Halloween in Ecuador

A costume that I can make from what I packed in June AND educate my students about feminism/strong women?!?! Yes I was Rosie the Riveter for Halloween 

I have always loved Halloween. I think it's because it is of Pagan origins so as a kid, unlike at Christmas time, I never felt left out....no wait, let's be serious. It's because there is candy and dressing up and pumpkin carving, and it is part of my favorite season, Fall, and it is always fun!!!

Well as I'm sure most of you are aware, Halloween is not celebrated in Ecuador (or really many other places besides the United States). Instead they observe Dia de Difuntos (directly translated as Day of the Deceased, or Day of the Dead as we are used to hearing it called) on November 2nd. As part of the tradition, they have a traditional drink called Colada Morada, which is eaten with a baby shaped pastry called guaguas de pan (pronounced almost like wawas). The Colada Morada is a SUPER sweet syrupy drink with chunks of fruit, and it is usually served hot. The guaguas are filled with some type of jam or chocolate. 

guagua and colada morada

At Fulbright we all got VERY excited about Halloween! We decided to make a day out of it for our classes on Thursday. Some of the teachers taught their classes the Michael Jackson Thriller dance, and they performed it in the courtyard (while being dressed as zombies of course).

a view from above of the Thriller dance

my morning class running their activities

There was also extra incentive given by many teachers (myself included) to dress up and bring candy for the school wide trick-or-treating activities that we had planned for the day! The classes came up with activities, and other students would rotate around to participate. If you played the game then you got candy! My classes had planned charades and hang man and practicing putting verbs into past tense (when making a ghost story).

and again

5-7 class all dressed up!

7-9 class all dressed up

one of my 7-9 students running our game for other students

 As well as all the fun and games, the students learned about the history of Halloween as well as received their musical education by watching all 14 minutes of the Thriller video.

Between all of the candy, the guagua and the colada morada, I easily slipped into just as big of a sugar coma as I would have at home.