Halloween 2012 X4

So... Shelbi and I normally dress up to some degree for Halloween in America. We go to a party either on Halloween or a day before or after. I've always complained that Halloween is given too much attention, but we actually need to consider All Saint's Day November 1st. Regardless of my reluctance, for some reasons we have found ourselves involved in all kinds of Halloween events in Moldova. Here are some explanations and evidence of those experiences.

1st Halloween: We took a trip to visit John, Brian, and Julie in Soroca, another northern city. The event was for a tour group to come from Chisinau. Julie's organization had been planning to show them that Soroca (especially with its really cool fortress) is a great place to visit. Some local students got in on it and prepared some performances of a Halloween-y nature to put on a little more of a show. What started as an awesome idea exploded into an amazingly teen-filled experience as a ton of students from the local schools caught wind of this thing. They all showed up in costumes and nearly overwhelmed the tourists from Chisinau. All in all, the event was a success. We even coined an appropriate phrase for our experiences here: All's well that ends in a discoteca (which this event did). Julie worked super hard during all the events, from dancing the thriller to providing technology support (and nearly having her laptop stolen!) and helping organize the event, but she still let us stay at her place. We got in a game of Settlers before we had to leave the next morning. Shelbi went back to Briceni and I went on to Chisinau for some training.

2nd Halloween: Shelbi joined me in Chisinau, and we went out with some people and found a really awesome cafe where they host colloquiums, performances, and discussions. There were no pictures because we weren't in costume, but just went out in a group.

3rd Halloween: We headed back to the north but stopped in Balti where two volunteers had just moved into an apartment. Here is the evidence that it was a successful Halloween party:

 I know you're wondering, so: Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet.  I was lacking the sword and beautiful speech. Other than that, the costume Shelbi found was close enough. I could have claimed some type of Greco-merchant, but why not a more well-defined character like Tybalt?

 David (left) and Matt share this apartment. David's Soviet-repairman was very believable. Mary (center) and Laura are some other awesome volunteers it has been our pleasure to get to know.

 It got serious later into the night.

 Above our good buddy Dan and below is Philip, fellow Catan enthusiast and mountain biker.

 Chris, Shelbi, and John below

 Because we like it, here are some glamor photos of our homemade Settlers of Catan board game. A huge thanks to Dewayne Wallace whose laser engraver/cutter and patience made this possible.

It's been great to have a board game. Many of the volunteers are excited to play it with us. We have played with a few Moldovans (those speak English well already), but we look forward to hosting people and playing games when we get our own apartment.


 4th Halloween: With my English Club/Conversations group we planned a Halloween event including a lot of fun games and activities, and, of course, ending in a discoteca. The kids did everything that you see below, from bringing the materials to operating the activities and making posters.