An Indonesian Halloween

I think what I love about Halloween is, at least for me, it involves an entire month of preparation. (Unlike Thanksgiving, for example, where really the prep is 48 hours max.)

This year, Halloween required an extraordinary amount of forethought. It began back in August when the movers had packed up my Halloween decorations and after tears and a good 'ol temper tantrum (actually a whopper of a tantrum), I had them dig out the orange Rubbermaid boxes, unpack them, and send my gravestones and garlands with our early shipment. I know those Spanish speaking movers went home to their families with stories of a loco lady who cried over fabric ghosts - but it was worth it!

On October 1st, Tman enlisted the help of our driver, Abidin, to hang up the ghosts on our front porch. Together, they strung the rope-web between our house and tree and carefully mounted the big, hairy, black spider.

Then of course, there were the costumes. Decisions. Decisions. We've always done family-themed costumes every other year. And this year was a theme year. I figured, this might be the last year I can convince my family to do a theme, so I wanted to make the most of it. And oh it was fun to visit a tailor and get custom-made costumes.

Alice in Wonderland ("We're all a little mad here") seemed the perfect theme for our first Indonesian Halloween. Not pictured: my husband who was an Ace of Spades soldier for all of fifteen fun minutes.

The kids enacted their favorite scenes from both the Disney and Tim Burton movies in our back yard. Meya's "Off with her head!" was by far the most authentic.

I had this plan to have a "small" dinner with friends before trick-or-treating on Halloween night. And as with most holiday plans, it grew and grew until we had a full-on PARTY. No less than 30 kids and 14 adults came. Yuli and I worked in the kitchen side by side for 3 hours getting all the food ready. I served Karen's award winning white chili, mummy hotdogs, bat cupcakes, fresh papaya and dragon fruit, and homemade pumpkin doughnuts. Friends brought witches brew, pumpkin soup, more chili, and lots of treats.

With full tummies, we poured out of our house into the dark night. The streets were damp from an afternoon thunderstorm. Peels of laughter could be heard as children approached the more "scarily" decorated houses. There was no traffic in our gated neighborhood, so the children walked from house to house and crossed streets, with no worries. It was a strange sight, strange in its familiarity.

Only the air did not feel Halloweeny - it was humid and warm, more like a summer night. But everything else felt just right. Children. Costumes. Smiling neighbors. Cobwebs spread over bushes and trees.

And of course plenty of candy.

It is a strange holiday to get emotional about. But there they were...a few stray tears just as we walked back to our house and ducked under the ghosts on the front porch. Perhaps it was the result of familiarity lapsing into a bit of homesickness. Perhaps it was gratitude for friends and traditions here on the other side of the world.

Most likely, it was both.