Halloween Weekend

Argentina does not traditionally celebrate Halloween; however, over the last few years it has slowly taken hold and there are more and more celebrations each year. Since I can't remember a single year of my life where I haven't dressed up, I certainly wasn't going to miss this opportunity to spread Halloween cheer and convinced some of my friends to participate. Sol took it one step further and convinced a bunch of HER friends to also dress up, and we had a fantastic pre-party at her house to eat, drink, be merry, and get ready together. Sol's sister Cielo even carved two pumpkins! I was blown away by their enthusiasm.

My particular costume, as I explained before, was Snow, in honor of my many winters this year. Although they tend to interpret costumes a bit more literally here, I assured my fellow partiers that abstract concepts and weather patterns were totally acceptable as costumes. This is me pre-glitter, as I was trying to spare Sol's house:


After we were all ready we decided to head to a club just around the corner, which actually ended up being a combination flogger/gay club. Floggers are a growing cultural oddity here, mostly angsty teenagers who have very deliberate hairdos and post pictures of themselves online (i.e. keep 'photo logs' hence the name). The most famous one is a teenage lesbian named Cumbio and is actually paid to make appearances at clubs and such. Here's a picture of a group of floggers - they famously hang out at the Abasto mall every Sunday. I fully plan to go one day and get a picture with Cumbio. Until then:

Anyhoo, it's safe to say that my particular costume was a bit out of place among the dark outfits within the club; the floggers gave me dirty looks and the gays stopped to kiss me on the cheek and make adoring comments about my outfit. It made me realize just how much I miss the gay scene in Seattle, since here they are mostly confined to very specific spaces (though I later found out that this weekend was, in fact, Gay Pride weekend, and even caught a bit of the parade that went a mere block past my house).

The club itself was hosting a rad Halloween party with a Tim Burton theme - amazing! They were projecting Ed Wood on two huge screens, and at one point a group of exquisitely costumed dancers performed on stage for about an hour. The get-ups included characters from Mars Attacks, the Joker, Beetlejuice, and a few others that were indistinguishable yet well-done. By far the two best were Edward Scissorhands and Willy Wonka. I would kill to get my hands on pictures from within the club. (Sol, did your friends take any??)

We danced for a few hours like crazy high school kids with me throwing glitter into the air any time someone complimented my costume, and often for no reason at all, resulting in a smattering of glitter bits on anyone near me (which some people loved and others were not so pleased about). Now, three days and three showers later (which kills me, a devoted infrequent showerer) I am STILL covered in glitter; my scalp is veritably glowing with it. My apartment is equally coated, as is my bed and a fair amount of my clothes. I guess I'll just celebrate Halloween all month.

There are more pictures from the evening on Picasa so just click on the link to the right. The next big Yankee holiday to introduce them to is Thanksgiving, which will also be hosted at Sol's house, and I can't wait!

As you all can't help but knowing due to the inundation of ads and e-mails, tomorrow is Election Day. No matter how you feel, get out and vote! It is your greatest right and responsiblity as a member of a democratic society, plus wearing that little sticker all day is a perfect way to feel smug in the face of non-voters. Remember, your office has to grant you at least an hour to vote, so take advantage of that paid time off, vote for 5 minutes and have a few drinks for the other 55, knowing you've accomplished your duty and are now stoking the economy with your consumptive habits. Cheers to that!