Everyone told us Chile didn’t celebrate Halloween or Expats said, “It’s nothing like it is in the States.” So our expectations for October were very low. But honestly, we had a solid few days of Halloween festivities.
Wilson’s skateboard class had everyone come in costume. They played special games and brought lots of snacks to share. It was an adorable little Halloween party.
Thursday night Mark and I hung up a big Halloween balloon display after the kids went to bed, and I set the table with Halloween cups and some special little glow surprises for the kids to wake up to in the morning. They were elated.
Friday we went for a sunset Halloween hike with our friends and the kids dressed up a little and had Halloween candy and ghost shaped marshmallow cereal snacks. They were no Rice Krispies treats but got the job done as far as the kids were concerned.
Saturday we had family Halloween movie night. Thinking the kids wouldn’t get to Trick or Treat, I made a candy board of treats for them to share during the movie.
Finally, on actual Halloween, a fellow gringo shared with me that the gringo-heavy neighborhood was going to have houses in which there would be Trick or Treating. We went, and we found about every tenth house was willing to answer the door and give out candy. There were more kids out in the streets hitting up those 10-12 houses in over a mile expanse than we’ve ever had at our house in Raleigh. The kids had to work for it, getting the silent treatment at the gate intercom doorbell more often than they found a homeowner giving out candy.
We brought a giant bag of candy we had bought a Kios Club, which is an American imported grocery store. It seems their strategy is to buy products in bulk at Costco, ship them here, and mark them up three hundred percent. The bag of candy costs $12 at Costco in the US and $36 here. It was worth it to watch Mark be swarmed by kids wanting “the good stuff” and even better when one little boy in his Chilean accent cried out with joy “SKITTLES”!
While the kids certainly were a little down in the dumps about missing all our usual fun back home, they made the most of the holiday here and will always remember Trick or Treating in Santiago, Chile.
“Ahe! SKITTLES!”