Since Halloween is an anglo thing, and yet another example of how local traditions here are being trampled by the cultural imperialism from up north and in this case as far away as jolly old England, locals are undecided about what to do about this holiday that has come to stay.

It falls on October 31st, where it coincides with the traditional Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) which is celebrated all over Mexico, and the very local Hanal Pix'an which translated extremely loosely, means soul food. In general, the same concept (death is a riot) is celebrated in many cultures all over the world, but the orange pumpkins - both real for carving and plastic for candy storing- , the plastic Casper the ghosts, and the black witches with green faces featuring the prominent warts riding broomsticks across the face of the moon a la E.T., have taken over everywhere.

Here in Merida, both holidays are celebrated.

Hanal Pix'an in the traditional way, with altars set up in homes of the clase popular, a term which you may remember from some of my previous ramblings that has nothing to do with how well they are liked, but is rather a euphemism for poor people. The well-to-do, meanwhile, couldn't be bothered to set up altars honoring their dead, but kids in this priveleged socio-economic group with the high discretionary income participate in altar competitions where the judges decide who has made the best altar. Based on what? Based on the traditions of Yucatans glorious past. This apparently helps to keep the idea of the altares and the more traditional aspects of Hanal Pix'an in the minds of todays's youth, already so under the malignant influence of the evil American (as in U.S.) cultural marketing.

Halloween is celebrated haphazardly, because no one really knows what to do. The Americans (from the U.S.) are still too few in number (although they do make a lot of noise) to fully force the holiday down everyone's throats, so everyone here is left to their own interpretation. A few people buy their pumpkins mid-october at places like Sams and Costco, where you have to wade through isles of cheesy Christmas ornaments and cheap made-in-China mini lights that will fall apart after one use. Buying real orange pumpkins is fairly new in Merida; this only came about when Comercial Mexicana started bringing them in along with the original Mexican gourds that were available previously. Carving the pumpkin is always fun, as is eating the toasted pumpkins seeds afterwards. The only problem is that unlike in the U.S. or even that cultural backwater known as Canada, the pumpkins here will rot and attract entire colonies of fruit flies and other insects after the second day, so be sure to keep them outside. It's the humidity.

The tricking and the treating is another source of confusion. This is only done in Merida's very own American compound known as La Ceiba, where it is an organized event. Kids will be dressed up, mostly as scary things like witches and vampires and ghosts or monsters, and will be chauffered from house to house before dark, not after, by an adult in the family golf cart. At each house that has some sort of decoration on it indicating that it is a participating residence, the kids will go out and yell "Halloween Halloween"  or perhaps "Queremos Halloween Queremos Halloween!!" which is not quite the same as trick or treat but hey, what the hell.

And the festivities do not actually take place on the date of Halloween itself ie October 31st, but rather some Friday or Saturday afternoon when it's convenient. This ability to adjust holidays and birthdays to suit ones schedule is a delightful part of living in Merida. Don't like your birthday in December because no one remembers it and you get no gifts? Celebrate it in January or February or whenever it's handy for YOU. Kids birthday during summer vacations and so no one will come to the party because they are all at the beach for the temporada? As Arnold would say in his thick Teutonic drawl: No problemo! Simply move it to early June or September and voila... it's much more convenient.

Halloween is the same. During the month of October, there are Halloween nights at discos (yes there are still discos in Merida), schools celebrate some kind of Halloween thing during that time and malls go out of their way to organized exciting events on weekends in late October. When the 31st rolls around, everyone's sick of the whole thing and absolutely nothing happens. The trick or treating in the previously mentioned compound, where the waches and Canadians enthusiastically join in, is done on some weekend afternoon from 4 to 6 pm when it is still light out - wouldn't want to have kids running around in the dark now would we...? It's just so... inconvenient!

The one thing that prevails is of course the abundance of candies for the youngsters, already cavity-prone from all the candies they get throughout the year at parties, piñatas, school functions, even dentist's offices. So for them, Halloween is probably a good thing, since there is more free candy involved.

A link on the subject:

• A rather dry but informative page on Yucatecan traditions including Hanal Pixan

can be found at the University of Yucatan's site here