When I was growing up in Chile, Halloween was not celebrated the way it is in the States. In fact, I don’t really remember it being celebrated at all. But now it’s a different story! Elements from Halloween in the States, such as costumes and going house to house for candy, have recently begun to be incorporated into Chilean life. But the timing is completely “a lo Chileno” (i.e., Chilean-style!)
On the evening of Halloween, Pedro and I had a date night planned, leaving our kids in charge of their aunt and uncle. We left the house a little before 6:30 pm, without a Halloween costume in sight. We returned home around 11:00 pm and were surprised to see children in costumes still going door to door for candy! Some as young as five or six years old were accompanied by their parents, while older kids were walking alone.
When we checked in with Uncle Mark, who was on bedtime babysitting duty at our house, he said the doorbell didn’t stop ringing until around 10:45! And my sister said that the doorbell kept ringing at their house long past the time she had sent her kids to bed.
I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised, since the city lifestyle here is so much later. Lesson learned: Be better prepared for next year!
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