Celebrating Halloween differs from one country to another. In Philippines, together with my brother, sister, and cousins we celebrate Halloween by watching a spooky documentary about ghosts-, underworld-, monster-, true-to-life-experiences till midnight, having chips and dip close-by, all lights off, and a blanket each to cover ourselves. And after the program we ask ourselves, Do you believe it or not? And then we start telling our own-heard-stories or own experiences.
Here in Belgium, Halloween is a commercial stunt for stores so they can sell all those pumpkins (hehe) but we made a fun night out of it with the neighbors, in the middle of the forest, between the candle lights, with a bonfire and lights hanging on the trees.
We ended up wet from the drizzle that night but it was a good night. Up for a repetition next year :-)
We prepared some snacks to help us win the cold night, some hot choco, pancakes, and bloody-finger food (literally a bloody finger! I forgot to take picture of it to show you.)
Well, anyway, here are some fotos we took:
1 comment:
Up to the late 1950s, naughty menfolks serenade unsuspecting people at midnight. When the hosts get up to offer hot ginger tea and rice cake, the serenaders are gone. The mystified hosts just go back to sleep. Next morning, they find their flower pots, slippers, brooms etc. in the middle of the road. And a chicken will surely be missing. These were simple Nov.1 pranks that elicit smiles from forgiving victims and instantly forgotten. Next year another victim will enjoy the same fate. The practice is called mangaluluwa, meaning the soul (kaluluwa) of someone goes visiting at midnight. As the song goes " kaluluwa kaming tambing, sa purgatoryo nanggaling" (we are spirits here from purgatory). This tradition lost its fervor when the police noticed that cases of girls eloping with their Romeos just peak on halloween.
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