we pretty much adore all things holiday related at our house! halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, new years, valentines, st. patrick’s day, easter…we really do love them all! but halloween is definitely one of our all time favorites. every year we have a kid-focused, art-based costume party that ends with a scavenger hunt all around our compound.
the first party we hosted was HUGE! thirty kids and at least that many parents. at the time we had two wonderful helpers from the states and together we came up with a whole slew of themed foods, drinks, games and activities. after that first big party our halloween parties have become a tradition. some years have been calmer, some have had a whole range of ages (one year we had two year olds and ten year olds all sitting at the same table- it was fantastic!), some years have had more candy, one year we even had a dance teacher who taught the girls the moves to “thriller”! we have had kids come dressed as princesses, zombies, indians, pirates, tigers, butterflies, and geishas…and we’ve had moms dressed up too. this year i really got into the spirit and dressed up as the evil queen!
part of me wants to say that this year’s party was one of the best yet, but to be fair pretty much every year i have felt the same! we have certainly got better and better and more organized each year though. and it is such a great treat for me too to be able to have a fun halloween tradition even here in istanbul. i always looked forward to going trick-or-treating and i think that from the start i have felt sad that the girls have not had the same opportunity. but i think, especially based on this year’s enthusiastic response from both the parents and the kids we invited, that we have managed to create an equally enjoyable tradition in our own turkish-american way!
a certain slant of light 