Happy Halloween, Peruvian-style
It’s 5:30 in the afternoon here in Lima, and the Peruvian version of Halloween is underway.
In my neighborhood of Miraflores, the holiday consists of big groups of kids running through the streets screaming “Halloween! Halloween!”
Some are wearing costumes, but many aren’t. Every child has a bag for candy, though.
When the children ring the doorbell, they scream “Halloween!” over and over until someone answers. They may stand at someone’s door for five minutes, hoping that someone will eventually poke a head out.
El Hijo is disgusted that they don’t know the proper protocol.
“They don’t even know that you say ‘trick or treat,’ ” he sneered. “Duh.”
My son has nine years of American-style trick-or-treating under his belt and he considers himself an expert.
He’s getting ready now to dress up as Death and scare the bejesus out of the Peruvian trick-or-treaters. We did this last year in Lima, with a horror sound-effects soundtrack blaring out of a window, and it frightened many chlldren and adults. (Some of the mothers were crossing themselves.)
Tomorrow (All Saints Day) many Peruvian families will visit the graveyards, to honor their dead. It’s not uncommon for people to bring plates of food to share with those in the Great Beyond.
According to Peruvian tradition, the veil between the two worlds is lifted during these days — October 31 and November 1.
If you think that concept is “symbolic” down here, try dressing up as the Grim Reaper and moaning through your gate at a crowd of trick-or-treaters.
10 p.m. update:
We had a successful evening, El Hijo and I. He wore all black and a strange mask of an ancient Chinese man, which is very creepy, for some reason. I wore a skull’s head and a long black trenchcoat.
“La Muerte!” the little ones shouted. Some were too afraid to approach the house. But many 8- and 9-year-olds got into the spirit and played along with our theatrics. EH and I were silent throughout. Our audiences wanted to know if EH was my son or my father; I just shrugged.
“Ah! Es un secreto!” one girl in a pumpkin costume exclaimed.
I nodded yes and motioned to El Hijo to give her extra candy.
“Gracias, Muerte,” she said.
We lit thes 3-foot-tall candles that I bought at the 15,000-foot-high sanctuary of El Senor de Qoyllur R’iti, up near Mount Ausangate. They burned fierely, especially the first one I lit.
The wax spilled over our front porch steps, onto the grass and dirt. It was as though the flames were alive.
–Barbara Drake
Barbara
I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.
15 Comments
Peruanista
Your story was supposed to be spooky but it made me laugh… LOL @ mothers crossing themselves.
When I was a child in Peru, there was not such a thing as Halloween, I was raised in the Andes and in Lima. I think it was since the late 1980’s that huachafos started pushing their kids into it.
But I suspect that in Lima this tradition has to do with poor kids “getting some thing free” for their first time in the year…
Here in DC, I went out with friends to a block party, it was cool. But the scariest thing I saw was this almost-7-feet drag queen that tried to convince me to dress up next year…
"el kibitzer"
kids in nj still enjoy “halloweening”, in dwindling numbers i must say. though another overly commercialized holiday, “trick or treating” and costume parties abound. i hope it helps the economy.
chau for now
el kibitzer
"el kibitzer"
barb,
did you see my “cholito brujo”
Trick or Treat!
Rachel in Peru
Thought you might like to see the “treat” that I received in my little pumpkin head.
http://rachelinperu.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/trick-or-treat/
A little “Sambo-ish” if you ask me…
It’s an unknown Peruvian brand.
Barb
Peruanista, I thought the event was kind of funny myself. Yes, the trend is very new here in Lima.
LOL re the drag queen. If you have the guy’s number, though, keep it. Drag queens are very handy to know around Halloween time — they have all the dress-up items (wigs, wild outfits) you could ever want to borrow. I used to live on South Beach, and the drag queens in my apartment complex (yes, there were several) used to loan out wigs and falsies to the straight guys around H-ween.
Barb
El Kibitzer — Kids in NJ are probably afraid of being poisoned or something. I lived in NJ as a kid, and the mothers were always warning us about people slipping razor blades in apples. We’d have to go through our candy after trick-or-treating to check for dangerous items. Kind of weird, but we Jersey kids took it in stride.
Barb
Rachel —
Ach! I will have to post a comment on your blog.
yeah, this sambo stuff is racist, even though the Peruvains claim it isn’t. It’s a milder racism (if that makes any sense) than the denigration directed at Andean people, but it is racism never the less.
Did you see the Carretas cover with Obama in an Uncle Sam hat, with the headline, “Tio Sam-bo”?
Peruanista
Barb, I will keep that advice in mind.
Rachel, indeed it is racist but some Peruvians don’t want to see it – even black Peruvians sometimes prefer to look the other way.
This might be offensive, but it is truth:
If Barack Obama were Peruvian:
http://peruanista.blogspot.com/2008/02/si-barack-obama-fuera-peruano.html
Barb, I need to see that Caretas front page.
Ward Welvaert
Barb,
Patricia – who was an au-pair in the US – was similarly annoyed that the Peruvian kids don’t do the “trick-or-treating” business by US protocol… que gracioso!
We were on the way back from Accha on Halloween so we missed most of the fun. The dawgs were camping out at my mother-in-laws, so any kids who were unlucky enough to go there had to earn their candy!
Barb
Carlos, your post on racism in Peru has many informative links (readers, check them out).
I am so mystified by this Dona Pepa / Aunt Jemima thing, and Peruvians don’t get why I think it’s offensive. It’s very jarring to see these characatures of black people on various products, usually for food.
Carlos, I should photograph the Caretas cover for you and let you have at it on your blog.
Sara
My own 10-year-old Halloween expert has a question for yours: Are there any Peruvian flute bands? They are apparently featured in the TV show Southpark, and have something to do with ferocious guinea pigs. Thank you.
Barb
Sara, I didn’t see the South Park episodes, so I don’t know what the cartoon is showing. Myself, I have never seen groups of people playing the panpipes. Usually it’s just one person in a band, or a lone guy on the street.
Peruvian pan pipe music is heard all over Cusco. After a while, it can get pretty tiring to hear “El Condor Pasa” played for the 100th time. Maybe the South Park creators visited Cusco and had panpipe overload. 🙂
bex
int hallowe’en spelt like that < init
Solangel
Sara, I saw the South Park episode you wrote about. It was meant to be a spoof of the movie called “Cloverfield”.
Raphael Moshe
Hey…out there….. I am in Lima and want to take my peruvian 20 year old niece to a lively american style Halloween Party…..Any ideas or suggestions?…..I got her a broom and she’ll travel!