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OCTOBER 31 IS NOT HALLOWEEN IN AJIJIC!


ezpz

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Thanks gringal and Sea. I'll ask the neighbors. I hope some kids come! I never get any at my northern home because I live in a rural area. Best place to buy bulk candy if needed? NOB the kids appreciate mini Hersheys, Milky Ways, Reeses cups, and similar good quality stuff. What do they hope to get here?

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word of advice. Hand out the candy individually. Never let them grab their own unless they are still in diapers. The bigger ones can empty a bowl with one handful. We turn on the street lites for the little ones who come with their parents and turn them off when the teens start coming.

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Well, today is the big day... Just because cheap junky Halloween paraphernalia is available here does not mean that people really celebrate it. It's sort of a "hustle the gringo" thing. My neighbor lady thought that Thrill the World and Halloween were devil worship ceremonies. I had to explain to her the huge difference between Halloween and DDLM which is a beautiful and spiritual celebration.

Between the two, it is Halloween that is the ghoulish, macabre, horrible, scary, ugly, and overall negative "celebration". For years I loathed the horrible psychotically violent movies that would come out in the US. Enjoying violence and mayhem as entertainment is truly a sign of a degenerate society.

I did see a few giggly kids today who gave me that "queremos Halloween" line and I told them, no I don't have candy and I'm going to the Fiesta de la Virgin del Rosario! Got a Thumbs Up on that! I told them that many kids eat too much candy and then get sick! Don't forget that Dia de los Muertos comes in 2 days and that holiday features its own special foods including candy skulls and sweetbreads. The last thing kids need is more sugar! I think it is probably Mexican-American parents that encourage their kids to "trick or treat".

Mexico already abounds in rich, vibrant traditions and is not in need of this foreign influence. Let's just hope the kids here don't figure out the "trick" part of this custom!

In Ajijic, most of the people in the village will be involved in the Fiesta rather than Halloween. I used to get published writing about the fiestas here since so few gringos even know about them and always wonder why all the cohetes are going off, etc. Streets will be closed for the procession; don't throw a hissy fit if you can't get around as usual. I post this information to inform all of you that you have options on Oct.31. I don't mind at all telling locals that I have no candy for kids, I don't "celebrate" Halloween, and am going to the beautiful and fun fiesta.

The drummers with the danzantes put to shame any northern culture rock and roll groups, if rhythm and dancing is what you like!

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I agree Hensley. Kids come every year dressed up in costumes and I enjoy it. It is Halloween.

Wow, I'm glad I found this thread as we were not expecting trick or treaters! We're on Constitucion just south of the church. How many kids do you think we should buy candy for??

This is my twelfth Halloween in the middle (on a small local street) of the village; many of "my" neighborhood kids have grown up, but more take their place. I always plan for and have about 25 to 45 kids. Queremos Halloween can be heard up and down the street and side streets from about 5:30 for the little little ones, to about 9:30pm. I make up plastic bags of sweets along with an apple, usually. The celebration for the Virgin, the procession, which goes past my house, and other activities traditional to our villages are fabulous of course, but EZPZ you must know that not everyone goes to everything, on the plaza and church etc. I don't go every year, nor do all of my neighbors....some do, some don't. We can enjoy our very traditional Mexico, and the many non-traditional activities, like Halloween ...

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Tonight I will be cheerfully passing out gummy eyeballs purchased on my recent trip to the states, no apologies for spreading my heathen gringo culture to the unsuspecting Mexican children of Chapala mMMUUAAAHaHahahahahha!

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Thanks gringal and Sea. I'll ask the neighbors. I hope some kids come! I never get any at my northern home because I live in a rural area. Best place to buy bulk candy if needed? NOB the kids appreciate mini Hersheys, Milky Ways, Reeses cups, and similar good quality stuff. What do they hope to get here?

It's way too late to answer this for this year, but for next.... the kids appreciate anything that you give them. I got fancy chocolate stuff like I'd get in the states only in year one. Or maybe a couple of candy bars for my maid and gardener's kids. But they love the hot little packaged treats... I get mine at Superlake about a month before Halloween. Like packs of marshmallows or something, for maybe 50p. Tonight it doesn't seem like anyone is coming so everything goes to my maid tomorrow.

Mainly don't wait for the last minute to buy Holloween candy. Scoop it up as soon as you see it, because it fits the criteria of season stuff that isn't restocked. The mystery of Mexican marketing. If people want something and buy it, they're verging on nuisance behavior that shouldn't be encouraged.

