Hocus Pocus

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

I am writing this while watching Hocus Pocus!!! Which is literally my second favorite holiday movie (1st place is obviously Love Actually at Christmastime).  I love Hocus Pocus, especially when Sarah Jessica Parker jumps up and down screaming, “Amuck, amuck, amuck!” Although it is kind of making me miss the Halloween festivities on the east coast. I’ve already been really sad about missing the entire fall season in New York. And by a little sad, I mean, I may or may not have seen photos of red and orange leaves and cried a little the other day. Haha, ok well maybe not that extreme, but still- it’s my favorite season. And it also happens to coincide with my favorite holiday- Halloween! Normally, I get a little giddy at the thought of carving pumpkins, picking apples, candy corn, corn maizes, raking leaves, chilly nights, Halloween parties, dressing up in costumes…I could go on and on. It’s funny though, because I don’t really remember ever getting super into dressing up for Halloween as a kid. In fact I remember trick-or-treating in the exact same witch costume for, maybe 3-4 years in a row? Lame, right?! But don’t worry I have made up for it in spades as an adult (refer to the photo gold you see below of my last 2 Halloween costumes). I am obviously limited by the lack of costumes here in Panama, so my outfit this year was pretty lame- I dressed as a greek goddess? I guess. I mean, I got a white dress and stuck a bunch of leaves and flowers in my hair woodland-nymph-style (most people asked me why I didn’t dress up)…Not my best work, but whatever.

I’m not exactly sure what they do here in Panama for Halloween, I’m excited to find out tomorrow. I asked this random dude who was walking next to me the other day on my walk home from work (during a really awkward conversation that was brought on simply because he was walking near me and felt the need to say, ‘hola.’ The whole conversation (2 minutes, tops) ended with him asking if he could take a photo of us together, to which I said yes, because what else do you say? I can only imagine the stories he has been telling as he shows his friends and family this photo…) and he said it was just like the US, but I am not sure that he actually knows what we do in the US, because I can tell you that it is nowhere near the level of commercial exploitation that we enjoy in the US… It could have just been that I misunderstood him. Knowing my Spanish skills, that’s probably what happened. Hopefully they don’t come trick-or-treating though, because I have no candy for anyone. Something tells me they are not too into the holiday though, since on Wednesday of last week there was Christmas music playing in town. Yes, you read that right: CHRISTMAS MUSIC. As in Jingle Bells. And if your jaw just dropped a little, believe me, I was just as shocked. It is way too early for Christmas, and I understand that since Panama has no Thanksgiving, they also don’t have a clear definitive marker for when it is acceptable to start playing Christmas music, but jeez, we are literally 2 months away from Christmas. Let’s not get carried away. And especially let’s not skip over my favorite time of the year/holiday, even if it is an altered, slightly more tropical version of my Hocus Pocus-esque, yellow and orange leaves, straw and pumpkin-filled idea of Halloween. So if you could all take a little time today and enjoy the Halloween spirit and maybe eat a few candy corn for me, that would be great. (By the way- I am already planning next year’s costume, and I will make sure that I am in the NY for it this time.)

Happy Halloween (or Happy Nevada Day for my peeps back in the Silver State)!