braziloween

Just as we were starting to make a dent in the massive amounts of stuff that were dumped on us, Halloween arrived.  I was in no position to plan out elaborated, wonderful costumes.  Come to think of it, I never do that.  I have a lot of creative energy, but for some reason it never translates into cool costumes.  So we did Halloween the old-fashioned way.  The kids found their own costumes and had a little help from me (very little) to tweak them just right.  Lucy was the only one who could have had an awesome costume, but she refused.  Of all the things I could find in the heaps of things, I came across some cute leiderhosen we got while in Germany.  She opted for her swimsuit and swim shoes instead, and I acquiesced quickly having very little energy to spare.  I'm not sure if she was a swimmer or a budget ballerina.  It didn't matter.  She had fun and got some candy.

Our neighborhood started doing a Halloween celebration years ago when one of the residents who had spent time in the states initiated it.  It's not a common thing here in Brazil, but it's getting there.  So we met with some friends and neighbors to eat what looked like mini sloppy joe's (yummy) and bright orangey red hot dogs (scary).  I still haven't been able to try a Brazilian hot dog. The color is just all wrong in my opinion.  They must have some allure though because they pretty much only sell them in packs of 1,000.

A few of the ladies from my English speaking coffee group (or in my case chocolate quente) joined us for the festivities.  The kids were chomping at the bit to get out and do some serious candy damage.  So we let them run off on their own while we stayed back and glutted ourselves on cake and brigadeiros.  

Our neighborhood is very secure and I felt comfortable letting the kids go trick-or-treating on their own.  It's the only time that's ever happened.  The little english speaking crowd consisted of a dozen kids from 5 years old to 16+.  The kids were out until close to 10pm.  Towards the end of the night houses were running out of candy and one lady gave our kids honey and jam packets, and they gladly took them.  It must just be a numbers game to them because I seriously doubt they planned to eat them.

You could say the kids "scored", but that's all relative.  There were a couple things worth eating in my opinion, but the rest I could do without.  At one point during the halloween season I had to pull a Tom Hanks from "Big" and actually wipe out my mouth with a napkin to get the terrible "chocolate" flavor out of my mouth - I promise I wasn't being dramatic.  It was awful.  Still, the kids loved it.  Like always, they did the booty count and trade afterwards.  I had to do some quality control, chucking out homemade or unwrapped candy.  Yes, some gave handfuls of unwrapped whatevers.  My american paranoia is deeply rooted.