Halloween, Gitmo style; or, Pillowcases, Bed Sheets, and Boba Fett

Today in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba: 83 degrees and cloudy ("feels like 90," according to the Weather Channel)

Got to dig in the dirt and I'm now sitting on the nice, cool screened in backporch under a ceiling fan, typing and looking at my filthy fingernails---it felt good to get out and burn off some of that Halloween candy.

And what a Halloween it was! First, there was Trunk or Treat at the Lyceum. I've never been to one before. Lots of units and offices and contractor groups and even families had fun entries. The Bremcor group---a construction company made up of mostly Filipino workers---built an amazing pirate ship on the back of a truck that you could climb into. My favorite was was truck called "Ice Screams"---an old ambulance with a zombie crew, complete with a big ice cream freezer. I loved seeing all the kids and adults dressed up (and streaked with popsicle and ice cream down the front of their costumes).

There were probably 5 costumes to choose from at the NEX the one time I looked at them, so most kids either get them online, or their parents make them. I love that---you use what you have here (and with no fabric or craft supplies here, you get really creative). Part of the fun of the holiday is guessing what kids and grown ups are supposed to be. Next year, my goal is to make costumes (instead of sweating it out that our mail won't get here in time).

Then there was trick or treating. Last year, the guys got here on Halloween. The youngest got dressed up and we walked his new neighborhood. I had only been here 10 days, so we both were getting our bearings. The best moment was when we had hiked a quarter of the way around the block, and he said, "Awwwww. I'm so sad we're done." Then I realized---hello, base housing!---all the houses look alike and he really thought he was back at home. He was thrilled to realize his mistake, and unlike our older neighborhood, where we were lucky to have 10 houses with lights on for the holiday, almost every family participates here.

This year we went to a neighbor's house and combined four families' treats. There are slim pickings at our little NEX, so I was glad I had ordered a ton of candy online (and hid it until the 31st). There were grown up treats (wine and German cookies) and we all took turns visiting with neighbors and handing out the goods. It reminded me a lot of being back in the little town where I grew up---kids here get in big groups without adults, the older ones looking out for the younger ones. We went through tons of candy (and wine---did I mention wine?) and the grownups shared lots of laughs long after the kids went to bed.

Today I hit the NEX and couldn't believe the amount of Christmas decorations that were already out. That really annoys me in the US, and maybe I was so busy trying to settle in with the family that I didn't notice everything was out so early last year. Or maybe it wasn't. Or maybe I was so used to living in the US, where some stores start putting items out after Labor Day, that it didn't phase me. But living where you only have one store for everything makes it much more noticeable.

We didn't have but a small handful of Halloween costumes and only a few types of candy to choose from here this year. We don't have a bakery department, so there weren't rows of garishly decorated orange and black cookies and cupcakes for the holiday. There were a few decorations and lights for the house (but I honestly don't think anyone in our neighborhood bought any). You live in towns with Targets and Walmarts and large grocery chains that sell you items you don't even know you need, and when you make the switch to living where you don't have items you really do want and need and can't get, it makes you realize that you can really live without so much. I'm sure lots of kids who have lived stateside or on larger bases want the all-American Halloween with a large selection of brand new costumes and hundreds of varieties of candy and treats, but I found the experience of seeing a little ghost tripping on a cut up sheet, a few kids with bits and pieces of several past costumes that obviously didn't go together, or having a kid pull out his Pokemon pillowcase to fill,  a much more rewarding holiday experience.

Boba Fett with a Nerf gun---why not?