Halloween in Pisaq, Peru - Video

We had a quite unique Halloween, here in Pisaq, Peru.  Pisaq is a picturesque town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.  The Sacred Valley is where Machu Picchu and many other Inca ruins are located.  After a couple of busy weeks of travel, we decided to spend 4-5 days relaxing a bit in Pisaq, and catching up a bit on school.

Pisaq

Pisaq from our hotel

We had thought that Halloween wasn't really celebrated in Peru, and had prepared Jamie & Jason for that.  We planned to go out to a nice cafe we found in Pisaq (Ulrike's) that has especially delicious desserts.  We all had our eye on some carrot cake, as we figured it was orange and would be good to have on Halloween.

After we settled in to a table at Ulrike's close to the door, we quickly realized that Halloween was in fact celebrated here.  During the 90 minutes or so while we were eating, we were treated to a steady stream of kids in costumes coming up to the restaurant.  Apparently, here, the kids don't go from house-to-house, but instead go from restaurant to restaurant or store to store.  Also, instead of saying "trick-or-treat" the kids yell out "feliz halloween" (happy halloween) or "Buenas noches... Halloween" (good evening... halloween) or as one incredibly cute and direct little girl said "Buenas noches, dulces por favor" (good evening, candy please).

Jamie and Jason were absolutely delighted.  For a few of the groups, the people at Ulrike's let Jamie & Jason give out the candy, which was a huge hit.  After we finished eating, the kids waited by the door, getting so excited when a new group would come in.  We had to pull Jason in from the street, as he wanted to go out and flag down more groups of kids.

In one of those really simple, but precious moments, Jason was playing with a small stuffed bear that was at Ulrike's, making it dance for the kids coming in for their treats.  One of the children really enjoyed it and gave him a piece of candy as he was leaving.  This was so kind, and made Jason absolutely thrilled.  Not so much because he now had a piece of candy, but because he had made a connection and the boy gave him something.

Lauri and I both agreed that we were quite proud of our kids.  When we realized that Halloween was in fact celebrated, and that we could have worked out a way for them to go trick-or-treating, we shared a worried look, wondering if Jamie & Jason were going to be disappointed.  But, they weren't at all.  They totally loved our unique Halloween, and I think they will remember it for many years to come, probably more than Halloweens where they come home with overflowing bags of candy.

Here is a video of some of the events of the evening.