My memories of Halloween are quite a bit different than the present day activities in Tijuana. When I was growing up, there was usually snow on the ground and it was too cold to wear just a simple costume. The event was always dampened by the fact that we had to wear a heavy coat over our cool leopard or witch costume. And forget trying to dress up like a princess without a full length coat to protect you. At least the weather in Playas is a tad warmer and we are lucky enough to avoid snow covered streets. Lack of community and participation in the celebration makes it difficult to walk a few blocks for a trick-or-treat.
We gave out candy one year and decided it was not worth the financial effort to do it again. The problem is, there are not that many houses that give away candy. It’s really not a Mexican event, after all. Being that the supply of candy is so low, the demand far outweighs the number of candy donations. People have to drive around to find places with scant decorations and a young witch or Frankenstein handing out candy at the door. With so few locations, it makes the outing more like a treasure hunt, and a bit more adventurous.
One year, we ran out of candy in seven minutes, flat. I was screaming at my husband to turn off the porch-light in fear of a goblin riot. I had brought home a meager $30 portion of candy from the Vons in San Diego; good candy like Butterfingers, Baby-Ruths and Snickers. Cars full of costumes came up to park when they saw the donations being handed out and it was like the word spread across the blocks or the smell of sugar wafted through the air. Either way, we ran dry after seven minutes. Wam-bam-thankyou-ma’am, just like that.
This year, there was an entire block full of retail stores and vendors that were giving away candy. Stores like Waldos, MaMaMia Pizza, local tortilla and taco merchants and Ross’ cafe participated with enthusiasm. I know that I appreciated the effort and hopefully next year, we’ll have a consistent place to “tricky, tricky” as they say in some parts of Tijuana.
