blackrockbulletin: Adventures in Paradise 55

Adventures in Paradise 55

Kia Orana, everyone! Our excellent adventure continues with some spooky thoughts on how a small Halloween party took on a life of its own. Two months ago, I had the brilliant idea of suggesting to some of the children that we hold an American Halloween party. In truth, the original idea was meant to be a distraction for Apii, who had lost her mother Linda in July. Apii was missing her mother and I thought that the idea of a party that she could help plan would be a welcome diversion for her. During the next months, we planned decorations, discussed what games we would play and Apii and I designed an invitation. I told Apii to invite several friends and we would make an afternoon of it. It would be fun and simple I thought, but I was wrong! I had already lost control.

Soon children began approaching me and it was always with the same question. When is the Halloween party? I quickly realized that in her exuberance, my little friend was inviting all of her little friends. It also became glaringly obvious that if we were going to invite some of the children, then we were going to invite all of the children. How could we leave anyone out? So began the saga of the Halloween party that took over the island!

Apii and I made eighty invitations; each with their own hand-drawn pumpkin face. We invited all of the primary children in the district and any other children that we knew. We told everyone to invite their friends as well. Although costumes were optional, we began hearing from parents of elaborate plans for super heroes, witches, pirates, and mermaids. Since this island does not celebrate Halloween, great ingenuity was used to create and obtain something for the children to wear. Some children, having family in New Zealand even begged relatives to have costumes sent to Rarotonga from there. When did I lose control? To be completely honest here, I even asked our American visitors to bring us the big bags of Costco candy. Dare I say that even while being in possession of over thirty pounds of candy, I was worried?

How do you plan a party when you don’t know how many guests you will have? I will just say that over estimation is a good rule of thumb here! We bought 150 sizzle sausages (hot dogs) and eight loaves of bread (people here put their hot dogs on a slice of bread and fold it in half), countless bags of chips, 2 tribe-sized bottles of what passes for catsup and I baked 150 cupcakes. We made punch with what seemed to be a years supply of bottled water and of course, we needed some kind of bag for the candy and we would require paper goods. We blew up two dozen black and orange balloons and I fashioned a spook alley on our Lanai out of all of my white bed sheets. We can’t get apples here, so we bobbed for eyeballs, whoops, I mean grapes. We had several yard games and relay races planned while Ward helped the party goers learn how to carve pumpkins. As a side note here, I think that the woman at Saturday market might still be laughing because I told her that instead of eating the pumpkins, I was going to cut off their tops and carve faces in them. When I got to the part about putting a candle inside, she rolled her eyes and looked at me with that “ You Are A Crazy American” expression that I have seen before on occasion. When did I lose control?

Ward refused to wear any kind of costume, stating that he was going dressed as a missionary. I managed to find some Christmas tinsel in our storage room and I fashioned a halo out of a headband and a coat hanger. This was my big chance to be an angel for at least a little while. We had games on the lawn and ended with lunch and trick or treating. I asked parents to park in the yard so that they could watch the parade and I explained that I would give them a bag of treats to hand out. I failed to realize that my idea of trick-or-treating might not be the same as it would be for a child who has never done it before. I had to explain that it was not a treasure hunt, nor was it a mad dash with the winner taking all. I remembered hearing that one description of chaos was it was something akin to trying to herd cats. Well, we had a lot of cats last Saturday and none of them wanted to be herded! Did I mention that there were children in attendance that I had never even seen before? I finally gave up on having order and just told them to go for it and take only one treat from each car. Yes, I know what you are thinking, but it was the best that I could come up with at that moment. Amazingly, no tiny children were trampled, no one complained that other kids got more candy and at the end of the day, there was only one pair of flip flops left behind without an owner. We had many children say it was the best party ever and the parents thanked us profusely.

A party that was to last two hours lasted almost four, which is an indication that people were having a good time and we are happy about that. I am grateful that the weather was warm and sunny and that everyone could stay outside! We were not surprised that we had no leftovers! It’s a good thing that Ward was not craving a hot dog or a grape because they had all been eaten. And no way were there any chocolate cupcakes left for him, either. He had to settle for the few Snickers and Reese’s Peanut butter cups that I had stashed away before the party. If the little goblins (as is gobble) had known about them, they would have been eaten as well!

I am also grateful that for a month or two, missing her mother was not the only thing on Apii’s mind. She was queen or at least princess of the party and she was thrilled. Through our hectic gathering last Saturday, we made new friends while growing closer to children that we already love. I had to smile when I noticed that even Superman and the Hulk were wearing flip-flops. I had all the children line up in the front yard at one point so that they could wave to the people passing by on the main road. Our gift to those driving by was a smile-provoking sight and their gift to us was that they smiled and waved back. It was magical. I am also relieved that I don’t have to do it again this Saturday, although this was suggested by a group of grinning witches! But I smirk, just a little when I think that I may have created a monster here on our rock. Halloween may just catch on and October 31 may never be the same on Rarotonga! What a trick that would be!

As usual, we are happy (and tired) and trying to work hard. It has been a treat to have you in our lives and know that the trick is to somehow give back as much as we have received. We are grateful that as we miss another American holiday at home, we are able to share our version of it with our new friends here on our island.

Love, Ward and Susan Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in the Cooks