My zombie, myself

As anyone who knows be back home can attest, I LOVE Halloween. It is, by far, my absolute favorite holiday of the year. Every year, I always plan some sort of ornate Halloween party or road trip with friends and family. And therein lies the main reason why I am such a Halloween fan: it has always involved all of those who I love most dearly. I have so many fun memories of my parents loading up a car full of kids to take us to some remote haunted house or corn maze. Better still, all age distinctions were lost as children, teens, and adults alike would scream, cling to each other, and run for what seemed like our very lives. Being a baker, Halloween is like a goldmine. There are so many cute, themed cookies, cupcakes, and other tasty treats to be made with fall ingredients. It is not uncommon for me to have 22-hour baking sprees to prepare for a Halloween party or event. Also, being from Indiana I can also attest that there is truly no better place to experience Halloween than in the Midwest. In general, autumn is always beautiful where I live. After all, what could be more picturesque than to go trick-or-treating beneath the red, gold, and orange-colored leaves of the neighbors’ trees? The sky becomes bright and clear; the air turns crisp and almost always smells like burning leaves. Cornfields get turned into haunted mazes and the local, run down farmhouse suddenly becomes the best haunted house you can imagine. Bonfires are lit, apple cider and donuts are passed around, and everyone gets bundled up for the next hayride. What’s not to love?

Unfortunately, Halloween seemed like it was going to be pretty dismal and humdrum this year. I was stuck in Lima recovering from a surgery on my toe. After all of my wonderful Midwest memories, being stuck in a big, urban city in Peru seemed like the last place I wanted to be for my favorite time of the year. Resigned to have yet another ordinary day, I packed up some work and headed to the Peace Corps office, determined to make the most of my situation and try to be productive if I couldn’t be festive. No sooner had I sat down and opened up my laptop, I saw Jennifer, our financial director, walk in the room.

“Oh! I didn’t know you were here in Lima.”

“Yea, well, to be honest neither did I.”

“Well, do you want to be a zombie?” Seeing my stunned face, Jennifer then turned and pointed at my foot. “I mean, with bandaging like that, you must already have the walk down…”

A piece of advice to all: when someone asks you if you want to be a zombie, the answer is always, under every circumstance, “yes.” Halloween was suddenly starting to look more promising.

Within the office grounds, there are a series of bins full of used clothes. Many Peace Corps Volunteers are eager to shed themselves of unwanted or unnecessary possessions when they close their service. Determined to be a passable zombie, I raided the bins for unloved, ratty clothes. I managed to find a rather worn-looking marathon shirt and yoga pants with holes in the legs. Perfect! Holding up my findings, I already had my back story planned…

She’s running through the woods, determined to take advantage of the solitude and fall weather and prepare for her next race. She’s jogging – alone – along the path when suddenly she’s surrounded. ZOMBIES ON ALL SIDES! She tries to run…but NOT FAST ENOUGH! *COMP!*

I have an overactive imagination.

Another nice surprise was the arrival of Jennifer’s husband, Kevin, who ended up being a secret makeup artist in disguise. Arriving with a whole plethora of face paints, fake blood, and prosthetics made of latex and painted toilet paper, Kevin was ready to turn us all into the undead. We painted our visible skin green, added some bruises, bite marks, open sores, and other mortal wounds, and covered our hair and clothes in potting soil and fake blood. It was FANTASTIC!

So we all piled into a van and were practically bouncing in our seats as we headed to the US Embassy. Getting into character, we growled and pawed at the windows whenever a car full of people would pass by. Thankfully, no traffic accidents occurred.

The US Embassy in Peru has an absolutely wonderful Halloween party every year. Organizations that work through the embassy, such as Peace Corps and the US Marines, and the departments within the embassy are allocated various sections of the basement and first two floors of the building. Each group chooses a theme and then decks out their area as much as possible. Peace Corps decided to do a zombie-themed haunted house, but others decided to create a mini version of Neverland, Alice in Wonderland’s tea party, a circus, etc. In this way, families of embassy workers could come and have fun and their kids could trick-or-treat in a secure way. Needless to say, it was the first time I had to have security clearance to enter a haunted house.

Patrolling the haunted house was a ton of fun. I got to amble after screaming adults and children alike and scare the pants off of them. In the end, I was told that four children cried. In all honesty, though, the biggest screamers were the middle-aged women. Once the crowd had passed through, I had a great time laughing with my fellow zombie-clad volunteers and prepping for the next round of victims. I did, unfortunately, spend a lot of time on my feet and received a good tongue lashing by my doctor, who unfortunately recognized me when she brought her own children to the haunted house. Thankfully, my toe was fine and no one stepped on me the whole night. Actually, several people thought my bandaged foot was part of my costume.

Once the embassy’s festivities wound down, we all hopped back in our van and headed to our country director’s house, who was holding his own Halloween party. Still dressed as a zombie, I got to socialize with the Peru 22-ers, who are still undergoing their own training in Lima. Seeing the doctors glare at me across the lawn, I refrained from dancing but still got to enjoy the cookout and talk with staff members who I hadn’t seen in months.

So, all in all, a most unexpected and highly enjoyable Halloween. I most certainly will not forget it.