We are having our third four-day weekend in a row but this one wasn't for a Jewish holiday so everybody else had it off too. We were told that many people leave for the weekend but Renee had a Bat Mitzvah, it was Halloween, and we were tired so we looked for adventures locally.
Contrar
y to your expectation, October 31st is a holiday called the National Day of Evangelical Churches. The country is made up of about 70% Catholics and 15% Protestants or Evangelicals and then a mishmash of everything else including Morman, Jehovah Witnesses, Jewish, and Muslim. Three years ago I guess that the Protestant lobby got large enough to push for their own national holiday that pleases all the kids in the country as they started to adopt more American Halloween customs. Unlike the Evangelicals, the Catholic Church in Chile has 5 holidays per year, the Corpus Christi in June, St. Peter and Paul on June 29, Assumption of the Virgin on August 15, All Saints' Day on 1 November and December 8 is Immaculate Conception Day.
October 31, 1517 was the day that Martin Luther officially started the Protestant Reformation with the publication of The Ninety-Five Theses. The churches here hold marches and outdoor presentations and some do different types of social service while I guess everybody else gets ready for All Saints Day the next day or puts finishing touches on their costumes. We had our American friends over for a brunch and hung out.
Although the stores are trying to push the Halloween thing, it has definitely not caught on to the level of the States (better that way). It was actually quite the experience.
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| Una araña, Pepita Mediaslargas, and an American kid |
The kids quickly learned that there are economies of scale in living in an apartment building. Our apartment building is in a residential area so we actually started out "dulce o truco"ing at houses but we quickly learned that it was feast or famine. Probably every fifth house was giving out candy and there was no way to tell that they were because there was no porch light on (if there was it was behind a big fence or gate), the gates/fences/dogs were pretty uninviting, and because nobody decorates their houses. When they did give out candy it was by the handful so there was quite a bounty to be had although hard candies were favored over small chocolate bars. At our first stop, a nana gave out the candy - that solves the "who stays at home and gives out the candy" problem. The grown-ups (and dogs) were more dressed up than the kids in many cases and everybody was having fun.
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| I need a dog |
We passed some grandmas who gave us hints about which houses were giving out candy. Rob wasn't with us at the time and I only got some of what they said but I nodded in appreciation. There were also kids on bicycles directing "dulce o truco"s to the key houses by shouting out like town criers "aqui hay dulces!" Inside the apartment building probably only 10 of the 50 or so apartments gave out candy but one was a couple where the guy was originally from Chicago. They were the only house/apartment that we saw decorated except for our own measly pumpkin.
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| Our $11 measly, rotten pumpkin |
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| The 14th floor got into the spirit! |
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| The bounty (they are trading as I blog) |
Dia de Todos los Santos or All Saints Day is celebrated November 1st and is traditionally when Chileans have the day off of work and visit cemeteries. It is mostly a Catholic tradition meant to cover all of the feasts for saints for the whole year. The
public transit system has special maps out on how to get to all of the cemeteries tomorrow - including the Jewish one - go figure....We plan to just hang out although I am tempted to hit one of the Catholic cemeteries just to see what it is about. I don't think that I can persuade anybody to go with me though! I think that they are still freaked-out by La Recoleta in Buenos Aires.
Sarah - I am reading backwards so wanted to comment on a later (though earlier in the order in which I am reading) post of the picture of the golden retriever on the car. Yes! Not only should you get one - you should bring them to the United States. Why don't all of us dog-lovers who have no dog at least decorate our cars as if we had a dog? No fur, as you point out, but also, in this bad economy, no vet bills, dog walker/sitter bills, no food bills. No drool on the furniture, your feet, your hands. But then again, no automatic floor cleaner, either. I want to come meet your dog when you come home and get him or her!!! I'm missing having a dog, too!
ReplyDeleteYou are not a fan of horses, huh?? Neither am I. I am more fond of them when I think of them as just really big dogs. But I'd have skipped the horseback riding adventure, too, though if we ever have to live in Texas, I'll be getting the boots and hat and have a great costume for, um, Purim?
It's always great to catch up on the Nerenberg family adventures. Sending hugs and love to everyone. Go Jonathan, Eharry Epotter en Espanol!!!