For the past three years, we have spent Halloween in Panama. Traditionally, Panamanians don’t celebrate Halloween in the same way as the United States. However, over the years, U.S. traditions have become more popular, and the kids here enjoy dressing up and Halloween parties. Especially because we live in an expat community, Halloween parties are usually abundant. However, last year the kids really expressed missing “trick or treating.” I knew they wanted the quintessential Americana Halloween experience that can only be had in suburbia. Luckily the stars aligned- the kids had three days off right around Halloween weekend which gave us enough time to travel. I also had a convenient excuse in that AJC needed oral surgery that we weren’t able to get completed over the summer. So with a suitcase filled with different costume choices, we embarked on our spooky adventure.
We flew to North Carolina to visit my sister and her kiddos. We squeezed a lot into these four days- oral surgery, family photo session, a pumpkin patch visit, an epic Halloween cul-de-sac party, and trick or treating in the neighborhood. BC and I even got our Covid vaccine boosters while there. We were lucky that AJC’s surgery went super smoothly so we were able to enjoy the rest of the weekend. (no more shark teeth!).
With all the events, PJC got to switch up his costume. He first choose his current obsession- Ghostbusters! However, for the actual Halloween night, he choose his glow-in the dark skeleton costume. AJC committed to his blue ninja costume and showed off his sweet moves. My sister’s family embraced her daughter’s love of princesses- they had Jasmine, Raja, Abu, the Genie and even their dog participated as the magic carpet.
As much as we love living in a remote corner of the world, there are just some times that you have to return to the suburbs. Halloween was a blast, and I imagine the kids will want to return every year so we can relive the fun.
Family Stoke 