Bogotano Halloween

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Bogotanos love Halloween. I mean, love.

When I found out second-hand from a co-worker that my roommate Christina always held an annual Halloween party, I raced home to demand "IS IT TRUE?? PLEASE CAN WE DO IT?"

The answer was YES. Yahoo! We spent some time getting ready for the party-- cut-out crafts of bats and cats were taped to walls, spider webs were hung, and alcohol was bought. I added my own flavor of 'Murica by making rice krispie treats and orange jello shots. Chrstina was dubious, but I showed her--all the Colombians wanted to know how to recreate such magical treats! I made sure to emphasize that jello shots are a strooong tradition in the US, haha. That really isn't a lie, as my college roommates and friends can attest :)

The only bad part about Halloween in Bogota is that there are no thrift shops for me to scavenge and re-create a costume. Therefore, I had to go with what I (mostly) had. I think my Wednesday Addams costume turned out pretty well:




We had about 25 guests or so and I had a great time. To get the party moving along, I introduced a group to the wonders of drinking card games, specifically "Circle of Death"/"Kings Cup." Somehow I managed to get the rules across in Spanglish, though to be honest, most rules ended with "and then you drink." The group of 8 or so that played seemed to enjoy it and when we finished an hour later, it was time to DANCE.

The music was turned waaaay up and the lights were dimmed.  I was quickly booted off DJ status, which is ridiculous because who DOESN'T dance to hip hop? Oh right...Colombians. :( As the night went on, I figured out I could play pop songs that were more universal, so I embraced my inner Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Rihanna, and a happy medium was found.

I made a few more great friends that night and am excited for more parties! Here are a few pictures of friends dressed up. And yes, that is my friend Bryan wearing my dress. It was the only one we could get over his shoulders.






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