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Well, today is the big day... Just because cheap junky Halloween paraphernalia is available here does not mean that people really celebrate it. It's sort of a "hustle the gringo" thing. ...

I don't think giving out candy will pollute the Mexican culture as much as you do. I could be wrong about that.

There's not a big mystery about why the custom is being adopted as easily as it is. -- Kids. Free candy. Yay! Rinse and repeat many times.

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If the Americans brought Halloween to Mexico they sure bypassed Chiapas or it is not in Mexico. We live in the centro in San Cristobal and we have not seen one kid with a Halloween costume or asking for candy. People here are celebrating the Virgin del Rosario and the Cervantino and shopping for the altars and the food for the Day of the Dead.

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Some foreigners come to Mexico wanting or expecting it, or they think, to be living in the 16th century. Traditions are OK in any culture or country in the world but.....

.....there are a lot of Mexicans who understand and use high tech communication, speak computerese., and believe it or not, love One Direction.

Times change, lighten up and enjoy Halloween. Excess candy, or whatever, for one day a year isn't going to kill anybody.

One poster's dislike of Halloween seems to stem from their dislike of horror movies. So besides prohibiting candy, are horror movies next. Oh yeah, they weren't around in the 16th century either.

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Last night a friend of mine from Ajijic told me her grand daughter called her mother a bad mother because she did not want her to take her trick and treating so it looks like the kids are dictating the future..

There must be a lot of bad mothers in our colonia in Guadalajara because we had a grand total of 4 trick or treaters,even less than in previous years.

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There must be a lot of bad mothers in our colonia in Guadalajara because we had a grand total of 4 trick or treaters,even less than in previous years.

It would be interesting to know if your nearest Mexican neighbors also got these same trick-or-treaters. Is the "tradition" among the givers, the receivers or both?

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It would be interesting to know if your nearest Mexican neighbors also got these same trick-or-treaters. Is the "tradition" among the givers, the receivers or both?

All my neighbors are Mexican,it's a middle class colonia in Guadalajara,the "tradition" just hasn't taken hold here yet.

But tomorrow we will be going to a panteon in Tonala with a candle and some flowers.

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Immigrants bring customs, celebrations, food, etc to their host countries. One of the things the NOB expats brought with them to Mexico was Halloween. We get Day of the Dead, they get Halloween, everyone wins.

I agree, everyone wins. But I also think that a lot of Mexicans who live/work NOB bring Halloween with them. Just saying.

BTW Halloween and Day of the Dead are my favorite Holidays.

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We live in Upper Ajijic in a very Mexican neighborhood. We had about 5-6 groups with 8-10 children in costume and/or Zombie makeup chanting "queremos Halloween". We had already purchased two large bags of the Pinata type candies from the Dulceria in Chapala. We still had a bit left over.

They were accompanied by adults, very excited and well behaved. Such a delight. While we fully understand and respect the differences between Dios de los Muertos and Halloween, how wonderful to be able to celebrate it all.

Viva Mexico!

Valerie :)

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Yesterday I was doing my usual errands around town and stopped in a shop where I often buy things. Chatting about the weekend, I asked about the Virgin of the Rosary fiesta changes this year, and soon they steered the conversation. Completely unprompted by me, the shop owner and the clerk (from different segments of society) both expressed dismay over the creeping increase of Halloween here. I agreed totally and told them how I didn't like Halloween even in the US.

The clerk told me that the church in San Antonio had a special fiesta for kids on Nov. 1, which is the Dia de los Angelitos - the day that the little kids and babies who have died have their own special day. It is so sad to see the altars with the baby pictures and the little stuffed toys and bottles, etc. Anyway, the church sponsored a candy giveaway to the kids that day in the SA plaza - and the kids did NOT go around doing Halloween. I think it was more like a "flowers for the living" type of thing - a way to celebrate your children who are alive and with you. Mexicans adore their kids, and I think that was a beautiful way of incorporating this foreign custom into the real Mexican tradition here.

Coming home after the Virgin fiesta, I heard the Loud Boys from El Barco and still they were audible in my house with the windows closed, 2 blocks away, even after El B put in some soundproofing! For Halloween, which most of the people here do not like. Then... there was a 6 piece horn band playing upstairs very loud at Plaza B! For around 25 people!! I would have liked to continue to hear the fine banda at the plaza!

Yesterday was DDLM, which just beats the heck out of Halloween! Please know that the majority of Mexicans do NOT support it! I'll have videos soon.

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