Le Halloween

The French do not celebrate Halloween- in fact it is almost uniquely an American celebration. I learned a lot about the holiday's origins this year because I had to present on it to some of my classes. Most of you probably already know that it began as a precursor to All Saint's Day (All Hallow's Eve mutating into Halloween). I guess at some point the trick-or-treating bit began that people baked small current cakes and offered them outside of their homes on All Hallow's Eve to appease the returning spirits, both good and bad. As time sent on folks actually took these cakes around the villages before shutting themselves in at night, waiting for the spirits of the dead to pass through. My guess is they did not sort their cakes into piles according to what kind they received and then tried to trade the bad cakes (smarties and bit-o-honeys) for the good cakes (almond joy and babyruth) with their siblings.

Halloween for us turned into a party on my birthday to which 60+ people showed up. It was rockin'. I was the anti-Chikungunya, but I was in good company with a mosquito, Chikungunya, la Route Littoral, and the Car Jaune. There were other good costumes too. No Jackfruit.