Parallelogram: Hello? Is this Halloween On?

\One ex-pat experience explored from two points-of-view\

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Lisa\Montreal

I decorated the front of our house for Halloween the last weekend in September.  I’m not a lunatic – I’m not Roseanne – it was just the last warm weekend we’ll have for another eight years.  It’s not much – no animatronics, no giant polyester webs, no spring-loaded corpse leaping out of a coffin – just some tasteful bits and pieces:

No big deal, right?  Ours is the only house on the street with Halloween decorations.  And on the streets to the north and south and on the cross streets too.  I bike and walk everywhere and the only other Halloween decorations I have seen are in the grocery store.  I feel like an American weirdo but then something wicked this way comes – people stop and comment on the spread.  Yesterday I caught someone taking pictures of my house.  Kids LOVE it.  And that makes me happy.  I sure hope my fellow Montrealers get their decor on soon.  In fact, I sure hope my fellow Montrealers celebrate Halloween.  Yeah, let’s start there.

Laura\Mayaguez

I’ve never been big on Halloween decorations, so we don’t have any.  In all my driving I’ve seen 2 houses decorated.  But the stores are full of Halloween stuff so I asked my neighbor if they do trick-or-treating here. Yes! And our neighborhood is a big attraction! I guess everyone wants in here.  She said there’s a long ling at the gate to get in, and the visitor’s name better be on a list or no admittance.

But my neighbor also said, while her kids partake in trick-or-treating and the local haunted house, they don’t dress up in costumes because they are Christian. Not wanting to rock the newly established friendship boat, I didn’t inquire further but kept my extreme confusion to myself. But I’ll write it here: HUH? Makes no sense to me.

In going online to buy an astronaut costume for Mr. D, I realised many of the kids costumes for sale assume cold weather.  He might be one hot astronaut in his long pants/long sleeved get up.

So I’m anticipating a deluge of trick or treaters but it’s anyone’s guess as to how many will actually be dressed up. Oh, and to say trick or treat in Puerto Rico spanish, apparently it’s pronounced “trick or treat.” got that? ok.