Have you ever thought about how spooky October is? It’s so amazing how people wait for October 1^st to hangout their Halloween decorations, and have an excuse to buy and eat candy without feeling guilty. I didn’t really realize this until this year when my roommate had some door decorations ready to put up on October 1^st.

Being born and raised in Peru, I wasn’t very exposed to the American Halloween and trick-or-treating culture. In Peru, kids go out to neighborhood streets and knock on doors chanting “Halloween, Halloween!” to ask for candy. I always thought they only said “trick-or-treat” in movies! It wasn’t until I came here and went out trick-or-treating that I realized that people don’t chant “Halloween, Halloween”, they actually say “trick-or-treat”. Hearing that for the first time as a 14-year-old was shocking. I was so used to chanting that I did it unconsciously, until my friends looked at me as if I was crazy. Eventually I stopped chanting and started saying “trick-or-treat”. And in case you’re wondering, I went out trick-or-treating until I was 17-years-old; yeah, I know I was too old, but I really wanted to experience that true American Halloween tradition for as long as I could. Another cool thing is that Peruvian people don’t decorate their houses or place pumpkins in their yards. You might ask, how do you know which houses are giving out candy and which ones aren’t if their houses are not decorated? Easy. If the house has their lights on, then they’re giving out candy; but if the lights are off, then you better stay away. A really interesting fact is that when you go trick-or-treating, people don’t give out Snickers, Milky Ways, Kit-Kats, or M&Ms because they are considered expensive chocolate. Instead you get hard candy, lollipops, and Peruvian branded chocolate (which is still delicious).

I love October 31^st because it is a special day in Peru for everyone. Small children celebrate Halloween, and older people celebrate El Dia de la Cancion Criolla and El Señor de los Milagros. El Dia de la Cancion Criolla or Criolla Music Day is the day when you celebrate the music that has shaped the identity of Peru. Criolla Music is magical, it is a mixture of African, Spanish, and Andean music. Listen here, now!!  People spend the entire night dancing, singing, eating, and drinking Pisco which is a traditional alcoholic beverage. Here‘s a video of people celebrating on the streets.

A lot of people also celebrate El Señor de los Milagros or the Lord of Miracles. On November 13, 1655 at 2:45pm there was a massive earthquake in Lima, Peru. Every building fell down, except for one wall where a painter had created a beautiful painting of Jesus. Since then people started praying to the Jesus in that painting. Now you see people parading on the streets wearing purple robes carrying a replica of the painted that stood still after the earthquake. I have paraded a few times along with many other people. It was a very nice experience being surrounded by believers while singing and praying. Here‘s a video of the parade, so you can see how big it is.

As I said before, October 31^st is a day when everyone can celebrate. It’s a day full of activities and traditions. It is one of my favorite days on the year!