Confusing I know, but I don't really ask questions, I just went to the party.  And then there was Halloween at school and having kids dress up on a Friday is a way better idea than dressing up on Monday, can't disagree with that.  So there you have it, there is my semi-explanation of why I had a costume on in my Facebook picture last week.  Judge me.  Go ahead.

Well now that that's out of the way, here's how it went.  If you don't know already, I love Halloween because it means I get to be crafty and try to be creative.  Oh, and I don't do slutty/sexy Halloween.  Tried it freshman year of college (sort of) and hated it.  So stupid.  I can't remember the last time I just bought a costume, put it on and was done.  If you ask me, that's cheating.  C'mon people, use your imagination.  I suppose when your mom makes you a homemade werewolf costume (did I mention I was kind of a tomboy as a kid), it starts to become a tradition.  She started with some of my old sweats and sewed patches of fur from the inside as she would take the train to and from work.  Add some scary teeth, lots of face paint and black hairspary and there you have it.  I requested a picture, but we can't seem to come across it, but trust me when I say: it was awesome.  There was also the year I requested to be a "ghost cat"...yeah I was just a white cat...Even as an adult, I find immense joy in coming up with a costume and piecing it together from scratch.  Last year for "Thanksoween" with David's family, I made him the Operation guy and I was a doctor; my costumes my not always turn out looking the best, but at least I put in the effort.

Normally I like to get crafty with fabrics and dyes etc, but I was worried about finding those things here, and the date kind of snuck up on us, so we decided to go with something that we could sort of piece together.  Nonetheless, I think our costume this year was still a hit.

Anyone who used to watch the Price is Right and thus the awesomely bad commercials in between should get the reference.  In case you missed it, David is from Publisher's Clearing House and is presenting me with a check for $10 million, flowers, and the random assortment of balloons Cali had to offer.  I clearly was caught by surprise and had to jump out from the shower to answer the door.  Clever right?    The only problem was, it wasn't very cross-cultural.  Colombian and Canadian friends just kind of stared confused, or politely gave a forced laugh and complimented me on my "just got out of the shower" costume.  Hrumpf.  Also, if we didn't have our props, then everyone was confused and thought David dressed as the President or a politician.  Finally sick of having to go run and grab props, David kindly told anyone who showed up late that they missed the surprise and didn't deserve to see our costume.  Harsh, but fair.

I also goet in a crafty cooking mood for the party and took some goolish treats to Amanda's too.  Eyeball Oreo balls and monster toes made with chorizo looked gross, but tasted delicious.  I was glad to be able to find almost all the ingredients I needed and made other improvisations as necessary, like cherry juice for red coloring.

There were a lot of other great costumes, and so many creative and homemade!

Mr. President with rocker and pirate

Ninja Girls

Incredible Hulk

All the fellas

Then there was Halloween at school.  Of course I needed a different costume, and I struggled all week with what to do.  At different points I considered a bag of jelly beans, a pencil, a gumball machine among others, but finally decided on a skunk, or in Spanish, zorillo.  With a borrowed black hooded sweatshirt, my black sweatpants, a white towel, a black sock and a clothes hanger a was a homemade skunk.  Oh and tape.  Lots of tape.

Most middle schoolers didn't dress up, or changed right before the Halloween assembly.  Middle schoolers can be pretty lame.  I managed to get a picture of some my students that were dressed up.

My kids all loved my costume and said how cute and creative it was, some didn't even know I had made it myself (OK it wasn't THAT good, but I'll take a compliment).  I meant to take a can of Febreeze to school to "spray" people, but in the rush of the morning I forgot.  I think it could have made a difference.  Unfortunately when it came time for the teacher contest, a certain math teacher dressed as a greaser won for his black T-shirt and jeans and gelled hair.  Yeah, I'm sure his on stage hip thrust had nothing to do with the screaming 12-14 year old girls...I'm a little bitter.  Oh well, I'm just glad my kids liked my costume and lots of them saw me later and said they wanted me to win.  And that science is cooler than math.  Fine, that last parts a lie.  Some of my 7th grade girls below won for the group costume for being candies.  Cute.

Middle school group costume winners

UP! High school group winners

When I saw the UP characters as I was walking back to my class after lunch, I made them stop for a picture.  So good!  I told them how creative I thought it was and wished them luck, and they won! 

Some high school teachers dressed as super heroes.  David was Wolverine from X-Men and had some fellow 10th grade teachers joined him on the theme as Beast and Storm.

All in all it was another successful Halloween and I'm glad I had so many creative friends to share it with!  Happy hauntings everyone!