Halloween in Mexico: observations

Halloween is becoming increasingly popular in this part of Mexico. Many things that are popular in the US are immitated here. It seems that halloween has been imported into Mexico City, and in our neighborhood, we have noted more decorations for halloween than for the more traditional “Day of the Dead.” Here are some observations on hallween in Mexico City:

  • They don’t say “Trick or Treat”, they say, “Queremos halloween” (We want halloween). There is also a song that is sung that has something to do with our “little skull” being hungry and asking if there is candy around here.
  • The kids do not really go to individual houses to trick or treat, they just walk up the street saying “We want halloween.” If a house shows interest, they go to that house and usually sing the song.
  • Costumes are optional
  • Most costumes are witches or evil related. There aren’t many Power Rangers or other kid related costumes
  • Houses get decorated a lot with pumpkins and ghosts.
  • Trick or Treating really picks up after 9 pm.
  • Mostly, the kids are really pretty polite and say thank you.
  • After halloween, Christmas begins (probably because they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving)
  • The Christian church and Christians in general are adamantly opposed to Halloween here in Mexico.

Tonight’s Youth Group Meeting

The meeting tonight was great. We had 15 people there, which I think is the most we have had at a youth meeting since we started working at Dios Es Amor. It was Cesar’s birthday, so we had flan and gelatina and orange soda. The young people at the church have really started getting motivated.

Gaby brought a girl she just met today at a birthday party. The interesting thing is that this girl isn’t a Christian. She comes from a Catholic background and was very open to talking. She had a lot of questions for the group. Heber gave a great testimony of what God is doing in his life. I realized just how difficult it is to explain to someone exactly what it is that we believe. It is not as easy as people think, but it is very necessary. Well, that was my night.

Daylight Savings Time

We learned this morning that Nathan doesn’t understand the concept of Daylight Savings Time. The best part of “falling back” is that you get an extra hour to stay in bed and sleep. Nathan didn’t get that memo. He still woke up at the normal time, and he wouldn’t let us sleep. So, we spent some family time together this morning instead of sleepy time. Nathan gets to take naps during the day, though, and we don’t. We’ll be at church this morning, and then there is youth group this evening at 6 pm. So, Sundays are definitely not a day of rest for us. But you already knew that.

My day

I had class today from 8 AM to noon. It was my first day of class of the quarter. I am teaching Youth Culture and Foundations of Youth Ministry 2. I only have class on Wednesdays and Fridays this quarter.
Today, the missionary kids didn’t have school, so Cole and I went to Six Flags after my classes. The park was empty. We got on all of the rides we wanted to get on with very little, practically no waiting. We went on the Boomerang, Batman, Kilahuea, and Superman, among others. We actually rode the Superman ride 6 times. We were only there for 3 and a half hours. You know you’re getting older when you can only go on the ride 4 times before starting to get sick. Just so you know, Superman is 66 meters tall and goes 120 kilometers per hour. As soon as you got off the ride, you could get back on. It was a lot of fun.