Halloween: UAE

Halloween is the most wonderful time of the year! Wait, I think that's a Christmas song.. Halloween is the time to dress up, have fun and do mischief, as they say! But every country embraces it differently. Some do not travel by boat because it may be bad luck. The Germans hide their knives so that they won't be picked up by evil spirits. In the Philippines we visit the cemeteries. Here in UAE, well, I haven't lived here long enough to know their culture by heart, since this is my first Halloween here. I was already expecting that there'd be no parades with all the costumes because they're not into those things. But even before Halloween, I observed that people here go all out. And Halloween isn't an exception.

COSTUME PARTIES

You can see it everywhere starting the month of October, they advertise it in magazines, newspapers and the like. Mostly held on the huge hotels and establishments. There's this Monster Halloween Costume Party at the beach and the best costume wins AED 25,000. They also have parties for kids where tons of activities to do, they even have parties for toddlers!

TRICK-OR-TREAT FOR KIDS

Nobody knocked on our door asking for candies, tho. To be honest, I wanted to give out candies to kids here since they are so adorable, wearing those little robes! But I've heard Trick-or-treating is like their Islamic tradition of Shabaab during the eighth month of the Islamic Lunar Calendar-- kids sings songs about Mecca, going about the neighborhood, asking for sweets and fruits. But it's more complicated than it seems. Families have to plan Trick-or-Treating with other families before they let their kids knock on someone's door. It's for their safety and to avoid being disrespectful.

VISITING HAUNTED PLACES

I don't know if you've heard of this but there was a building in Jumeirah (second photo) that scared off their tenants, especially Filipinos (since we kind of believe on ghosts compared to the locals) just few months ago. I never knew UAE was packed with haunted places. I even saw a list of haunted houses here in UAE for people to make use this time of year, it says "haunted houses that can be visited but not recommended" There's this Jazirat al-Hamra (third photo),  they refer to it as ghost town. I guess it's the rage here in UAE, especially the youth, to visit haunted buildings. 

They don't decorate places so Halloween-ish like we do in the Philippines or other countries, even the malls are just the same. They do sell costumes and all that, they even have pre-made Jack-O-Lanterns. I don't think there's anything wrong with Halloween no matter what religion you are. Some Islams, mostly the youth-- they celebrate it for fun, a harmeless occassion. UAE has been progressing a lot for a few years now and they're slowly embracing change, starting with the younger generation. I guess it's only on movies and television where it's really all out, huh?

PHOTO CREDITS timeoutdubai, gulfnews, thepurplejournal