Halloween in Uganda

So, as you can imagine, there is no "fall" and therefore, no "fall" holidays in the equatorial land of Uganda. 

But never fear, the kids still trick-or-treated with the best of them!

Sadly, I don't have a picture of Daniel but he decided to be the headless horseman which basically worked out well.  A couple wrinkles-- he wanted our dog to be the "horse" which after the first house (at our immediate neighbors) proved to be difficult.   So, Mark had to become part of the costume--the headed father of the headless horseman who walks the dog/horse.  Our friend Brian joined us on the path and he'd just returned from leading his law students towards another trophy for Moot court competitions agains the oldest, biggest University in Uganda.  Somehow, this picture seemed to capture some of the disjointed, odd, good, real parts of our lives--- two dads, a dog, a trophy,-- in the middle of Uganda following a pack of costumed children up the hill to trick or treat. 

Daniel's line at the end of the night, "i think I won't ever be anything that means you have to wear a box on your head for the whole evening." (He had a box with a cut-out and a men's suitcase on top so it appeared that he had no head)

And our friends still hosted an after-party which included Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.  It was one of those movie moments when you do become a child again as the youngest viewers popped up and danced at the appropriate times and laughed like Snoopy at other times.  

As with many aspects of life in Uganda, there was the moment of cognitive dissonance as we passed our friend Olivia on the path.  She is the head of theology, helped open the daycare on center on campus; as a person she is lovely and wise and compassionate.  She invites us to her kids birthday parties at her house, has a great laugh and generally is the salt of the earth.  As we troop by their house, she laughingly said, what is this?  I said, "trick or treat" and she said, oh, yes, I can see.  She has lived in Scotland where she did her Phd, she has kids the ages of our kids and we are marching by to collect candy from her neighbor.  Sigh, as Mark says, i don't think Ugandans are thinking about us much at all--their lives are full, they have commitments, and schools, and family functions, etc, etc.  But, nonetheless, in my visions of a better self, a more integrated life, all campus kids could be part of the fun.  In reality, how many kids is that, are they at boarding school, how expensive would it be for those families to buy hundreds of candies, etc, etc...  For now, I live with the tension, try to tell myself that whatever small traditions helps keep the expatriate staff content and endure in a foreign land is a net-good for all.  And yet, I confess that I live with some of the "free-floating" guilt as my mom calls it and I don't need to rationalize it away.