Happy Halloween!!

Things are pretty much back to normal. There was yet another hurricane that hit the Philippines – but it was mostly high winds and not as much rainfall. Hence, not much flooding in any area and no flooding in my area. The only downside was that we had to go without electricity for one day. Not too bad. Alma, niece Rancel,  little Chelsea and I just got back from the cemetery. Yesterday was “The Day of the Dead” (November 1^st), in this country. It’s actually a three day holiday starting on Halloween and the usual affair consists of a trip to the local family crypt to remember one’s relatives. Some folks stay there overnight and thus you have sort of a strange carnival-like atmosphere with folks eating (lots of food vendors) and playing cards, etc. Dress is casual as evidenced by my wife’s Mickey Mouse t-shirt and our shorts and sandals. At the various homes in our neighborhood, one could see candles and food offerings in front of the doors. Halloween, itself, is a confused affair. I had some candy on hand in case we had some trick-or-treaters. I was encouraged when I heard groups of kids joyfully shouting and running towards my home.

Then they just ran by, shouting “Trick-or-Treat” (!!). Not stopping at all. Just running around the block with one of them carrying a brightly colored battery-powered light. No costumes. No masks. Just…running. I was informed by my brother-in-law that was pretty much the deal for “trick-or-treating” here. I found that unacceptable. So I yelled out at the next group “Hey! No Trick-or-Treat?” They stopped and gave me a puzzled look. Then, one of the kids had an illuminating moment and yelled back at me “Trick-or-Treat!”. I called them over while waving my little bag of candy and instructed them how to say the traditional Halloween begging request and handed them each a piece of candy to their joyful shouts of “Salamat-po!” (the Tagalog respectful form of “Thank you!”). One of them must have mentioned this to a parent (or at least someone knowledgeable of American customs). I say this because, a little later, two more kids came back (sharing one mask) and caught me while was outside and yelled “Trick-or-Treat!” while holding out their hands. They were, of course, rewarded for “getting it right” (well, almost “getting it right” – you have to give them an “A” for effort). Afterwards, Alma and I checked out George Romero’s original “Night of the Living Dead”, when the electricity came back on, around 8PM. My Halloween was complete.

The punch line? Well, the next night, two more kids caught me outside sharing the same mask from yesterday (!!) and yelled “Trick-or-Treat!” I gave them each a piece of candy since I just didn’t have the heart to tell them Halloween was over. Anyway, it was November 1^st – “The Day of the Dead”. They didn’t have a bag to accept their candy – so they used the inside of their shared mask for that purpose.

Trick-or-Treat!! Salamat-po …