Halloween in NY...

Friday, October 31 am..

You could definitely tell that it's Halloween here with kids in costumes on the way to school and numerous people in costumes on the streets and subways, but you are never quite sure in NYC if they are costumes. Even all the staff at school were dressed up. I've even seen numerous dogs with different costumes but I think it's a cop out to have your dog wear a costume you wouldn't wear yourself. I doubt that the dog asked to be dressed up as a bat with wings or in a superman cape or in a jester costume or in cowboy gear. Is this dog abuse? Perhaps ok if they get at least dog treats and an occasional scratch behind the ears for enduring this.

There is a famous and very popular Halloween Parade that starts or ends in the Grenwich Village area and they were preparing for it with barracades downtown and hundreds of NYPD lining up for duty. I really wanted to go to the parade but study for my exams takes priority unfortunately. It's a warm day and night in NY, in the 20s, so there will be lots of people out for the parade and partying. Guess I will have to watch it on TV while studying, and this might be safer at the end of the day.

Coming home to my apartment, there were numerous children out trick or treating with their parents, often dressed up, and it's interesting how each street block is very different from one another here. One or streets over, the street block got really into Halloween and had the street blocked for traffic, police watching and the whole street was lit with apartments and homes decorated in large lit scary creatures, cob webs, eerie lights, signs and even a ghost on an invisible line between two apartment blocks facing one another that went back and forth slowly. It was like being on a set and I would think there would be a lot of set designers, film, TV, theatre and dance production professionals and assorted creative types in the city and in particular in this neighbourhood. Most of the people greeting kids were totally dressed up in costume and getting into the Halloween spirit as well and the street was packed with adults and kids. The next block over you might see one or two houses or apartments lit up and the next block nothing.

Rollin

Today we learned all about rolled foods, which they feel is important enough to have a category on its own, and prepared a variety of beautiful and delicious dishes. We rolled with napa cabbage, collard greens, freshly made egg roll skins, phyllo dough, grape leaves and toasted nori to create mostly vegetarian and vegan dishes such as: chinese cabage rolls, egg rolls, arame strudel, dolma (stuffed grape leaves), and collard rolls with mushroom couscous filling . And of course there were a variety of maki rolls with fish (salmon) and vegetables.

Back to studying...