Halloween in Africa. Trick or Treat bag? Check. Flashlight? Check. Mosquito repellent? Check.
I love Halloween. I think it might be my favorite holiday of the year. I’m not sure why, but I do know that my mom did a kick ass job of decorating the house and making it a feast for a child’s senses every year. It probably also helped that autumn in New England really can’t be beat. I know I’m biased, but it’s just an excellent time of year.
Oh yes, we watched a lot of Halloween specials. The same ones, year after year…
So here in Senegal, we don’t have Halloween. The closest (but not really close) equivalent I can find is during Tamkharit– the Muslim New Year. On this day men are known to dress up as women, and the kids go from house to house asking for money. That’s a horrible encapsulation of a holy holiday, but that’s all I know for right now.
So despite the fact that Halloween passes without notice in Senegal, organized trick or treating is held in an “American” neighborhood so that kids can get a sugar-infused taste of what they’re missing back home. Friends of mine in the target neighborhood wanted to take their little boy out in search of future cavities, so I volunteered to take on candy dispensing duties at their house. Halloween was held on the 30th (really, it could be held in March and no one here would be the wiser), and I was happy to have some minor involvement in the festivities.
My trick or treating watch station.
I don’t have kids, but I can tell you that manners were the most important thing going on in my house growing up. As a consequence, whenever I interact with any children, I find myself enforcing these same standards on them as well. I don’t know if that is right or wrong, but I wasn’t planning on wielding a big plate of candy to little sugar addicts without ensuring I got some kind of a ‘thank you’ in return.
Lots of Africa-friendly (read: won’t melt) candy.
I have to say that I got about a 70% “thank you” rate of return on the candy communion. Some kids, of course, were not shy about voicing dissatisfaction at what I placed into their bags. Here’s a sampling:
-Witch costume: “Can’t I have M&Ms instead?”
-Me: “No. Happy Halloween!”
-Princess costume: “I don’t really like those, can I have Nerds?”
-Me: “Comment on dit (how do you say), ‘beggars can’t be choosers?”
-Teenage kid with a “costume” consisting of some face paint: “Can I have two pieces of candy?”
-Me: “You’re lucky that I’m giving you even one piece of candy with that sorry excuse for a costume and your lame attempt to stretch the age limit of trick or treating!”
(Okay I really just said “No” and made sure to give him the crappiest candy on my tray: the hard mint candies. Oh and by the way- I trick or treated well into high school, so I’m a hypocrite.)
-Kid with a fake knife sticking out of his chest who lunges at my tray as I open up the door: “Oooh I want Skittles!”
-Me, reflexively recoiling with my stash: “Excuse me! That was really impolite.”
He slinks away and I distribute candy to the rest of the group. It’s not until now that I realize that my commentaries with these kids are (obviously) monitored by the parents standing just at the curb. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Sucking Chest Wound being counseled by his Mom. I feel like I have overstepped my boundaries as goodwill candy giver. After the swarm of kids moves on, the kid comes back to me.
-Kid: “I’m sorry for how I acted before. It wasn’t right.”
-Me: “That’s okay, do you want some candy?”
-Kid: “No, thank you. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”
I think we both felt like a bit of an ass for reacting without thinking on that last one.
Really, almost of the kids were extremely polite, and it was lots of fun to interact with so many different kids from all over the map (not just American children love their free candy).
Trick or Treaters mixing with the locals. I’d love to hear the interior monologue of the Senegalese children as they watched Wolverine, King Tut, Jedis, and a dozen pirates wandering the streets.
We started out with about five pounds of candy. Most of it was given out, and Megan consequently had a sugar-coated hand at the end of the night. How did I ever consume this much candy as a kid?
This two and a half year old pirate was the most altruistic trick or treater. He’d say “trick or treat” and then reach into his bag to give the person some of his candy. You might say that he’s simply getting the hang of this Halloween thing, but he’s still pretty fantastic.
So it was just another “normal” evening here in Dakar for a bunch of Americans. I will say that because I answered the door to my friends’ house, a lot of people now mistakenly think that I live there. My only concern with this assumption is that I am sure some kids will now walk by and think, “That’s where that mean lady lives who wouldn’t give us extra candy! Let’s TP the banana tree!”
Happy Halloween!