Month: November 2007

We received a lot of questions about whether the folk down here celebrate Halloween or not.  The answer was a resounding “sort of.”  Basically, Halloween is an American “holiday” that receives some degree of international replication, even in Ecuador. Apparently, it was really getting popular down here on the Equator the last few years.  I mean hey, when a few million screaming kids get to go out and beg the neighbors for candy, it’s gonna catch on.  Unfortunately, October 31 just happens to fall on something called “Emblem Day,” a previously obscure Ecuadorian holiday celebrating the meaning and history of the parts of the National Shield.  Nice enough to be sure, and it sure beats some of our own back home holidays, such as National Mustard Day (August 3).  But as Halloween received more popularity, several higher up presidential types wanted to put the “E” back in Emblem Day -- at the expense of Halloween of course.  As a result, Halloween celebrations have become fairly sporadic.  Here in our neighborhood though, it was pretty darn popular.

As you’ll see in the photos below, Ethan decided to go as Federal Agent Jack Bauer from the show “24.”  Yours truly dressed up as a vampire (alas, no photo of the photographer), and friends and family came around to join in the fun.  We even created a couple of “put your hand in the box and feel the disgusting thing inside” boxes.  Those were a big hit actually, especially among the parents.  It was a nice night though Vickie and Meghan were a tad disappointed at the relative scarceness of chocolate goodies.