Celebrating Halloween in Africa

This weekend we celebrated Halloween. Our school had relay races, scavenger hunts, and trick or treating. Obviously the tricking-or-treating was very different than the standard we are used to; basically 4 teachers just stood in different areas of the school and we handed out candy. We had a costume contest, scary stories, and a dance. It was really great to see all of our kids so in awe at the scary story one of the other teachers told. It made me so happy to see our very international student body enjoying a holiday together, even though so many of them don't celebrate halloween in the country they're from.
Tonight the teachers are going to a costume party that is being hosted by another American who lives in the same apartment complex as us. She was a former peace corps volunteer and is now living here. She invited a lot of the current peace corps members and previous members who still live here. I'm dressing up as Canada. I am wearing a kanga (similar to a sheet; Tanzanians wear them as skirts, dresses, or use them to carry their babies on their backs) with red leaves on it, a small Canadian flag, and some snowflake and Canada pin decorations. I have no great passion towards Canada I'm just dressing as it because there aren't very many costume stores in Iringa and the Canada materials are readily available from a Canadian teacher!
I also went to Dar recently. We went to celebrate another teacher's birthday and to have a beach vacation. It was nice to be on a white sandy beach and see right through the water. The Indian Ocean was very nice and warm. It was great to get a chance to go swimming and cool down. It was hot in Dar, it was comparable to Minnesota's summer this year (and its their winter right now). We also went out in Dar. Things there are more Western. We went to a really legit bar and restaurant. It was a relaxing get away.

We took the bus home from Dar which was a pretty interesting experience. SO HOT, SO SMELLY, NO AC- (Em, Kell, and Kayla-does that sound like our apt last summer?) But we did make it alive...8 hours later. During the jouney we stopped at a little hotel/rest stop on the side of the road. My friend Megan wanted to get some food from this little pit stop. She ordered some beef and chips (fries) that were in a brown paper bag. She asked the person serving the food if she could see it before she actually gave him the money. He said no...big red flag. She bought it anyway though and it was so funny to see her reaction when she opened the bag. She looked at me and said "It looks a bit dodgy" (in her British accent). Then she pulled the "beef" out and held it up and told me that she though it was a hoof. It was so funny! Overall, a really funny and relaxing few days!